Page 1 of 2

First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2016 1:49 pm
by solidhadriel
Hi everyone. I'm happy to say that after weeks of shopping, and months of thinking about what I want next, I finally settled on my new 2014 Bentley Encore Elite 220 Lounger Pontoon. Went for a lake test yesterday, and decided she was the one for me. My brother made a little video of my expedition:




Unfortunately, she's going to be berthed at the dealer for a couple weeks while they build me a new custom dual bimini top and fix a few minor things.
P1080237.jpeg
P1080237.jpeg (30.44 KiB) Viewed 5480 times

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2016 2:12 pm
by vlxerdon
Congrats. Enjoy all the great days a pontoon will bring.



JD

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2016 5:02 pm
by JoeB14
Congrats. Cool idea for the video. I may have to borrow that idea when my new toon comes in next month...though I have zero editing skills.

Just curious...where is that lake?

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2016 10:12 pm
by solidhadriel
Thanks guys. I'm happy to be part of the 'Toon family.

This was at Lake Elsinore in Southern California. I plan to take the boat out to Havasu, and Parker once I'm comfortable with it.

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2016 12:17 am
by ROLAND
Congratulations on the new toon....nothing like that feeling of the day you get your new boat..... you my friend have a lot of enjoyment ahead of you...

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 6:30 am
by solidhadriel
ROLAND wrote:Congratulations on the new toon....nothing like that feeling of the day you get your new boat..... you my friend have a lot of enjoyment ahead of you...
Thanks Roland! The hardest part now is waiting on the dealer to finish their bimini install.

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 7:26 am
by Bamaman
Looks like it really moves with the twin toons and lifting strakes. Should do a great job for you.

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 9:15 am
by jediger
Beautiful! Snow can just go ahead and melt so I can have that feeling again! Couldn't help but envy the boat launch. I think if we had launches like that here, even my wife would consider helping launch the boat.

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 9:44 am
by solidhadriel
Looks like it really moves with the twin toons and lifting strakes. Should do a great job for you.
I'm definitely happy with the performance of the boat, but glad I didn't opt for a smaller engine. I guess it's true what they say, always go as big as your budget can afford. The toon is equipped with 25" logs, underskin and those lifting strakes, so those all definitely help.
Beautiful! Snow can just go ahead and melt so I can have that feeling again! Couldn't help but envy the boat launch. I think if we had launches like that here, even my wife would consider helping launch the boat.
To be honest, we could use a little more snow and rain out here in California. It gets pretty dry!

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 6:13 pm
by curtiscapk
nice ride!

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 8:08 pm
by mrbigs3toon
Nice!

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 10:43 pm
by Reiner
solidhadriel wrote:Thanks guys. I'm happy to be part of the 'Toon family.

This was at Lake Elsinore in Southern California. I plan to take the boat out to Havasu, and Parker once I'm comfortable with it.
If you're close to Lake Elsinore you may want to consider checking Mission Bay & San Diego Bay out.

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 12:50 pm
by solidhadriel
curtiscapk wrote:nice ride!
mrbigs3toon wrote:Nice!

Thanks fellas!
Reiner wrote: If you're close to Lake Elsinore you may want to consider checking Mission Bay & San Diego Bay out.
I don't think I want to get my 'Toon anywhere near salt water. At least not yet. My brother has an ocean boat and the salt has tried many times to destroy his engine, which requires additional costly maintenance (not including the added times of flushing the engine out with fresh water after each run.) I think we'll stick to Arrowhead/Big Bear/Silverwood and the Colorado river for now. But Mission/San Diego Bay is a nice area.

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:38 pm
by PlaynDoc
nice looking boat, and nice video... perhaps next video will show more interior...

also.... maybe I'm just paranoid, but before backing my boat down the ramp, and before pulling it out, i trim the motor all the way up.... am i the only one?

Re: First boat purchase. Bentley Encore 220 Elite Lounger

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:42 pm
by solidhadriel
PlaynDoc wrote:nice looking boat, and nice video... perhaps next video will show more interior...

also.... maybe I'm just paranoid, but before backing my boat down the ramp, and before pulling it out, i trim the motor all the way up.... am i the only one?
I agree about the video. Maybe next video will be a little more exciting too. :drink4

I actually asked the 'Captain' about trimming the prop up on boat ramps. He basically said that because the engine sits so high with these pontoon logs, its not really necessary. However, the engine was trimmed up just a hair (you just couldn't tell.)

And to be honest, I probably will trim the engine up just to be safe.