Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Enclosure for the pontoon?
I'm new to he forum and recently just purchased a 23ft Leisure tritoon.

The wife and I plan on going down the Mississippi from Minneapolis to the Quad cities.
We plan on camping along the way.

Can anybody recommend a good enclosure that is waterproof and reasonably bug proof
for camping on the boat.

We thought about taking the front seats out and pitching a tent.

Any suggestions are appreciated
Thanks
ctbarbarian

If you do a search for "enclosure", you will get several hits. Here are a few:

http://north-american-waterway.com/boat ... -Enclosure

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product ... 656&r=view

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22742&p=188041&hili ... re#p188041

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21562&hilit=+enclosure

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20850&hilit=+enclosure

We too love long distance river journeys. Fortunately our river has motels and state park inns along the way with docks for tying up--just far enough apart. The farther east we go on the Tennessee River, the more beautiful the mountains and the ride.

High quality full enclosures are pushing $4K and they're going to limit your cruising speeds.

Welcome to the club.
Enjoy your trip. I envy you.
I always wanted to do that on the Inter-coastal Waterway.

Welcome--
We took out a livewell and a storage area from the front of our 22 Ft a last month just so we could set up a 7x7 tent in the front.
We fish year around but haven't camped in it yet-
I have set the tent up and it holds a full size air mattress with room to spare, not a lot, but not a lot is needed.
I have my coleman camp stove I have used on the boat before and I plan on getting a power converter that will run a coffee maker.
We have a pop-up camper but its kind of a pain to use both vehicles to haul them and we stay on the boat most of the time anyway.
Anyone recommend a power converter that I could use for a coffee pot?

Good luck with whatever you decide-

We have slept on the toon already several times just without being enclosed, the only times the bugs have bugged us was when we anchored close to the shore, we fixed that after the first time---

Also what state are you located?

I can not help on the waterproof but our setup goes over the Bimini top and keeps the dew off. I am not doing overnight anyway if there is chance of rain or storms.

http://texaspontoon.twilight-mania.com/ ... or-pontoon
http://texaspontoon.twilight-mania.com/ ... er-nighter
http://texaspontoon.twilight-mania.com/ ... ter-part-2

We bought our boat used but the PO had this enclosure made by a local upholsterer, he told me they did it for $2800. It works awesome, it has a split front and rear top, that zip together in the center and then there are 2 panels down each side and a front and rear that zip to the top and each other and snap to the rails. Each piece is sized so they are easy to handle and fold up very compact. I then made a platform that changes our front area into one large bed which we now leave in place all the time and is great for all the grandkids.

I think this first trip we will try the tent on the front of the boat but
if this trip turns into an annual event, I really like the pics
rusty has of his boat.
I'm from Clinton, Iowa and hopefully the trip starts in
Prescott, Wisconsin.
We are calling it the Huck Finn trip 2016.
I have a lot of sections of river to cover over the next few years.

any comments on a Weber 1000 gas grill?

Best guess, the previous owner says it has a 35 gal gas tank.
The boat has a 115 Yamaha 4 stroke.
What is a reasonable distance I can go on a tank at a slow speed?
100 miles?

ps I'm bringing a Honda 1000 generator

Rustynuts wrote:We bought our boat used but the PO had this enclosure made by a local upholsterer, he told me they did it for $2800. It works awesome, it has a split front and rear top, that zip together in the center and then there are 2 panels down each side and a front and rear that zip to the top and each other and snap to the rails. Each piece is sized so they are easy to handle and fold up very compact. I then made a platform that changes our front area into one large bed which we now leave in place all the time and is great for all the grandkids.

That's nice! It gets hot down here in Florida. Would be nice to have those sides when the heavy rains start. I could deal with the front and back open...

joe20toon wrote:

Rustynuts wrote:We bought our boat used but the PO had this enclosure made by a local upholsterer, he told me they did it for $2800. It works awesome, it has a split front and rear top, that zip together in the center and then there are 2 panels down each side and a front and rear that zip to the top and each other and snap to the rails. Each piece is sized so they are easy to handle and fold up very compact. I then made a platform that changes our front area into one large bed which we now leave in place all the time and is great for all the grandkids.

That's nice! It gets hot down here in Florida. Would be nice to have those sides when the heavy rains start. I could deal with the front and back open...

The front and back both can be removed and the sides left in place. All the window panels have a roll up privacy cover on the inside and when all open the breeze comes right through.

A lot of folks around here get the half enclosure which covers just under the factory bimini area. One guy makes them for around 1000. They are more for using the boat year round than camping so they are nearly all clear glass andvery little fabric. I saw somewhere a tent that goes over the forward seats and is pretty neat but you can't use it while running. I'd try to find a awning company nearby if you can't find a marine upholsterer and they can make you one. The problem with buying a full enclosure online is its hard to fit and you'd still have to do some final fit work and put the snaps on once it's on the boat.