Last May I purchased my first boat, a 2003 Four Winns Funship 214 with Volvo 5.0 DP (270 hp), It only had 32 hrs when I got it, it was and still is in pristine condition. Love this boat.
I have used my fathers 50 hp 20 ft. pontoon for your 11 years before this but that didn't really prepare me for this boat. I was scared to use it, so I decided to pay a guy to teach me how to handle the boat but he didn't have time until 3 weeks after I boat it. Well I couldn't let it sit for three weeks, of course I had to try my hand at it because I had the pontoon time under my belt. That wasn't best thing because I couldn't dock it, manuever in close proximity to anything. And the idle speed felt extremely fast to me because of the DP and the V8. Fortunately I keep it at a Marina that has Valet Launching and retrieving so this wasn't a problem. At this point instead of waiting until I get some training, I then decide to bring friends with me, big mistake because everytime I would try to dock the boat for whatever reason I would start to freak as I got closer to it (you know how wooden docks can mar spotless gel coats when hittiing them at a few miles per hour). So I would tell my passengers to catch the dock even though I was still going about 4 or 5 mph. Then I would yell at them (not horribly but not too nice either) for not catching the dock to stop us, I can only imagine how it looked to the boaters near us. I couldn 't anchor either and that was just as bad. Needless to say I had some major apologizing to do.
But I have since taken that class and literaly learned how to make my boat dance. I love docking now, to me it was one of the more fun things to do. I now usually get coments on how well I can dock even in tight situations like between to boats. I suggest any new boat owner find a person on their lake that will take the time to show them how everything works and how to drive the boat.
Fortunately I didn't damage my boat and no one was injured in my SHT.
I have used my fathers 50 hp 20 ft. pontoon for your 11 years before this but that didn't really prepare me for this boat. I was scared to use it, so I decided to pay a guy to teach me how to handle the boat but he didn't have time until 3 weeks after I boat it. Well I couldn't let it sit for three weeks, of course I had to try my hand at it because I had the pontoon time under my belt. That wasn't best thing because I couldn't dock it, manuever in close proximity to anything. And the idle speed felt extremely fast to me because of the DP and the V8. Fortunately I keep it at a Marina that has Valet Launching and retrieving so this wasn't a problem. At this point instead of waiting until I get some training, I then decide to bring friends with me, big mistake because everytime I would try to dock the boat for whatever reason I would start to freak as I got closer to it (you know how wooden docks can mar spotless gel coats when hittiing them at a few miles per hour). So I would tell my passengers to catch the dock even though I was still going about 4 or 5 mph. Then I would yell at them (not horribly but not too nice either) for not catching the dock to stop us, I can only imagine how it looked to the boaters near us. I couldn 't anchor either and that was just as bad. Needless to say I had some major apologizing to do.
But I have since taken that class and literaly learned how to make my boat dance. I love docking now, to me it was one of the more fun things to do. I now usually get coments on how well I can dock even in tight situations like between to boats. I suggest any new boat owner find a person on their lake that will take the time to show them how everything works and how to drive the boat.
Fortunately I didn't damage my boat and no one was injured in my SHT.