Looking at a 2003 2050 - new to boating - help with water depth and ramp issues

[Tara]

Hello,

by the way, I did read this post:

http://club.benningtonmarine.com/threads/whats-a-good-setup-for-low-draft.7929/#post-105291

Attached are some photos to give you an idea of my setup - and I'll do my best to be brief (wood ramp will be removed)
Few questions:
1: Planning to use a rail system. The lake does gradually get deeper but not sure if it slopes enough to allow the cart to move down the entire rail too deep. I'm guessing about 20=24" deep at least, but with the cart on top will that affect the draft?
2. The concrete is steep (16% angle from an engineer friends calculations). Will this be too steep and if so, any advice on how to level off the concrete?
3. I have 12.5 to 13' from the fence to the flat portion on the concrete ramp. I have about 24' from the fence to the metal gate. Will this be enough room to keep the boat on rails? I apologize in advance for my ignorance - really want to work this out to keep the boat on the rails and hope a 20' pontoon will work - spending 11,500 for this 2003 2050 rl so want to be sure I'm making a good choice.

 

[lakeliving]

What is keeping a boat on rails? Is this where the boat gets pulled up on shore via a track system?

Beautiful water by the way!

 

[Tara]

Yes, thank you for your response. I'm actually purchasing a rail system this weekend
https://syracuse.craigslist.org/for/d/boat-rail/6575061759.html
so I'm not sure how deep the cart would need to be in the water. From my limited understanding - the rails need to continue to angle downward, otherwise, the cart will stop moving if it's on a flat plain. (makes sense I'm going to guess the depth would be minimum 2' perhaps deeper.
The cart by the way will be re configured for the pontoon

 

[adkboater]

From the looks of the pics you should be ok, basically the front of the cart should just be out of the water so you may need to adjust for that. I have only seen this rail system once on Lake Ontario and that’s exacatly how it was set up. The rails had a stop so you could see the top of the cart and pull onto it. I could see the issue of being to flat but it’d have to flatten out relatively quick for that to be an issue.

 

[Link]

Hi Tara, welcome aboard. When I went to college in the 70's (19 not 1870's) at Brockport I lived one year at a small apartment complex in Hilton. We spent quite a bit of time at the lake but always just on shore. That is one BIG lake, be careful out there

 

[Tara]

Very cool! And thank you for the welcome! Putting my deposit on this boat today - Some might cringe - paying 11.300 for a 2003 2025 rl. Here it's tough to find a decent pontoon, they sell so quickly! I'll be asking lots of questions I'm sure

 

[cwag911]

You're going out on that big water with a 20' pontoon?

 

[Tara]

yes - not too far out. Most of my neighbors have similar toons - shoreline casual boating - 10 miles up the river to restaurants etc.

 

[Jim Rampello]

Braver than I am!!! Is this Lake Ontario?

 

[Tara]

Yes! ok I signed the contract so now you're making me nervous lol

 

[lakeliving]

Boat smart and accordingly based on weather conditions. Enjoy the new boat!

 

[Tara]

Thank you! Will continue lurking around, reading up as much as I can, and will post pictures soon. I appreciate everyone's advice and assistance!

 

[Michiman]

Congratulations on your new (to you) Benny! You're going to have a great summer...

 

[Vikingstaff]

Congratulations on the new boat. Very exciting.

 

[Tara]

Thanks!