14 ft pontoon boat submarining questions.

[Jayden W]

I am in the market for a small pontoon boat and through a search I did on flotation the topic of submarining kept coming up so of course I started reading. Im rather concerned about this because the boat Im looking at is rather small compared to the bigger ones that most these stories were about. Ive been boating since I was a kid so Im not new to it however Im totally clueless when it comes to pontoon boats. This boat is going to have a 25hp motor and the max weight we will have is approx 800lbs. Im very curious as to what yall think about the probability of this having submarining issues without have to constantly stay on my toes. I will use the boat primarily in the St. Johns river and Matanzas river in Florida. It can get somewhat choppy at times and there is quite a bit of wake on weekends. Im an older guy and want to be able to take out the wife and Grand kids without worry. I cant really afford a big 20 plus footer unless I went with very used. So any input as to this boat and any drawbacks is appreciated. This is a pic of similar boat and the specs. Its a 2017 model.

 

[ahicks]

My opinion, a 14' pontoon is made for ponds and small lakes. I would not take one to the St. John River. I doubt I would consider anything smaller than a 20'.

 

[Jayden W]

Thanks for the reply. After watching more videos I agree. Even with 2 people in one of these 14 to 16 footers they dip down pretty far in water when both people are in same area. Saving a little money does me no good if I cant use boat how I intended. Im gonna look for a 20 to 22. Im not opposed to an older boat that would put me in my price range...My main issue with most older boats is that they tend to have 2 stroke motors and I was hoping to get a 4 stroke for noise reasons. But I suppose I could always change out motor in the future. I did find a 2006 Hurricane Fun Deck 196r with a 115 yamaha 4 stroke with only 200 hours with an asking price of 13500. That may also be an option.

 

[ahicks]

With a body of water the size of St. Johns, I would not try to talk you out of a deck boat. While I'm a HUGE fan of pontoon boats, having owned one since the 70's, I have recently learned that they have a downside on big bodies of water unless you get into the expensive tri toons running a lot of power. They take forever to get anywhere. Just sold the Florida 'toon and bought a 22' deck boat to replace it. LOVE it! Now we have nearly as much room, and we can cover some serious ground when we want to. No more 2 hour trips to get 10 miles..... unless we want to.

On smaller bodies of water, I'm still a big fan of the pontoon boats.

 

[Zymurgy]

14' pontoon is for small lakes and ponds.

 

[wahlejim]

Given the 2 choices and your boating preferences, I would go with the Hurricane. My Neighbor has a 16ft pontoon with a 40hp 4 stroke merc on the back. With no one on board and it tied to the dock, I can't believe how much the stern drops in the water. If he has 4 adults on board, the weight has to be distributed evenly. If he has 6, the pontoons are nearly submerged (I have helped him check for water in the logs and pressure tested them and they are still airtight) Our lake is only about 140 acres and that is as small as I would go on our lake, much less a river or larger body of water that gets much busier.

It fits him perfectly because most of the time it is just him or him and his wife fishing off of it. They are not large people, even his adult 'kids' who visit are well under 200lbs. I couldn't imagine what that ride would be like with kids moving around constantly.