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10 Best Cities to Watch Fourth of July Fireworks by Boat

By: Discover Boating

When it comes to fireworks, Independence Day celebrations are hard to beat. As great as they are on land, though, they’re even better from the water. Here are 10 of the best boat-friendly places for watching fireworks this Fourth of July.

Boston, Massachusetts

Chicago, Illinois

The pyrotechnics show off Navy Pier lights up Lake Michigan. If you’re close enough to shore, you might hear the music to which the spectacle is synchronized. Navy Pier hosts fireworks shows every Wednesday and Saturday night this summer, too. 

Kemah, Texas

Grab the kids and spend the day at the Kemah Boardwalk before returning to your boat at the adjacent Kemah Marina to watch the fireworks. The show, over Galveston Bay, starts at 9:30 p.m. Like Chicago’s Navy Pier, the Boardwalk hosts fireworks every Friday through July. 

Lake Tahoe, California & Nevada Border

The Lights on the Lake literally lights up the southern waters of Lake Tahoe. Between the highly touted display and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, it’s no wonder the show is considered among the country’s best. 

Marina del Rey, Califorina

This 20-minute spectacle attracts onlookers from miles around. Start time is 9 p.m. Check the Visit Marina del Rey website for tips on when to arrive, as well as options for kayak and paddleboard rentals if you decide to spend the day. 

Miami, Florida

South Floridians have lots of options when it comes to boat-friendly places for watching fireworks. The Fire on the Fourth Festival, over the Atlantic Ocean in North Miami Beach, is popular. You can also raft up with fellow boaters at Miami Marine Stadium. 

New York, New York

The largest display in all of the USA is the annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks. Because the show encompasses the Brooklyn Bridge as well as four barges along the East River, there are lots of good vantage points. 

Rockaway Beach, Oregon

USA Today names Rockaway Beach’s celebration one of the nation’s best. The city, in northern Oregon, sends up the fireworks after a day marked by a big parade, wiener dog races, beach treasure hunts, and more. 

Seattle, Washington

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Seafair Festival, so you know the fireworks over Lake Union will be extra special. They start at 10:15 p.m., visible from both the Gas Works Park and Lake Union Park areas. 

Tampa, Florida

Tampa’s new mayor has big plans for the first city-run Boom by the Bay celebration, encompassing four different fireworks displays over 2.5 miles along the water. Since the event was just announced this month, keep tabs on the official Facebook page. 

Washington, D.C.

This year the iconic show, which promises to be bigger and longer, too, takes place from West Potomac Park, rather than the Washington Monument. That’s great news for boaters. You’ll be in good company on the Potomac River, since several sightseeing boats organize trips, too.

Regardless of where you go, be mindful of possible Coast Guard waterway restrictions, and remember to follow these simple safe boating tips. Have a happy and safe 4th!

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The Ultimate Boat Show Guide Boat | Pontoon-Depot

By: Lenny Rudow

Boat shows offer you the ability to see a slew of new model boats all at the same time, comparison shop, and make a seriously good deal.

Our Boat Buyer’s Guide is chock full of information, and should help any prospective boater get a good idea of just what type of boat will be best for their needs. But once you’ve decided on a type of pleasure craft, be it a pontoon boat, a flybridge motor yacht, a deck saloon sailboat, or anything in-between, you need to do some serious boat shopping to find the exact model that’s ideal for you–and the perfect place to make that happen is at a boat show.

While you’re at the show, try to see as many boats as possible and don’t get too hung up on any one model until you’ve seen all the choices. In fact, many buyers will walk the entire show floor with a map of the displays in hand (these are usually in the guides available at the show entrance) and mark off the locations of potential boats of interest without closely examining them. Then later they can go back and look at the options that caught their eye, one by one. At extremely large boat shows, it may be prudent to sit down with that guide and try to pick out which displays you want to see before you start walking around, too.

Boat shows give you the opportunity to check out all different shapes, styles, and sizes of boats on the same day, in the same place.

