Newly minted member here. My wife and I own an RV property on Lake Greenwood, just outside Greenwood SC. We don't own the boat yet, but we're hoping to come to terms on a 2012 24' SL tomorrow and take delivery within a day or two of that. I was on the Bennington site and found reference to these forums.
This will not be our first boat, that was a 2000 Sea Ray 180BR that we used on a chain of lakes near our weekend/vacation retreat in central WI. We sold that and an RV when we bought a second home but soon longed to get back on the water. We then bought an 18' pontoon with a 50hp Evinrude but after only a couple years of use we decided the 17mph WOT speed was not practical for exporing the river system where we kept it slipped, not to mention the constant issues with shallow water. We traded it for a big 23' Yamaha twin jet that bested that speed by better than three times! That was a fun boat. Alas, when we sold the house we weren't sure what life had in store for us next so we also sold that boat.
Now we live in our motor home, giving us the freedom to travel and explore the entire country (this summer we've been to the Black Hills, Yellowstone, northern Michigan, West Virginia and now back at our place in South Carolina). As we expect to be here months at a time in any given year, at least for the forseeable future, we just had to have a boat. As we're on a "closed" system, an 11,000 acre lake, we felt a pontoon would fit the bill this time. Besides, we want to be able to take our neighbors with us when we're on the water.
Like everyone else here, I'm sure, our choice of boat is a compromise of wants, needs and budget. I'd love to own a 50mph tripple toon, but the budget just won't stand that. Others we've looked at included an Avalon, the Premier, a couple of Sweetwaters and a Tahoe. We discarded the Avalon as being overpriced for what you get. That put the Bennington on the top of our short list (the Premier would be next on the list) and we're really hoping we can put a deal together. Wish us luck, and we'll see you on the water!
This will not be our first boat, that was a 2000 Sea Ray 180BR that we used on a chain of lakes near our weekend/vacation retreat in central WI. We sold that and an RV when we bought a second home but soon longed to get back on the water. We then bought an 18' pontoon with a 50hp Evinrude but after only a couple years of use we decided the 17mph WOT speed was not practical for exporing the river system where we kept it slipped, not to mention the constant issues with shallow water. We traded it for a big 23' Yamaha twin jet that bested that speed by better than three times! That was a fun boat. Alas, when we sold the house we weren't sure what life had in store for us next so we also sold that boat.
Now we live in our motor home, giving us the freedom to travel and explore the entire country (this summer we've been to the Black Hills, Yellowstone, northern Michigan, West Virginia and now back at our place in South Carolina). As we expect to be here months at a time in any given year, at least for the forseeable future, we just had to have a boat. As we're on a "closed" system, an 11,000 acre lake, we felt a pontoon would fit the bill this time. Besides, we want to be able to take our neighbors with us when we're on the water.
Like everyone else here, I'm sure, our choice of boat is a compromise of wants, needs and budget. I'd love to own a 50mph tripple toon, but the budget just won't stand that. Others we've looked at included an Avalon, the Premier, a couple of Sweetwaters and a Tahoe. We discarded the Avalon as being overpriced for what you get. That put the Bennington on the top of our short list (the Premier would be next on the list) and we're really hoping we can put a deal together. Wish us luck, and we'll see you on the water!
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