Mooring a boat in a lake.

I am considering a bigger boat for next year. One of the boats I am considering is a pontoon boat. I don’t mind trailering a regular boat, but I think a pontoon will be less than fun to trailer, launch and retrieve. A friend who lives on Kentucky Lake and has a dock and no boat, graciously offered to let me moor a boat there. I was wondering what the downside is in leaving a boat in Kentucky Lake for extended periods. I know there must be some; otherwise, folks would not spend big bucks to have boatlifts installed. So what am I looking at if I decide to do this?

Up north here, (Mich) if you leave a boat in the water all the time it will get algae growing on it.

I've been on moorings my entire 40+ years of boating, some issues to consider besides bottom paint, not listed in any particular order:

-Wind or hurricanes
-Excessive rain
-Drops in water table or rise thereof
-Theft
-Secure mooring/anchor/block and pennant
-Getting to & fro

That said, I love the simplicity, ease, low cost (compared to slips) and privacy of my moorings.

I also have just started to use West Marine's copper-free ablative paint made for aluminum or frp (glass) boats and I have had ZERO growth in 3-months!

Boatlifts are really just so your boat doesn't get dirty or bang against a dock all season. You will generally see glass boats on boat lifts. People with aluminum boats are usually less appearance focused and don't mind a little rub from the fender bumpers or some pond scum at the waterline. There are many, many lakes where people leave their boats at a dock all season without issue and a mooring is even less damaging.

Thanks all for the insight. And to crazymanme2 - I think you will get algae now matter where you park it.
And to Jethro - I will keep an eye on what kind of boats I see on the lifts the next time I am out, but I think you are right.

I think the time is getting close to get serious about the boat as the prices around here (west Kentucky) are starting to drop. A lot of summer home folk are shedding their boats before winter sets in. The pontoon is being considered as it is the only boat I MIGHT get my bride on at least once in a while. For the few times that might happen it may be better for me to find something else. I do have to find something with a console and steering as my shoulders can not take the tiller any longer.

Tin should be fairly easy to keep clean, especially when the water is warmer, just jump in and use a scrubber pad to get most of the crud off, and then go for a ride to wash it all off. Being exposed to the weather the carpet and seats will deteriorate quicker, so if you feel the boat is worth it to get a snap on cover to extend the life of the carpet and such, it could be a good investment.

Steve A W said:

Does the lake have zebra mussels?

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I don't think so. I have never heard anyone speak of them.
Kentucky Lake is the dammed up Tennessee River before it runs into the Ohio River.

It has Asian Carp - LOTS - of Asian Carp.

Mooring and tying to a dock are two different things. I think you were referring to tying your boat to his dock.

I did that once and, as far as getting out to fish, it was wonderful. Go to dock. Get in. Start engine. Fish. I did have to drag my gear on each time, as the dock was next to a bar. Too many guys walking by every evening to leave much on the boat.

I didn't have a cover, nor did I want a cover, since it would be a PIA to put it on, take it off, and then store it someplace every time I went out.

Not having a cover created a problem when we'd have torrential rains. After I nearly sunk the boat..... since no one was there to turn the bilge pump on....I installed an automatic bilge pump to deal with the rain., That created a problem since I had to charge the battery constantly.

The dock had no electricity, so I had to drag a long extension cord from the bar outside outlet to the boat, hook up the charger.....go away for a few hours...and return to pull the cord off, before the drunks showed up. I lived about twenty minutes away, and it seemed that I was always driving back and forth to deal with something. That was fine since I was retired.

All in all, I'd do it over again in a minute. Just being able to jump in the boat and go fishing in ten minutes... was worth whatever I had to do to keep her tied to a dock.

I also owned a 14 foot pontoon boat once. For the same reason that you are talking about buying one. To take my wife out with a bottle of wine and watch the sun go down. We did that, maybe, four times in four years.

The rest of the time, I was blown all over the lake due to the high deck and high sides inherent in pontoons. Fishing was a disaster in that thing.

Most boats do one thing well, and other things not so well.

They say, buy a boat for what you do 80% of the time. I agree, but I think 90% of the time.... is a better factor number.

regards, richg99

Clint KY said:

Steve A W said:

Does the lake have zebra mussels?

Click to expand...

I don't think so. I have never heard anyone speak of them.
Kentucky Lake is the dammed up Tennessee River before it runs into the Ohio River.

It has Asian Carp - LOTS - of Asian Carp.

Click to expand...

That sucks. I've been told Kentucky Lake is great for striper. But no way I'm going out there and risk getting slapped in the face with an asian carp.