Tritoon vs Deck boat

[louissergi]

Good morning,
I would like to boat the Barnegat Bay from the Lavalette/seaside area to Barnegat. I was looking at a 25ft tritoon with either a 250 or 300. I was also looking at a deck boat such as the sea ray sundeck. I really like the room of the pontoon boat, but I have herd horror stories about pontoon boats in rough water. The Barnegat Bay can get pretty choppy in the afternoon and some days, but I have seen other people with tritoons. I am really stuck because of this.

 

[Chris1956]

'toons and Barnegat Bay are not good company. A deckboat has almost the room of a 'toon, but handles chop much better.

I live on Barnegat bay, and I know the afternoon chop very well.

 

[Toyelectroman]

I went from a 19 foot starcraft tritoon to a 19 foot nauticstar deck boat. If I had to choose a winner I would pick the tritoon. Had to trade my tritoon for the deck boat so that it would fit into my garage(stupid HOA). The tritoon had more room, more comfortable ride, easier to work on(installing a chartplotter was a piece of cake). Deck boat is easier to maneuver, and faster

 

[Chris1956]

Barnegat Bay has 3 foot chop from the north, most afternoons in the summer. Try that in a 'toon!

 

[louissergi]

Barnegat Bay has 3 foot chop from the north, most afternoons in the summer. Try that in a 'toon!

Thank you Chris,
do you think the sea ray 270 sundeck is a good fit?

 

[Chris1956]

A 27 foot deck boat? The only concern would be the shallow water of Barnegat Bay. If you run aground, it will be hard to get a 27 footer free.

As long as you stick to the channels in the main bay, and be real careful in the cross bay channels to Barnegat Inlet and Tices Shoal, you should be OK.

 

[ahicks]

I converted from a '22 'toon to an outboard powered '22 deck boat when it was taking forever to reach our destinations. Neither are/were particularly fun in a chop. From a room to move around and seating standpoint, we're generally seated when underway, no real advantage going either way. Both boats easy to get on and off front and rear....

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, I would have thought the deckboat would be far superior in a chop! Was it some sort of barge?

 

[ahicks]

Older boat, so sort of, I guess. Though it works pretty good for our purposes.

 

[Toyelectroman]

The tritoon pretty much cut through <2feet of chop with barely noticing it. The deck boat you feel the pounding. Now anything bigger than 2 feet the tritoon would take on water over the bow where the deck boat usually stay dry

 

[Texasmark]

That deck reminds me of 1970's tri-hulls. Only ones that would take a good chop were the "trihedral" hulls where you basically had a deep V mono hull with sponsons....1970's vintage 19' TriSonic Trihedral is a good example. Most of the boats under 18' were shallow draft and light weight like the pictured deck boat....but it has more going for it than the original "Deck Boat" brand of such.....it was guaranteed to beat you to death. BTDT