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Pros & Cons Of Pontoon Boats – Why Other Boats Don’t Come Close.

By: The Ocean Sailing Guide

Today I would like to talk about one of my favorite subjects, the pros, and cons of pontoon boats.

Boating was definitely something that I did not grow up doing. In fact, I grew up in a town that had no lakes or rivers that were big enough for a dingo.

Well, I guess you could use a dingo but you would be doing it at your own risk. River Bosnia, as you guessed it, in Bosnia, was not very friendly for swimmers, let alone boaters. It is filled with underwater plates that create whirlpools and take lives annually.

But my passion for boats, I believe, comes from my genes and ancestors that lived on Croatian coastline and the islands. Also, the fact that I spend every other summer of my life there. Also, the honeymoon.

By the way, if you have not visited Croatia you don’t know what you are missing, the country is amazing. Living there for a few years made me love it even more.

When we moved to the states a couple of decades ago, we came to Boston. And as you may know, Boston has plenty of water.

There are rivers, like Mystic and Charles, countless lakes, and of course the ocean. I know you are not supposed to touch Charles River for its pollution but boating is safe. Right?!

The Beginning

When I started looking at boats I always thought about Croatian coastline and its beauty. Deep blue sea, rocky beaches, and crystal-clear water. I imagined having a small yacht that I could use to take my family out for some island hopping. Enjoy the sunset while sipping a homemade wine and authentic seafood.

But then I woke up and I realize there are no such things here.

Bummer!!

The Atlantic Ocean is not The Adriatic Sea. There are no rocky beaches, crystal-clear water or islands that you could go visit. Well, there are a few but there is nothing exciting about it, nothing that I would want to go see and enjoy.

What you can find here are large waves and the smell of rotten algae during the low tide.

Yummy, right?!

At that point, I decided that the ocean sailing is not something that we would enjoy.

Yet, I did not want to give up on my dream of owning a boat. And I knew how awesome that would be for our daughter and the memories we could create.

So, I kept on researching my options.

Massachusetts has a lot of lakes, and so does New Hampshire, which is only an hour away. So, I figured, why not explore that option.

I’ve talked to friends about their vacation spots and a lot of them mentioned Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Everyone said they loved it.

So, I decided to take my family there on vacation for the firsthand experience.

We loved it!!

There was so much we could do there. There are beaches everywhere and to my surprise, a lot of boats.

The First Encounter

There I saw, for the first time, a pontoon boat.

I must admit I was not overly excited about it. I had this idea in my head that boat should be V-shaped and I was sticking to it. I am not buying that thing on those 2-round things. No Way.

However, it looked very comfortable.

So that night, thanks to Google, I found out what that thing was. It was a pontoon boat.

I have never heard of one before but looking at some pictures it piqued my interest. And the more I was looking at it the more I liked it. And the most important part is, my wife thought it was great. She loved it.

The Decision

Every year Boston hosts many different shows in its Convention Center. Among others, there is a boat show. We usually only see the car show and sometimes the RV show, but this year we decided to check out the boat show. We have decided to buy a boat after all.

I must tell you if I knew the boat show was this great I would have spent my money on this rather than cars. It was amazing. The selection is insane and you can find just about anything that you are interested in.

Walking around we stumbled upon pontoon boat. It was beautiful, shiny, almost glowing in well-lit convention hangar. I wanted to say something to my wife but she was already getting up there and talking to one of the hostesses. (Is that what you call them?)

Anyhow to make the story short, my wife loved it, I had no say in it, and we now own a pontoon boat. Isn’t that a story of us guys?

But here is the thing. I loved it too. I just pretended I was interested in something else while adding extra accessories to this boat. It works every time, you should try it with your significant other.

Here are some pros and cons of pontoon boats that I looked at when making the final decision.

Advantages Of Having A Pontoon Boat

There are so many pros of getting a pontoon boat that I don’t know where to start. I loved my boat from the first day I got it.

