Enclosure/camper-top on a deck boat

I am a newbie boater, as of this year. I bought a used Deck Boat (made by Anchor Industries, Galveston, no longer in business.) It is 18?8?? long, 8? in beam, and has a 2? draft, with a 150HP Johnson outboard with tilt & trim. It has plenty of acceleration for wakeboarding & such, but my wife & I love it for cruising. However, this brings me to the obvious problem?deck boats on larger bodies of water when the weather is not calm! In our little 750 acre lake across the street, there are no real problems. But when we take it to a larger lake?say, 3,000 ? 4,000 acres, and the weather is inclement, wind and waves? we have a devil of a time dealing with the spray! As in, buckets; not a mere nuisance, but a real obstruction to piloting the boat. My solution is to make a boat enclosure for rough weather running?my wife has an upholstery sewing machine, and I?ve found instructions for making an enclosure. But I?d like the advice of more experienced hands as regards the limitations of such a rig (i.e., deck boat with enclosure.) I?m never likely to get it into the ocean (I live in MN) but what about larger lakes, i.e., 3,000 acres and on up? The Great Lakes? The Mississippi, which I want to take from Minneapolis to St. Louis one of these days? Will I have to get a different boat to safely cruise in those environments? I really like my little deck boat, the layout, etc., and am okay with sleeping and showering on board (with proper enclosure, I?ll probably add a small port-a-pottie type unit.) I?m also concerned with the size of my gas-tank (only 20 gal.)
Thanks in advance for your help!

Re: Enclosure/camper-top on a deck boat

You could put a camper on it and it would be great for exploring the Mississippi, or even camping at Voyagers National Park. It's not a rough water boat by any means. Both these waters can get rough at times, but both provide plenty of sheltered water to lay over in a wind.


It would be suicide to do anything but furtively poke around the shoreline on the calm side of lake superior within a quick run to the landing. If you tried to open water with that rig on the great lakes and survived, you would be committed for sure.

hope it helps
John

Re: Enclosure/camper-top on a deck boat

Agreed. You do not want to take a boat like that onto the great lakes or large body of water even if it is calm. It doesn't ake long to kick up some big waves and getting sprayed will be the least of your concerns.

Re: Enclosure/camper-top on a deck boat

Thx for replies. Both were helpful, helping me figure out the best way to use this boat. Sounds like the smaller lakes and the Mississippi (northern half) are the most appropriate destinations for it, which is fine with me, for now...
HOWEVER, I know that one of these days I will start looking at boats that COULD handle the Great Lakes... maybe I'll post a question regarding minimum specs for such a craft... opinions on that would be interesting, I think.
Thx again,
MattF