BenningtonBob
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Hey, everybody. I signed up almost three years ago when we were considering buying a toon (bought a cabin up north, sold our 2002 Regal Commodore 3060 that we owned for ~15 years and boated on Lake St. Clair in Michigan). Never bought the toon, sold the cabin, but recently moved and now we live on a small private lake.
Which means NOW I'm in the market for a pontoon boat again. Of course, after plenty of re-research, I think we've settled on a Bennington.
We believe we've settled on a very nicely optioned 2021 23 FSB that our local (and well recommended) dealer has in stock. It's the only 23 R series with Pillowtop Diamond Stitched SPORT interior package, which is pretty much the ONLY "must have" that the wife says she wants.
Being a two-toon boat, it's rated up to 150 HP motor, so my choice would be the Yamaha VF150 SHO. It does NOT have factory hydraulic or power assist steering, so I'm having the dealer add the latter (but not the power assist ... yet).
The lake we live on is only 120 acres, so there really isn't much by the way of waves or chop. That's likely where we'll spend the majority of the time. If we were to trailer to another lake, we *might* do that maybe 2-3-4 times a year, tops (we live in Michigan, so boating is pretty much APR to OCT or so), and even if we did, it wouldn't be Lake Erie or even Lake St. Clair, so I wouldn't expect to be in big chop (other than what might be caused by passing boats).
While all of my family members are able-bodied (call us low to mid 50's in age) and our adult kids are in their late 20's/early 30's, a couple of them with small kids), I'm a above knee amputee due to a traumatic car/pedestrian accident (assault, I call it). I've very active, considering that I wear a full prosthetic, but it's not like I'm running marathons. So the use of the boat, whether it's for cruising, entertaining and/or pulling kids/folks on tubes, is largely going to be for what my family and guests want to do.
I see plenty of time when it's just the wife and I, cruising around and enjoying a cocktail on our lake. I do also see lots of times where we might have a total of 4 to 8 total people on there (family, friends), sometimes just cruising and sometimes including pulling the grandkids or maybe an adult around on a tube or raft (no waterskiing, though).
I don't want to be disappointed if our experience with pulling a tube with people on the boat will be hampered by only having two toons. But I also don't see any sense in wasting time or money getting a third toon. That's why I opted for the 150 HP motor as sort of a "consolation" prize, mostly to cover extra weight of extra people. And not that I'd be disappointed with a $77K OTD Bennington ...
Will I be satisfied with a well appointed two-toon 23 RFB and a VF150? Or should I go for the tritoon for the times we may go off our lake? The more I think about it, the more I feel like I'm "grocery shopping while hungry". But then again, I've always "bought the best", even sometimes when I didn't need it (did I really need a 2015 F350 6.7L Super Duty when an F150 would have been just fine? LOL).
Just looking for some advice and wisdom of the users on the forums here. I know you can't decide for me, but all comments, questions or smart alec responses are welcome. Thanks!
Which means NOW I'm in the market for a pontoon boat again. Of course, after plenty of re-research, I think we've settled on a Bennington.
We believe we've settled on a very nicely optioned 2021 23 FSB that our local (and well recommended) dealer has in stock. It's the only 23 R series with Pillowtop Diamond Stitched SPORT interior package, which is pretty much the ONLY "must have" that the wife says she wants.
Being a two-toon boat, it's rated up to 150 HP motor, so my choice would be the Yamaha VF150 SHO. It does NOT have factory hydraulic or power assist steering, so I'm having the dealer add the latter (but not the power assist ... yet).
The lake we live on is only 120 acres, so there really isn't much by the way of waves or chop. That's likely where we'll spend the majority of the time. If we were to trailer to another lake, we *might* do that maybe 2-3-4 times a year, tops (we live in Michigan, so boating is pretty much APR to OCT or so), and even if we did, it wouldn't be Lake Erie or even Lake St. Clair, so I wouldn't expect to be in big chop (other than what might be caused by passing boats).
While all of my family members are able-bodied (call us low to mid 50's in age) and our adult kids are in their late 20's/early 30's, a couple of them with small kids), I'm a above knee amputee due to a traumatic car/pedestrian accident (assault, I call it). I've very active, considering that I wear a full prosthetic, but it's not like I'm running marathons. So the use of the boat, whether it's for cruising, entertaining and/or pulling kids/folks on tubes, is largely going to be for what my family and guests want to do.
I see plenty of time when it's just the wife and I, cruising around and enjoying a cocktail on our lake. I do also see lots of times where we might have a total of 4 to 8 total people on there (family, friends), sometimes just cruising and sometimes including pulling the grandkids or maybe an adult around on a tube or raft (no waterskiing, though).
I don't want to be disappointed if our experience with pulling a tube with people on the boat will be hampered by only having two toons. But I also don't see any sense in wasting time or money getting a third toon. That's why I opted for the 150 HP motor as sort of a "consolation" prize, mostly to cover extra weight of extra people. And not that I'd be disappointed with a $77K OTD Bennington ...
Will I be satisfied with a well appointed two-toon 23 RFB and a VF150? Or should I go for the tritoon for the times we may go off our lake? The more I think about it, the more I feel like I'm "grocery shopping while hungry". But then again, I've always "bought the best", even sometimes when I didn't need it (did I really need a 2015 F350 6.7L Super Duty when an F150 would have been just fine? LOL).
Just looking for some advice and wisdom of the users on the forums here. I know you can't decide for me, but all comments, questions or smart alec responses are welcome. Thanks!
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