**boats**

[jhiester]

Thank you all in advance for your help. I recently purchased a place in pot nets coveside and I am wondering about my boat options. I am a novice and would like to have a boat, since I am paying for a boat slip anyway. whatis my best bet, a pontoon boat? a bayliner? or what? My family and I like to fish and I would like something I could take out into more open water such as the bay. Any help would be great! Thanks again, jeff

[Rob RM2]

If you never intend on venturing out in the ocean then a pontoon boat is a great option. Skiffs and center consoles are popular bay boats too with lots of room and shallow water capability.

[oldsnow]

The boat below it is a great boat for the bay.
http://www.carolinaskiff.com/skiff/boats.asp

[Rain Director]

Depends on what you want to use the boat for and the make-up of your family. My thoughts:

Center console - Utilitarian, great fishing boat but short on creature comforts for the family. You might be able to cram a porta potty in the console. Can handle the Inland Bays and the Inlet and venture out into the ocean (nearshore) and DE Bay. They have plenty of power to tow kids on a tube when family fun trumps a day fishing. Shallow or moderate V-hulls don't rock as much as a steep-V hull when drifting, but they don't "knife through water" like a steep V-hull.

Carolina Skiff-type boats - Flat bottom, most have extremely spartan creature comforts, as in a bench (BYO padding), and that's about it. Great for fishing. IMHO, risky in ocean waters.

Pontoons - room to move around on. Great choice if your family has kids under 10. Flat footing abounds, almost all have a bimini top for shade, kids can move around and seating is much more comfy that on a skiff or CC. Fish, crab, pull the kids on a tube. Some come with privacy curtains for "changing rooms", which means you can put a porta-potty on-board and keep the females happy. Stable platform for fishing the bays and are seen and used in fishing the Inlet. Ocean boating is pretty much a no-no. The best set-up is having the maximum engine power you can afford ($$)/get mounted (check the max power rating). Triple toons are higher priced but more performance oriented.

Also, check your PM and call me at that number. I'm in P-N Coveside also.

[sportfisher]

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quote="jhiester"]Thank you all in advance for your help. I recently purchased a place in pot nets coveside and I am wondering about my boat options. I am a novice and would like to have a boat, since I am paying for a boat slip anyway. what is my best bet, a pontoon boat? a bayliner? or what? My family and I like to fish and I would like something I could take out into more open water such as the bay. Any help would be great! Thanks again, jeff[/quote]

By open water such as the bay, I'm assuming you want to fish in Delaware Bay or even the near shore ocean. If so, a pontoon is definitely out. For fishing those waters, you need something that is seaworthy and it should ideally have a V hull and be at least 18' in length.
If, on the other hand, you mean Indian River, Rehoboth Bay and similar inland bodies of water, then, for a family, nothing beats the roominess, comfort, and relatively low cost of operation of a pontoon boat.
BTW, you indicate that you already pay for a boat slip. Do you? Are you aware that boat-slip rent IS NOT included with your lot rent in the PotNets parks!