Logan Martin Lake Topics: Dear Osms and others

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	Name:	MotorMan -
	Subject:	Dear Osms and others
	Date:	5/10/2007 11:39:56 AM

Osms said:

" I don't know... 'bout someone in a five foot chop in a pontoon boat--anywhere, anytime, on purpose or not!!! "

Dear Osms:

It has been said that a boat that stays in harbor is safe, but that is not what boats are built for.

I do not blame the dead in Kansas for not sleeping in their shelters. They lived their lives as they best they saw fit. Sudden weather happens.

I left on that boat trip a clear sunny morning. This small craft warning formed in the Gulf of Mexico, blew into the Bay unseen by RADAR and by the time I saw the first clouds, it was too late.

While its impossible to sink a pontoon swim raft, it is possible to depress a pontoon boat with sides long enough to get water into the engine and then have no power to steer. A boat without power can capsize and be deadly. It may float for years as said above. It will not sink.

Six inches of water on a 8x20 foot deck weighs about 5000 pounds. 80 cu feet at 64.2 pounds/ cu ft. 62.4 for fresh water but its little difference. I only saved my engine by opening all the doors and letting the water run out faster.

Lake Martin is very very safe compared even to little Sarasota Bay. The big saving grace is all the islands. A boat with power can always get to the lee side of an island and the crew can sleep overnight if needed. Lightning is more of a danger. Tampa is the lightning killer capital of the Country. I read of beach goers killed from clouds 5 miles away. One teacher got fried walking home from school. We all take our chances. If you ever cast a fly line out and it floats in the air or your hair stands on end, you know what I mean. The man who went 30 miles out in a pontoon boat is no more insane than mountain climbers.

I should have said a 2 stroke ob is cheapest dollar per hp. The supercharged 4 stroke Mercurys in the 250 - 300 hp range do everything good. They are the quietest. They get good gas mileage. They cost $25,000. My whole boat with 270 hp Volvo, duo-prop was $29,990

The old 1990's Hurricanes were real kidney busters, I'll admit. Rode like my 1971 tri-hull. Mine is much better than the old ones. There are times in higher chop I do slow down to 20 mph for comfort. You can't go 40+ mph in every sea.

In 1981 I bought a i/o merc. that was only 18 months old. When I parked it in the yard and pulled the plug it killed the grass. I found out Mercury had secured the aluminum gas line to the iron block with a brass nut. With salt water, this is a natural battery and the least noble metal is eaten away. I swore off i/o for 25 years. I'm on fresh water now and they got better.

Besh wishes on your quest of a boat. We all "pays our money and take our chances", in all aspects of life. Good Luck.