The most important advantage of the pontoon boat, for me, is that it is perfect for family and kids. It is safe, spacious, and you can do many things on the pontoon that you can’t do on a regular V-shaped boat. You could install a portable boat toilet or a nice pontoon enclosure to keep you warm and dry.

Great For Fishing And Skiing

I’m not a big fisherman but I like to cast a line from time to time and fishing from a pontoon boat is as good as it gets. Having so much space, and a chair, in the back of the boat makes that even more enjoyable. I don’t think you can get more comfortable than that.

If you get a strong enough engine it is great for watersports like skiing. Yes, you can actually do that with a pontoon boat.

Simple To Use And Maintain

So far I never had any problems maintaining my boat. I was listening to many stories about how it will be hard, but, with a little bit of patience, it is a smooth ride.

If you are boating at a lake or river you can expect that you will have dents and holes sooner or later. Pontoon boats reduce chances of those situations because they sit high in the water, not as deep as V-shaped boats, so damaging your boat is not very common. This also allows you to go into much shallower waters.

Also, the big plus is that fixing of a pontoon boat is cheaper in case it gets damaged.

One more thing that I consider as the big advantage of a pontoon boat is that they are very easy to clean. Now I don’t know how hard it is to clean V-shaped boats but I’ve heard some horror stories.

Pontoon Boat Last Longer

Longevity is one of the main reasons why I bought a pontoon boat. When we are talking about longevity, there is no better boat.

If you own a boat for many years or you bought used pontoon, you might have holes in furniture and carpets may be faded. It is very simple to replace those things in a pontoon boat. Imagine that you have to replace cushions on your ski boat. Good luck with that.

You don’t have to be very handy to renovate your boat. I usually do everything I know, and after that, I just take my boat to a mechanic where professionals finish the rest of the work. Many other boats have problems with getting on and off the boat on a beach. That problem is “v” shaped edge. With pontoon that is not a problem at all.

People who have ski boats are trying to replace it every few years with a new boat. Having a pontoon boat there is no need for that.

Pontoon Boat Is Really Comfortable

Comfort is one more important reason why I choose the pontoon boat. It is spacious and very comfortable. One person can lie down and take the whole couch, while there is enough room for 7 more people. The comfort of the pontoon boat is unbeatable.

It is so comfortable that sometimes we have a problem leaving the boat for the whole day.

Opportunities are endless on a pontoon boat. You can swim the whole day with your friends, changeup in a little handmade cabin. After that, you can make a barbecue right on the boat. A pontoon boat can really make you feel like a millionaire, without spending a lot of money on a boat.

They are also very comfortable during the ride. If there are no strong winds, the ride will be very smooth.

Pontoon Boat Is Very Safe

Especially for people who have kids, this is a very important segment. Pontoon boats are much safer than others because there are less “don’t go there” parts on the boat. Fence with high rails on a boat reduces chances of falling over into the water.

The weight of pontoon boats makes them extra safe. They are easy to drive, and chances of pontoon boat flipping are not very high.

Since the turning radius is not very tight, and the speed of the pontoon boat is around 30mph you can make full speed turns with ease. You can look this up in US Coast Guard statistics. It shows how pontoon boats are much safer than regular boats.

Perfect For Storage

In case you are a new to the boating world you won’t make a big deal out of this. But if you are more experienced with boats you will know how important this is.

If you have many guests on your boat and everyone brings something like blankets, food, cooler, clothes, on the ordinary boat you wouldn’t have enough space. A good thing about the pontoon boat is that you will have plenty of free space for everyone. That is a great thing, especially if you are staying outside for more than just a day.

Disadvantages Of Having A Pontoon Boat

There are not many disadvantages to pontoon boats in my opinion. Below I have described my biggest issues. If you are first time buyer you have to be unbiased and you got to know what you are looking for.

So here we go.

Speed

I’ve seen some fast pontoon boats, but those are very rare and hard to find. They are also very expensive.

Pontoon boats are great for water sports, but if you want to impress someone with speed, you will not. My boat has a top speed of about 30mph I believe. Typical speed of pontoon boats is around 28-35 mph. As you may notice, they are not speeding devils.

