We made an Ice Cream Boat....

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nicolebentley
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We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#1 Post by nicolebentley » Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:37 pm

Hi, I'm a newbie on here, and I came here a while back to get ideas. This board really helped me understand what I was getting into with a pontoon, so Thank You to you all.

I'm a single mom, (age 50 but I act 49.5) & fairly handy with tools. My teen son wanted a pontoon boat for years. He always wanted to operate an ice cream boat on the Intracoastal Waterway where we live in NC. Since he turned 15 this year, it was time for him to get a job, and this is the job he wanted. He showed me he was willing to do the work, so we searched and found the perfect 24' pontoon... an older one with a nearly-new motor. The carpet and canvas top are teal, which worked well for us. We did not find the boat until mid-May, so weren't able to get it ready early in the season. We rushed and got it ready by July. He's now been on the water selling a few weeks, and it's been great.

Down the road, we might be able to do a full reno of the boat... or maybe I'll do that when he's off to college (altho he says he still wants to sell ice cream in summers then... he absolutely loves it! But I thought our quick fixes might interest some people on this board.

I had the idea to use coroplast (corrugated plastic sign board) to cover the dinged-up panels, and create a good look for an ice cream boat. Those panels varied in price everywhere I checked, but I knew I needed to get it from a sign shop, so I wouldn't have to pay the shipping on the 4' x 8' sheets. The lowest I found was $20 a sheet, so I bought 3. White was the only color I found available. One of the sign shops directed me to a vinyl supplier in town. There, I ordered a big roll of red 3" tape to create the stripes ($20). I also bought a few feet of 6 other beautiful colors of vinyl (adhesive, and 2' tall, priced by the foot, about $2 per foot). So.... all the colorful décor was done very cheaply, about $100.

My sister works as a cell tower engineer and advised me that standard 3M Scotch dbl-sided foam tape holds up phenomenally outdoors.... they use it on the job. I went a step further and bought the Exterior grade of that tape, and it is holding up great in the saltwater and harsh wind... I used it to apply the very-lightweight striped panels.

I cut strips of the colored vinyl to cover PVC pipes to make the flagpoles (they now have flags on them).

I still plan to do some upholstery of some of the benches we removed, and we'll stick those on at times, when we are pleasure-cruising. (Surprisingly, when we take it out during the week, we only see a few boats, and none have asked for ice cream. On weekends, we're selling and stopped constantly.)

My carpet tip might be helpful to some of you...even tho I'm sure y'all are much handier than I! Our carpet was okay on the inside. But the front end (where the fishing seats were) was shredded. We pulled it all off, and installed a new "carpet"... an outdoor rug from Walmart, $70. I cut it with a razor knife to fit, and poked it under the metal band with a putty knife. Then stapled like crazy with stainless steel staples.

We have waves wash across the "bow" every time we go out, and the carpet looks great still. If it just holds up for this summer, we're fine... but it appears it may last a while. The addition of that carpet made an unbelievable improvement. The boat went from looking shabby to adorable, I swear. :)

We opted not to re-install the fishing seats, after temporarily sticking some 'real' chairs on it, because the real chairs were so much more comfy. So we bought red and white ones to match. I realize this may be a bit "low-rent" for some people, but they sure are comfy. We secured them with one heavy-duty zip-tie, and that has worked fine.

The entry gate with "Riviera Cruiser" has now been covered with a panel with our logo, custom-cut out of vinyl for $10. I cannot believe how cheaply we were able to get a great new look for our boat. And we are now total pontoon-fans. My son even suggested we buy a 2nd one, that we decorate for pleasure-cruising only. But then we'd have a battle of me wanting it pink & green and him wanting it camo. ha

We scoured the internet for fun pontoon re-dos like this, and didn't see nearly as many as we expected. They are such perfect boats for customizing... such fun. And so perfect for an ice cream boat, with so much room.

