Marine: Boating, Sailing, PWC, GPS and Navigation - Can I leave my Pontoon boat in the Water over winter

I just purchased a used 24ft Pontoon boat.

Never owned a boat before.

I live in Southern Indiana on a Lake (Mine Pit).

The winters are fairly mild compared to when I lived in Chicago.

The pontoon has a nice snap on cover.

The lake is an old mine strip pit a couple miles long.

The pit is from 20ft to 60 ft deep.

Where is to be docked is about 30 ft deep.

The pit does freeze over occasionally - last winter with the massive ice storm - it froze over.

Can I leave the boat in the water as long as I winterize it and cover it?

Thanks
Holiday

Do you have friends/neighbors around with pontoons? They would be a good source of info. I've rented a few pontoon boats, but am no expert. I do recall that the pontoons are relatively fragile and also require a low air pressure to be maintained.
In the winter, the air pressure may not be enough to keep frozen water (expands when frozen) from squeezing and possibly puncturing the pontoons. I would remove it from the lake rather than taking a chance and finding it 30' down in the spring.
There are pontoon boat web sites which could also be a help. Just Google.

Once you leave something in the water, you are at the mercy of the sun, the wind and the ice and If an inch or so of ice forms, it's too late to do anything about it. A common occurrence is for the sun to melt around something on or in the ice and then the wind keeps banging it against the edge. It needs to come out.

Bud

Agreed. If there is any chance of freezing there is a chance of severe damage.

When the time comes to clean the 'toons, you'll wish you'd kept it on a tlr!!!
Mike