Some of the newest models of pontoon boats have larger engines with three tubes which improves speed.

Pontoon Boat On A Rough Water

The pontoon boat is very safe when the waves are small but when the waves get bigger, watch out. During the storm or heavy rain, pontoon boats are more dangerous than ordinary “V” boats.

Large waves cause problems because pontoon boats are diving into the wave, and not go over them. That can cause capsizing but on very extreme occasions.

The best thing to do during the storm is to get out of the water.

Wake Shape

For me personally, the wake on my boat wasn’t something I was thinking about when I bought it. But, I understand that for some people this is important.

The wake behind pontoons outboard is very similar to ordinary ski boat, but the difference is that pontoons have wake on both side. Which means that pontoon boats wake is much wider than normal boats.

Handling Might Be Challenging

Handling may be tougher than traditional boats. Pontoon is wider and heavier than your typical “V” boat.

My boat turning radius is approximately 25′.

Outboard Engine Noise

If you are buying a pontoon boat for the first time, try to avoid outboard engines. They can be very loud, much louder than inboard engines definitely.

The newer models of outboard engines are improved in that aspect so if you are buying an outboard engine, make sure that you are buying a new model.

Final Word

So there you are. Those are my thought on the pros and cons of pontoon boats. If you agree or disagree with my views make sure to let me know by commenting below. I promise I will take your critique with a smile 🙂

If you want to know how Pontoon stacks against Deck Boat make sure you read Pontoon vs. Deck Boat Comparison.

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The 2585 Catalina Elite Mixes Stylish Looks with a Comfortable Ride.

By: BoatingMag

2019 Avalon 2585 Catalina Elite

LOA: 26'6" | Beam: 8'6" | Draft (max): 1'3" | Dry Weight: 2,650 lb. | Seat/Weight Capacity: 13/1,770 lb. | Fuel Capacity: 38 gal.Bill Doster

With its bold, two-tone, retro-inspired exterior panels, elegant vinyl coverings, and interior composite wall covering, the 2585 Catalina Elite definitely stands out from the crowd.

Those exterior panels are uninterrupted by traditional pontoon fencing, giving the Catalina’s exterior a sleek, clean appearance. The optional Blackout package covered the pontoon tops in an attractive matte coating, a choice that tied in well with the boat’s matte finish Suzuki outboard. External forward vents add more style points while providing air flow to the storage below the bow passenger lounges. LED docking lights, set into black trim pieces, complete the exterior.

Within the confines of that sleek perimeter, find a versatile mix of seating. Forward, traditional bow lounges stretch a full 6 feet 6 inches. Opposite the helm, a loveseat awaits with an additional rear-facing backrest. Aft, an inviting, 3-by-3-foot L-lounge provides space for multiple passengers to gather around the kidney-shaped pedestal table. Seatbacks feature unique, pillow-top inserts with a contrasting texture and finish. Abundant stowage is found below nearly every seat cushion. Lift one of those cushions and note seat bases aren’t the roto-molded plastic norm, but instead welded aluminum frames which Avalon notes increase storage space and offer superior drainage and ventilation.

Pushing the throttle forward engaged our test boat’s Suzuki 200 and resulted in an almost instantaneous plane. The 30-mph threshold was reached in under 8 seconds; top speed edged just over the 39-mph mark. Below deck, Avalon’s Sport Performance package featured triple 25-inch pontoons with inboard lifting fins that gave the boat a touch of inside lean. In addition, the package includes a full-length wave shield, integrated motor pod and fuel tank, and SeaStar hydraulic steering.

High Points

Ensign II fiberglass helm with soft-touch dash and removable windshield.
Infinity PRV315 sound system with Bluetooth, four Infinity chrome-grilled speakers, USB and auxiliary input.
Quick-release Bimini top with anodized aluminum frame.
Extended 2-foot 6-inch rear deck area with four-step, stainless-steel boarding ladder.

Price: $61,945

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