Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Buying a 1990 Landau Cast-A-Way 18 foot. Pushed by a 30 horse and riding on a galvanized single axle trailer. We'll be mostly running at "cocktail speed" in the Erie Canal with occasional forays out into the Niagara River. Should be bringing her home in about a week and a half. Right now it's in Pennsylvania.

I drive a Hyundai Santa Fe (3.5L 6-cyl) with a tow package, but we'll be using my brother's Ram 1500 4wd with a Hemi for the haul home.
My HOPE is that I can launch and recover with my Santa Fe. But, honestly, was thinking about slipping it for the remainder of this season so I can use it more easily and also do a little work on the trailer (recover the bunks, pull the wheels and check bearings, see if I can fit up some bearing buddies or similar, general cleanup.)

I would LOVE to do a canal trip, but... before I go making any plans, I need to get it home.

Right now I have to wait for a check from one of our investments, then the bank wants to hold that for 5 days to clear, then drive down to PA to pay the remainder, run off to a NYS DMV to get the trailer tag, then back to PA to actually get the boat. Not looking forward to all that running around, but... it is what it is.

Welcome to the Forum...Post some pics when you can. We all like pics

Ok... well, we'll see if I figured out how to add pics... And... it appears I may have... Needs some cleaning up. I think I may be recovering the bunks. I want to find a spare for the trailer as I can't remember seeing one. I got up and walked around on it and the floor doesn't feel soft anywhere. The rearmost couch has a seam spitting, and the padded area on the top of that raised, back sundeck, is a little marked up. He said he's pretty sure that's from his dogs because they liked being there.
The bimini looks fine, he has covers for all of the seating and console, and a winter cover. He said he basically only puts that full cover on in the winter and that's it. Started right up (shut off immediately because didn't want to run it dry).

I can get a slip for the rest of the season for 3 or 4 hundred bucks. And I might clean the boat up, launch it, and then be able to use it easily while working on the trailer. I don't, at this point, have aspirations of making this thing into a showpiece, but I know there are a few things I want to do.

My wife thinks launch, recover, store is what we should do. She's never owned a boat. If she wants to use it once a week or less, then I agree with her. If she wants to use it a lot, then maybe the slip isn't a bad idea. Haven't really decided on that yet.
Would welcome input though.

OK... maybe I haven't figured out pics yet. They don't seem to go inline when you tell them to go inline... oh well... there they are.

Welcome to the club.

Yeah I haven't got mine to post right either but. Our forum needs some updating but is still a great place.

Looks like you have a multi color scheme going on there. I guess the seats were changed out at some point.

Here is the thing. It is your boat you can do what you want to it.
So IMO clean it up and use it as is is a great thing. I would have no problems doing that with that boat.

Mine is in similar condition for now. Check out my link in my signature to see my future rebuild thread and what is going on with my boat. I bought a boat in similar condition. The front being a little soft but usable for a year or two. Eventually I would need to rebuild. But I have an opportunity thanks to, in large part, finding this forum. And Pontoonstuff.com

I won't explain it all here but check out that link or the Free Boat Time ( I think it was called) thread and you'll see.

Lots of great info on here and people that have a ton of fun with their boats. Not huge activity right now though. But there are a few regulars.

BTW I like your boat. Mine is 24 ft. A shorter boat would be a cool fishing boat I have thought. My son and I took the pontoon out fishing and it is a bit on the big side for that. But it is what I have.

regarding the seats... I know he added the 2 front pedestal seats because he fishes. He would put a trolling motor on the front. He ran a line underneath for power to the trolling motor. I think if I was going to add a trolling motor, I'd also add a second battery.

Looking at it again, I can see I don't really have access to the motor and battery and stuff once it's in the water. At least... not without some acrobatics. I wonder if that's going to be an issue. I guess it hasn't been an issue for him or the original owner, so... maybe I'm just over thinking... which I'm particularly good at.