The boat is getting rave reviews and is a big hit. We are going to do a press release, but a local newspaper contacted us before we got it out. So we were featured in it this week. If you want to see more, we are on Facebook at The Ice Cream Float, on Instagram at theicecreamfloat, and at http://www.IceCreamFloatBoat.com.
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The Ice Cream Float 2 - Copy.jpg
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Ice Cream Menu 2.jpg
Ice Cream Menu 2.jpg (43.78 KiB) Viewed 6078 times
Crowd near sand slide copy.jpg
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wood floor.jpg
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new carpet.jpg
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chairs and new rug.jpg
chairs and new rug.jpg (708.4 KiB) Viewed 6091 times

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HandymanHerb
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#2 Post by HandymanHerb » Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:20 pm

:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup
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teecro
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#3 Post by teecro » Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:42 am

That is such a cool and crazy idea; it is giving me goose bumps just thinking about buying ice cream from a floating ice cream truck while out playing on the lake.... I bet that would go over like gang busters on Norris Lake with the floating "hoods" outside of every one of our marinas.... We noticed a lot of traffic coming in for ice cream cones and gas at one of the marinas we stopped at for food & drink...
T CRO
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zoom650
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#4 Post by zoom650 » Fri Aug 01, 2014 4:54 am

Great job on the ice cream conversion! While in Destin and anchored up at the party spot, Crab Island, several small boats were doing gang buster business selling ice cream and boiled peanuts. The boiled peanuts were hot out of the cooler and went well with all the cold beer!

Maybe a useful idea to your son. Bait boats use a long-handled dip net to pass bait to boats and bring back the $$$ without getting too close. Don't see why frosty treats wouldn't work as well.

Good luck to your enterprising young man!
Michael and Laura
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prior boat: '02 Century 2600CC, twin Yamaha EFI 200's, full instruments.

smoker62
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#5 Post by smoker62 » Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:02 am

What kind of refrigeration do you have ? Ice cream wouldnt last long on plain old ice I wouldnt think. Maybe dry ice ? Great idea . We have a lady with a toon out every weekend . She sells hot dogs, grilled cheese , hot beef and a few others. She calls it " Water Dawgs" . She runs a generator and small freezer along with coolers.Hangs out on the most popular sandbar every sat and sun. She is always busy. i do see a freezer now that I look at the pics again.
Last edited by smoker62 on Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Kilo Bravo
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#6 Post by Kilo Bravo » Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:05 am

Congrats on the creative idea and for having an awesome son.

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chopper6358
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#7 Post by chopper6358 » Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:41 am

where did you get the giant icecream cones?
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PlaynDoc
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#8 Post by PlaynDoc » Fri Aug 01, 2014 8:21 am

what a great idea! i wonder if selling pre-packaged items, like ice cream bars, requires a business license, though.... i don't think this venture would ever be profitable on our small lake, but on a busy lake and inter coastal waterway, sure... and, of course, your son probably doesn't mind the opportunity to meet some hotties in bikinis!

i think i'd add a cell phone number to the signage... or make some stickers to put on the ice cream bars - and when out on water, update the Facebook page with your GPS coordinates every hour or so, so people can find you... let every customer know they can find you - and your location, on Facebook. everyone carries a smart phone...
smoker62 wrote:i do see a freezer now that I look at the pics again.
on their Facebook page, you can see a generator on the boat

but, geeze, that's a great idea. ice cream is something that cannot be brought from home and kept in coolers...
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fergusmj
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#9 Post by fergusmj » Fri Aug 01, 2014 9:49 am

PlaynDoc wrote:- and when out on water, update the Facebook page with your GPS coordinates every hour or so, so people can find you... let every customer know they can find you - and your location, on Facebook. everyone carries a smart phone...

