Pontoon stability in rough water?

[AGUS]

I'm new to pontoons. I have a 24 footer that I'm converting to a inclement weather party boat (clear vinyl enclosure). Some of the places I'd like to explore are big lakes 5 - 10 miles across. There is a possibility that even if going out on a beautiful day, wind could come up and waves could get rough.

My question is. What kind of waves and wind are too much for this boat? I mean with reasonable comfort. I'm basically a fair weather boater.

I have a 50 HP Force and am planning to add a small kicker to keep the noise down while just slow cruising. There will usually be 4 people or less onboard and minimum gear, so weight is not a factor.

Thanks
Aaron

 

[HotTommy]

I have a 24' two log boat with a 150 HP outboard and a large, fixed metal top. I normally use it on a lake that is no more than 2 miles wides and it does fine even on windy days. But, I took it for a week long trip to a large bay in Florida that is more like the size you want to explore. It was windy (25 MPH) several days and the water was uncomfortably rough. The good news is that the boat was very stable if you paid attention to the direction of the waves and didn't run parallel to them. The bad news is that at the speed I was running to traverse the open water (about 15 MPH), everything got wet from the spray. I also had the nose dig in to waves once or twice and throw a wall of water onto the deck. .... My biggest concern about your boat is the vinyl enclosure. That will allow a strong wind to push it like a sailboat. It could also make docking a challenge on windy days. I think your 50 HP motor is strong enough to deal with it, but if a strong wind is in your face, you could see your top speed drop by half. .... I wouldn't take it out if the winds were forecast to be much above 20 MPH.

 

[ahicks]

I would assume that the wind is going to come up. Watch the weather reports closely (especially the 1-5pm). When deciding on a destination, make the upwind leg first. Coming home will always be a breeze. IMHO, 18-24" chop is about where it's stops being fun. If there are swells involved, maybe less than that.....

 

[AGUS]

That sounds good. As I said I'm a fair weather boater and being on these bigger waters would be seldom with no hurry to get some place on deadlines.

The vinyl enclosure comes on and off easy even when on the water so would not have to be on for docking.

Thanks
Aaron

 

[HotTommy]

Here's a little food for thought that matters more for fuel planning than anything else. People sometimes mistakenly think that a tailwind one way is a headwind the other way and they will average out. It doesn't actually work that way. Here's an example to illustrate. Imagine a boat with a full throttle top speed of 10 MPH with no wind. You leave port for a ten mile trip with a tail wind that pushes your true speed across the water to 19 MPH. As you are going almost twice your calm wind speed, it takes you slightly more than half the usual time so you save some gas. Later, when you make your return trip, that same wind will reduce your true water speed to 1 MPH. It will take you ten times a long at full throttle to get home. If your boat is burning 10 gallons per hour, the round trip that usually takes 20 gallons will take about 106 gallons. .... Strong winds can have a big effect and the slower the boat, the bigger the effect.

 

[Jeep Man]

2 ft waves won't be a problem. More than that and you could be in trouble. A customer of mine took his new 26' Crestliner out on Lake Erie. The waves picked up quickly, as it does on Erie, and when the waves were nearing 4 ft. his pontoons bent. Crestliner replaced the boat as they should not have done that, but the pressure on them is great just the same.

 

[Silver Eagle]

We have a 24 ft. pontoon boat with a 90 hp Merc . two stroke.We use it in the Upper Chesapecke Bay. Last week we had two days of rough water.Four ft. swells with 30 mph winds.Saturday wasn't to bad but Sunday was wild. .Usually on a normal day I travel at 3800 rpms, About 16mph. Calm water for me is two foot swells or less.If it gets to windy we close the canopy.We always travel with the front door open. less wind drag.I always stay out of the channel .. The water always flows one way or the other so you have no choice but to go into the wind and tide.Depending on witch way the tide is going. One of my pontoon buddy's had a 18 ft pontoon boat with a 50 h and the waves were pushing him one way and the tide was going the other way and he got stuck crossing across the channel He threw me a line and I had to put him out of the channel.We had five ft swells that day and boat traffic awful.