Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

So last week, but the lady and I decided to trade our ski boat for a pontoon. We wanted something easier to work on, with more room, so a pontoon was the logical choice. I'm excited to not have to mess with inboard motors and fiberglass anymore!

So here we go.

RIP Manta Ray aka "The Natui Pickle" (our last name is Pickle)

And here's "The Nauti Pickle II"!! My father and son make excellent models. She's a 24' Playbuoy Yachtsman.

We knew going in we would want a new motor, and brand new interior. As long as the deck was solid (it is), we can work with the rest.

So I cannot have a bigger boat at my house unless we cut down a tree in the side yard! Tight squeeze!

We started the tear down Friday morning. Here she is with the hard top up. Having a hard top was a major plus for us. No canvas to rip or tear, and you can mount speakers and lights from it. Plus, having a toddler, it gives him a solid place to get out of the sun.

And on Friday, Kasey gave me my final Christmas present. A vinyl decal of the very nauti pickle, to go on the back, along with letters for the name!!

Little man and mommy tearing her up.

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... fl1wni.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... vlvcft.jpg[/img]

On Friday night, I picked up a great running 1972 65 horsepower Johnson 2 stroke. Here it is next to my 20 HP 1967 tiller steer Johnson I use on my fishing boat. I'm hoping for 20 mph with this set up and a light load.

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... isnp3e.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... 1j1weu.jpg[/img]

Maitlin having fun in the junk original seats.

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... gj8ivq.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... 7fa0ar.jpg[/img]

Deck Cleared. The console and captain's seat are salvagable, and will be recovered to match our new color scheme. All other seats will be brand new.

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... 0q9l8k.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... gphi3x.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... lit8px.jpg[/img]


Our plan is to install new vinyl flooring rather than carpet. I think carpet is gross on boats, and I love the look of the faux wood decks. We will build 3 new bench seats, as well as a live well/center cushion. Then we will paint the fence, and polish all aluminum trim and the pontoon logs themselves.

Picked up the vinyl Saturday evening.

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... gnnnnr.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... hap6b0.jpg[/img]

Started staining the tables in the new accent color.

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... jrhz0z.jpg[/img]

And how she sits right now. It's hidden in this picture, but there is actually a boat sitting there. And a Kasey.

[img]http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd56 ... xz2yvp.jpg[/img]

Well dang, looks like my pics aren't working!

the forum is in renovation stage. if you save them locally you can browse to the pics and they'll work.

awesome decal!

[quote="curtiscapk"]the forum is in renovation stage. if you save them locally you can browse to the pics and they'll work.

awesome decal![/quote]

Haha thanks! I was so excited when I opened that box. I have the pictures saved on my computer here at work, but I'm going to have to resize most of them.

Here is a link to my photobucket album in the mean time.

http://s226.photobucket.com/user/hvymtl ... estoration

Don't have any new pics, but we did get more foam for our new seats this weekend. We've been trying to find old furniture for free when we can, and salvage the foam from that! Currently, we need about 5 more couch cushions, and we should have enough. New vinyl was also ordered this weekend.

So there hasn't been too much exciting work, but we've been amassing materials. Our color scheme for the seats is going to be white and gray, with different shades of gray for accent. Perhaps as many as 50? HA. Dad jokes. I'll show myself out.

We will be building the seats out of plywood, 5/8" and 15/32" thickness, depending on where it is on the seats. The bases and buttrests will all be 5/8, the backrest assembly will be 15/32" , cause it will not see the stress of the buttrest and bases.

For the bases, we will be staining them with sherwin williams exterior deck stain and sealant. It should protect the wood, (which will never get that wet, because any time the boat is not being used, it will be covered), but still allow you to see the grain, and give it more of a vintage nautical feel. The buttrest will be white vinyl, and the backrest will be white, with regular gray and metallic gray accent stripes. Should look rad af, kinda flashy, but not over the top.

Since foam is expensive as hell, and we're trying to come up with the most baller boat possible on a budget, we've been pilfering foam from free furniture we find. The backrest of our benches will be 3" thick foam, and the bases will be 6". Stock foam was 2", and 3" respectively. This will make them similar to what you find on brand new pontoons, with massive, cushy, overstuffed seats. We will also be making them 10" wider then they were stock, and a little longer, so there will be plenty of room to lay out, lounge, or sit.

Here's the garage pile. Can't wait to see the stain on that wood. Grain pattern matches the floor vinyl really well.

Started building the first seat base last night! This one is for the back bench. It's going to need 3-4 more coats of sealant, because it had really soaked it up when I checked this morning, but we have 2 gallons, so that will be plenty. Kasey made a mockup of how they will look once they're done.

Made so great progress recently!!!

I'm interested in what type of guitars those were in the background on one of the pictures next to the marshall amp.... Just curious..

[quote="ROLAND"]I'm interested in what type of guitars those were in the background on one of the pictures next to the marshall amp.... Just curious..[/quote]

In that picture, it's an Epiphone Les Paul, a Gibson Explorer, and partcaster P/J bass.

Made more progress last night.

Deck is cleaned and sealed, ready for the new vinyl.

Also, got my glastron fired up for the first time yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmSjgCdMzBA

New vinyl and motor is on!