This!!!! Just this Wednesday I tried to find an EMT (Emergency Munchie Truck) before my softball game. Had no idea where to find them. Their GPS location was just their business address. The news article on them said they'd keep it updated on their location, but it was not.
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badmoonrising
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#10 Post by badmoonrising » Fri Aug 01, 2014 10:19 pm

Love the story and you did a fantastic job on the 'toon. Good luck !
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Nashman
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#11 Post by Nashman » Sat Aug 02, 2014 2:05 am

Great idea and great job on the 'Toon!
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teecro
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#12 Post by teecro » Sat Aug 02, 2014 4:16 am

smoker62 wrote:What kind of refrigeration do you have ? Ice cream wouldnt last long on plain old ice I wouldnt think. Maybe dry ice ? Great idea . We have a lady with a toon out every weekend . She sells hot dogs, grilled cheese , hot beef and a few others. She calls it " Water Dawgs" . She runs a generator and small freezer along with coolers.Hangs out on the most popular sandbar every sat and sun. She is always busy. i do see a freezer now that I look at the pics again.
I've seen many an old poor mans "Ice Cream Truck" that used nothing more fancy than and old chest type deep freezer packed with dry ice while out on the road; they were plugged into the house when not in use and they replaced the dry ice blocks as needed... Modern chest freezers use very little wattage and can be kept running with a surprisingly small portable generator...
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Tom Ray
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#13 Post by Tom Ray » Sat Aug 02, 2014 5:12 am

That's truly awesome.

Your foredeck carpet is outrageous and you should replace the rest of the carpet with the same pattern. Too funny!

I understand the need for an ice cream boat to run around with fenders out, but you should make decorative slip-covers for them.

How do you like the Suzuki? I was considering one of those but got a great deal on a Tohonda. (Honda 60 with Tohatsu decals.)

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smltooner
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#14 Post by smltooner » Sat Aug 02, 2014 5:25 pm

Great work and you should be very proud of your enterprising son.
There are 2 brothers that wanted to do the same thing on our lake.
When they were about 14-15 yrs old, their father helped them buy a used pontoon and equiped it with freezers etc. The brothers are now in their early 20s and have used the ice cream boat to help pay their way through college. They still run 7 days a week in the summer. Since they have finished college, they thought about selling the business but were having too much fun.
Good luck to you and your son.
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nicolebentley
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Re: We made an Ice Cream Boat....

#15 Post by nicolebentley » Mon Aug 11, 2014 10:50 am

Hi all, sorry it took me so long to reply. We've had nothing but rain and have not been able to sell ice cream for past 2 weekends, so we travelled and I was away from computer.

Y'all gave me a LOT of great tips, thanks so much for the feedback!
Here are answers to some of your questions:

Chopper6358 -- where did I get the giant IC cones?

I have no idea. Now that's old age for you, I have absolutely no memory of buying them! I got them years ago, and saved for a future playroom. They are available online (like this:)
http://www.greatbigstuff.com/collection ... cream-cone

...for ~$50 each... and I know I didn't pay that.... but they are great. They are technically banks, with a coin slot in top. I drilled holes easily in them to attach with zip ties.

Zoom650 --- I love your long-handled basket idea. We had actually started making one, and stopped... but rafting up against $$$ yachts---I'm going back to that idea. Makes me so nervous that we'll damage a yacht.

Smoker62 --- our initial idea was to try keeping the ice on dry ice, but it did not stay cold. We did a test run with a cooler sitting in the yard in the sun, and it melted quickly. Also the cost of the dry ice would make it not make sense.... it would have cost us about $20 or more each trip, in dry ice.... even IF we could get enough to keep it cold & hard. The freezer was cheap, the generator not so cheap. It's an investment he'll have to pay back... but should be able to cover his costs this first summer, then be more profitable next summer. Still---it would not support a family! (in our area, with only weekend traffic)

Playndoc and fergusmj ---- Love that idea, and from now on, I'll post our location to FB while we're out! We don't have to even do GPS or coord's-----here, everyone knows the inlet names.

Tom Ray --- the Suzuki has been great. I know nothing about motors, but my bro-in-law is a Harbormaster and very knowledgeable, and he cautioned me against Mercury, and liked the Suzuki.

smltooner --- I'm pretty sure I read about those guys, we did a lot of research, and they were very inspiring. My son wants to do this for years to come, even thru college... if possible. Mostly, he thinks it is an absolute blast. He could also work a job during the week... there's plenty of time. This would be an even better business in an area with daily traffic. Here, it's mostly only weekend traffic.

We are now working on some ideas for how to use it at the Christmas season... the red-white stripes lend itself to a Christmas Re-design.

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