Pontoon Camping

[HandymanHerb]

The GPS I bought for the toon has an anchor creep feature on it that will set an alarm and wake you up if drifting, also I got some cheap flashers, LED emergency makers to set on two corners that ran off their own battery's and help you be seen

[dockholiday]

Dock.....thats a horrible story. I cant say that exactly "helped" me in camping on it.

Sorry, first time I have told it since it happened, and like I said sure didn't want to discourage anyone from camping on a toon but being on the subject, I wanted to throw a word of caution out. Guess we all hear about incidents like that periodically. It is beautiful at sun up on the lake and know the kids will love it.
doc

[Bamby]

We've been camping off our boat since the day we took delivery on our first pontoon boat. We spent that night in the marina of the place we purchased the boat. Fact is that fact came in handy, a storm blew in about dark and the marina staff had the pleasure of assisting us attempting to assemble and install the side kit for the first time.. It was as you could guess kind of interesting..

Anyway almost exclusively anytime we've used the boat involved overnight camping somewhere on the water. For the first few years we were in the water exploration mode going to a different body of water nearly every weekend. We actually thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to see and enjoy the new sights cruising about in the unfamiliar waters we visited. But you do haft to utilize some common sense and discretion...

Doc stated one very real concern about being out on the water a night, the threat can be very real and not exclusively from just cabin cruisers and runabouts either.. Fishermen are the threats I've witnessed most on the waters I've boated in. I've witnessed them and could sometimes only hear them through the extremely thick morning fog as they were running full throttle hell bent for election to some honey hole they want to get to first. If a person were actually anchored out in their path I'm not sure what the outcome could or would actually be I just don't want to be in there projected line of travel, ever...

Therefor we always attempted to find protected coves in lakes, or the off channel protected sides of islands on rivers to spend the night. Even idiots in bass boats tend to slow down to reasonable speeds in such areas simply because they either intend to fish the area, or to avoid hitting natural navigational hazards that are also frequently found in such areas. Either way I have a better nights sleep without the fear of a rude awakening.

[STEVEBRENDA]

Therefor we always attempted to find protected coves in lakes, or the off channel protected sides of islands on rivers to spend the night. Even idiots in bass boats tend to slow down to reasonable speeds in such areas simply because they either intend to fish the area, or to avoid hitting natural navigational hazards that are also frequently found in such areas. Either way I have a better nights sleep without the fear of a rude awakening.

Very good advice. We always camped in the back of coves to avoid all of the traffic. It offers a piece of mind should your lights cause porblems, but it is also a much safer place to be if the winds really pick up. A side benefit is that the sun does not hit your boat quite so early in the coves. An extra 1/2 sleep is always good on the weekend.

On thing I like about anchoring vs. pulling up on shore is that I do not feel as amny critters will climb on the toon while it is sitting in the middle of a cove.

The down side to camping in a cove is all of the fisherman that come by at night or early in the morning. Some have no problems coming within 30 feet of your boat. I accomadate them by making a few bump noises myself to help them out with their fishing if they are too close.

[woolznaz]

A couple more inexpensive suggestions that will give you great peace of mind. Regarding battery life, install an LED anchor light if you are really concerned. They use very little energy. Also, buy one of those booster packs and keep it in the boat. Very inexpensive insurance to know that if your battery is drained, just hook it up and you should have plenty of power to start the boat.
Regarding worrying about boats getting too close or not seeing you at night, I would suggest these 3 things. First, always do burn your anchor light over night. You might think nobody is around, but it's the law and it is safe and it shows people you are there. 2nd, keep one of those rechargeable spotlights. Very inexpensive and very bright. If someone is not paying attention and you think they are headed towards you, that will certainly capture their attention!! Finally, like others have said, just find a nice cove. Beside a few fisherman, or another boat anchored across the cove somewhere, you will not likely have much traffic.
Back to battery life. You can also buy several of those cheap $3-$5 solar lights and zip tie to your rails during the day to collect energy. Use them at night for some lights inside the boat if you want to read, eat, etc and need some lights. They will keep you from using any of your 12v power if you are really concerned. Just put them away overnight when you are anchored so they are not visible as all that should really be visible overnight is your anchor light.

I think you will love overnight on the water. In my opinion, it's the best time to be on the lake.

[captain kurt]

For lighting over night I've seen boaters use the garden solar lighting on there lines and deck. No battery problems the next day.

[RonKMiller]

You'll of course need to (or should) run an all around white anchor light at night for safety - but if you use an LED I think your battery draining worries are not an issue. A 12 volt in good shape could probably run it for weeks.

As long as you pick your anchorages carefully and try to keep up on weather forecasts I don't think you have much to worry about. If it's anything less than *perfect" for your gear you just don't do it. Not sure if I would want to have a 2 year old along but to each his own.

I've survived overnight gusts to 50 with no issues (except for not much sleep) although I wasn't sleeping in a tent - and DID have eight anchor lines tied to HUGE rocks!

[ezrollin]

Here's how I solved my overnight problems,actually this is my brother in laws but mine is half finished.

[Brandon]

That looks awesome, but I cannot beach my pontoon overnight. I wish I could it would be so much easier

[Ron Burgundy]

I've been thinking about camping out on the island for a while now too. I don't think my wife is interested, but I might be able to talk her into it. My boy is 3 and I think he would enjoy it. These guys set up camp on the beach, but I'm thinking about removing my front seats and pitching a tent there (no pun intended).


Campers with dolphin in water

[MH Hawker]

Thats what I do

[RonKMiller]

[quote="Ron Burgundy"]I've been thinking about camping out on the island for a while now too. I don't think my wife is interested, but I might be able to talk her into it. My boy is 3 and I think he would enjoy it. These guys set up camp on the beach, but I'm thinking about removing my front seats and pitching a tent there (no pun intended).

It sure is nice when dinner comes to you.

[dockholiday]

Some good thoughts on using solar lighting.
I see lots of bass boats running 50 an 60 at night. I am sure they think they know the lake well but still that doesn't take into the account of a stay floating log or some other such hazard. My guess is striking a log at that speed would put you air borne with a very poor landing.

Still I want to reiterate, I sure don't want to discourage anyone from having fun on the water and it can be done safely, if one exercises good judgement.

doc

[Drago]

Apple has an app for anchoring called drag queen

Flanker, It's also available in the Android Market and has been extensively tested by the bunch at ActiveCaptain. Just make sure to power your Smartphone from some external power source as using the GPS can suck the life out of the battery.

[LocoCoco]

...but I'm thinking about removing my front seats and pitching a tent there (no pun intended).

Check this out:

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product ... rchID=4005


I think I'm going to get one. Wayyy cheaper than an enclosure.



LC.