Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Greetings to one & all in "toon" land.

From everything I've read over the last month or so on this site - it looks like I've landed in the right place to seek out the answers to my never ending list of questions that have triggered more that a few sleepless night in "lala land".
So I think it's time to get this party started...............

About 10 years ago I started scuba diving and got hooked on spearfishing. I've never owned my own boat & always had to wait for a slot to open up on someone else's. I always made sure I arrived early to help load, stayed late to help clean up & threw cash into the pot for gas money - so I pretty much was able to catch a ride most times. Sometimes not. I needed to change this.

I am now in possession of a 1996 Fisher 220 with a 75 Mercury that I would like convert for diving & spearfishing. It's pretty trashed (parked on a pond for 3 years unused) but seems to be pretty solid (it floats). We have it stripped down to the decking already & will remove that this weekend to start from scratch.

These questions are really just random so please bear with me:

I've noticed on all the "rebuild pontoon sites" that no one has seems to be making dive boat's out of these old relics. Is this a bad idea?

Do I have to add a third pontoon in the center to make it more stable?

The ideal set up is to have the driver with 3 shooters & you rotate "round robin" style. Point is I only need seating for four.
I am not going to replace the "couch's" like when it was new - but just with seats or ?

I was going to place 2 "four tank" racks over the pontoons up front (one on each side) to balance the boat front to back.

I could go on & on with the ideas that I have but this is already a long enough rant so let me stop here for a moment.
I have a "cad program" on this computer to draw out the plans that I want to do & will post pictures this weekend.
My plan for this project is to start now & hopefully be completed by the first of May.

Comments, advice or ideas are more than welcome.

"tanks",
Steve

Welcome!

That third log is not necessary for stability but it will help with weight carrying ability and speed if you do it right.

pontoon is not a bad idea for diving but make sure it can handle the water you will be diving in.

Make sure all your fasteners are in good shape and "Stainless steel"

Get some pics in here so we can sink out teeth into it for you!

I have a 24' alumacraft that I have refit for my dive boat and must tell you that a pontoon is just the best dam thing there is for a dive platform. I used it for 3 years constantly making mods to it before I settled on the final configuration and completely rebuilt it.. now I have a tryhal with full top. from my experience 4 people and 8 tanks is going to load down a 21 footer..

you'll need easy access to return to boat, while carrying tanks/gear...

http://www.pontoonstuff.com/collections ... y-boarding

under deck pontoon boat ladder should work well for that

I don't know anything about diving, but I could see a pontoon working well. Good luck!
What exactly are you spear fishing for in MO? I've known people to dive in fresh water, but not spear fishing.

Yes a good ladder is a must I also went with a under deck model. one of my mods this winter is to add a removable post that I can drop into a pocket in the front deck along side the ladder to give a guy something else to grab on to to pull your self out.

OK ladies & gents, after a long hiatus of we're back on track.
Let's get this party started.

Any advise on repainting railing & walls?

I have all of today, tomorrow & Memorial Day off to work on "Das Boot" with a list as long as a country mile. I was able to get the new marine plywood bolted in place this past week.(forgot pic but will get it today) Carpet is here & ready to install if I can find someone to give me a hand. I still need to order new nav lights, wiring harness, horn, gauges, rocker panel, & all the rest.

I'd like to post pics with updates when ever I get something done so if you have any ideas to make something a bit easier for myself PLEASE post your input. I'm pretty much flying blind here so no worries about insulting me..............

tenNesseeCat wrote:I don't know anything about diving, but I could see a pontoon working well. Good luck!
What exactly are you spear fishing for in MO? I've known people to dive in fresh water, but not spear fishing.

In Missouri it's rough fish & catfish but in Arkansas in Bull Shoals & Beaver you can also take walleye. At Greer's Ferry Area last time I was there it was everything but white bass. Downside is poor vis but laying on the bottom it's not bad. Upside I've never run across any Tiger sharks

All in all it's a blast. The Fresh Water Spearfishing Nationals are at Beaver Lake June 20th - 24th four weeks from now.