[OHJoe]

Does everyone use their pontoons to cross big lakes? I have a lake that is about 1/2 mile across and have never even thought about crossing with my toon....would this be considered safe? how would it handle with the wakes of misc leisure boats? Just trying to get a feel for it and the experience and thoughts of others on this ( I have an Outcast 8' and 9' fishcats to do this in) Not sure how well these would handle the wakes and waves....Safety is my number one concern here. Thanks

 

[Don Barton]

I have an Outcast fish cat cougar. It's 8 feet long and each side has twin pontoons. I have taken it thru Class III water with no problem. IMO you should have no problem with liesure boat wakes particularly with your 9 foot toon. You will lessen stability problems if you take the wakes head on or at a slight angle.

 

[OHJoe]

So heading straight on into the wakes...will the water come straight thru and drench on the bigger wakes? I am very appreciative of all the help with all of this. We are going to be doing a bunch of tooning this year and I am unable to answer all the questions that my son has (let alone my own ) We are planning a trip out west in the next few years and we are trying to start figuring it all out now and practice it all this summer. I have been on smaller rivers and lakes up until now. Thanks to all!

 

[Van BT's]

Yeah you should be fine. As stated, turn into the wakes head-on and you won't have to worry about rolling, though you probably wouldn't anyway. Be sure to bring some kind of patch kit for the big water, or any wayter for that matter. Better safe than sorry. Not sure if those models come with trolling motor mounts, but one of those always helps too. Happy fishing!

 

[OHJoe]

I have the patch kit ready to go ( Hope I dont need it because of a wake in the middle of the lake:rofl Both do have motor mounts and if we do the crossing part we will definately be using them...I cant image how long it would take to cross by paddling. One of the lakes I would be taking it on is big with the little sailboats so I sure hope they can steer ok. I am in the process of getting new PFD's and havent decided on the blow up kind or the standard ones yet. For some reason I just keep envisioning going head on into the wakes and it wiping everything off of the top of my toon. Maybe I should just take a trip or two without anything on top to just get used to it? Has anyone every heard of a toon failure in the middle of a lake? I could see in the shallow rivers and creeks ( I have a few deep scrapes in my one toons bottoms..Is there anything I can apply to "heal" that section? A friend recomemded shoe goo...Not sure but sounds good.

 

[Don Barton]

There are a number of reasons you head into the wakes made by other boats. Your toon is longer than it is wide. If your toon is parallel to the wake you will rock more severely than if your toon is perpendicular to the wake. Your toon is almost certainly longer than the distance from crest to crest of the wake. Also your toon is very buoyant. You will not torpedo thru the wake; instead, you will ride up and over the wakes.

I think it is VERY unlikely that you will experience the failure of one of you pontoons in the middle of the lake. But if you feel one of your pontoons has been weakened, I would contact Outcast. They are a quality company and they will give you good advice on how to lessen any risk of pontoon failure.

 

[Mumbles]

I totally agree with Don, but your safety first approach is great for you and your son. I think you can find patching kits for the bladder covers so long as they are not ripped through. I agree that the chances of a pontoon failure in open water are low unless you have overpressurized your tubes and it gets warm fast or you puncture it with something. The wakes should not be an issue, just a bit annoying if you are getting spashed. If you have most of your gear secured it won't go anywhere. Motor mounts are great but expect your batteries to die at some point and be prepared to row or fin kick from that point to your takeout. PFD's are a personal choice but having one along for each of you is best. I choose to use a manually inflatable PFD on stillwaters and a standard PFD on rivers because that is what the very wise boatmen here recommended I do when I was getting started. Call Outcast, send them a photo of your damage to your toons and see what they recommend. The buyer of my used toon ruptured a tube when he and his dog were loaded up. A seam pulled apart and he sent it in and they replaced it (after marking off my "stolen from my name here" on the inside). The customer service there is top notch. Best of luck!

 

[OHJoe]

Thanks to all for the feedback...I think the PFD makes sense on the river and lake scenario ( I am going that route) I dont think the pontoon is actually damaged at all ( I would bet it could not even be seen in a picture) One of them just has an area that is a a little scuffed like when you fall and scrape your elbow and it just doesnt seem smooth like the rest of the toon and I just wanted to keep it bomb proof for the smaller river rocks around here ( I do have the patch kits and dont think I am even close to needing it yet. Are there any type of treatments or conditioners for the toon covers, for keeping them supple and not drying out...things like that? I might be over thinking all of this but want everything in order for spring....We are so pumped and hope the excitement goes on from here. I think the rivers I am planning on using this summer are probably a lot smaller and less aggressive than what is experienced by most out west but there are still a couple of deaths by accidents every year and I want to be as educated as possible. There seem to be a LOT more kayakers in this area and my experience is they are a bit different (especially into larger wakes) That is part of my reason of going to the toons instead.

 

[Mumbles]

303 aerospace protectant is highly recommended by some of the pontoon/raft companies to keep the UV rays at bay, keep materials supple and for the overall cleaning. There are a lot of board members here who have recommended that in previous threads so that is what I'm using, but I just started using it myself.

 

[scottflycst]

The PVC bladder covers on the boats you've described are pretty tough and can take some abuse. It doesn't sound like your pontoons have anything other than normal wear and tear. I have an Oucast similiar to yours and Ed's. A friend I fish with often has the first generation of these quad pontoon boats, he and I have dragged them all over the west and northwest for several years and they've held up really well. It's very rare I've heard of anybody actually popping one of these pontoons. Clean your boat on a regular basis and use the 303 product Ed was sharing, your boats should last a long time. Store your boats with the pontoons inflated about 75-80%.

 

[stealth tooner]

I fish a small 350 acre lake that only takes a few minutes to cross, but I have rowed the length of it for 1-2 miles non-stop. I have a Cardiac Canyon which is 10.5 ft long with 12-13" diameter tubes. The tubes are made by Outcast using ferrari cloth. I have to deal with jet skis and wakeboats so I've encountered 3-4 ft rollers. I just try to hit them straight on and roll right over them. Even it hit from the side water will just splash over one tube, but not all my gear. It's more of a nuisance than a safety hazard. Your kickboat is more than capable of handling a crossing like you described. I typically row around 4-5mph so a 1/2 mile crossing would take 6-8 minutes. I myself would be more concerned about other vessels getting too close than the waves.