Detroit Boat Show

[SplashyLady]

$200,000 pontoons are pretty common now - with twin 350s or 400s. Saw a Bennington for $250,000 recently with twin 350 Yammies on her. Also - double deckers and some have leather upholstery. Does not make sense to me, but they seem to sell. Maybe the song "Pontoon" made a difference?

[FARJR26]

Other than the engine cost I am not sure where there coming up with those kind of price tags.....I have seen them up to 180,000 but not over 200 that's crazy but I guess they have found that there are enough crazy people out there to take the plunge

[RGrew176]

If I were going to spend over 200K on a boat I would get myself a real boat. Something I can stay aboard for long periods of time. Pontoons are fun but they are pretty much day boats only. I have seen people come to Put in Bay in their pontoon and set up and sleep aboard and stay the night or sometimes even a weekend. It can be done.

[Viper]

Can't paint all pontoons with the same brush anymore. Some have fully enclosed canvases, heads, electronics, thrusters, potable water systems, use exotic materials, etc. They're slowly becoming more than just a day boat. Add a couple of high end outboards and it's no wonder the price tag is getting out of hand. Just another style of boat and price point that's slowly pushing the average Joe out of boating.

[RGrew176]

True. But a pontoon boat is really not meant for rough water use. A couple of seasons ago someone took their pontoon boat out onto Lake Erie so the story goes and there were 4 to 6 foot waves out there. The pontoon boat could not handle the conditions and came apart. There are conditions that a more conventional boat can handle that a pontoon cannot.

They have their niche and for sure.

[km1125]

Did anybody see the all-electric pontoon from GM that was supposedly introduced at the show? I saw some stories just before the show opened that it was getting shipped up to be at the show but I did not see it. I was a bit confused why GM would have branded it, but I guess it's tied into their push to electric vehicles/mobility.

[RGrew176]

I don't recall seeing it there. Could have missed it though.

[Cooler]

I still get the "willies" when an electric car pulls away from a parking spot. I would probably freak if a boat snuck up to a beach or anchorage with no apparent engine noise. There are some things that need that growl of combustible engines. A boat is one of them. er

[RGrew176]

If you were born in the 40's and grew up in the 50's and 60's there is nothing like the sound of a powerful engine. It's just something we grew up with.

[denpooch]

Admiral Grew I very much agree with you. I was born in early 50's and do remember the 'muscle' cars that would cruise through the parking lots. I even seem to remember a car manufacturer (maybe Ponitac??) that provided a switch to bypass the muffler and make that great combustion sound.
I think of the lovely idling sound of my boat at the dock as the lost sound of the motorcycle that I never owned!