Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

What does everyone use to get on and off front of pontoon when beached up? I am in Pool 13 on the Mississippi River and we beach up to sandbars all the time. I have two little daughters that need help on and off the boat all the time, so it is mainly for them.

I am thinking of getting a inexpensive bucket of water to dip the sandy feet and a step ladder that wont sink into the sand too badly. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Bstat

I am interested also, I have two little ones (ages 2 and 4) and they are always dragging the sand up onto the pontoon. Our normal procedure is to lift them into the water and swish their feet back and forth untill all the sand is off, then lift them onto the deck.

A few weeks back, I saw a pontoon with 'Sea Legs' and the owners jacked the rear legs up so high that the front of the deck was almost on the ground. At first I thought they had a bad control valve, but it didn't make sense to be soo high still. And then I saw the real reason.. 2 miniature pinchers.. with the front of the deck so low, they could jump off and on with ease. I took a pictire with my wife's phone, if she still has it I will try and get it from her.. One of the funnier things I have seen in a while..

-ron

That is exactly what I do now with them. Pick them up, swish their feet in the water and lift onto boat. Not the hardest thing in the world to do, but ours are 7 and 5. 5 year old is not bad but the 7 year old is just dead weight!

I have seen some other pictures here (or elsewhere, I can't remember) where people put step ladders on the side doors, which would require the passenger to walk through water to the ladder (hopefully washing themselves off in the process) before the could get to a ladder to get onto the pontoon. Cheap and easy, but I don't like my little ones wandering around on the sides/back of the pontoon where I can't see them.

-ron

I just mounted an underdeck ladder off of the bow three weeks ago and love it. My twin 4 year old girls can climb it easily and usually they have to walk through ankle deep water to get to the ladder. If beached where the ladder is not in water, I use a small shallow storage container that I fill with water that they can step into first before they climb the ladder.

long legs

I got it for my dogs, but people use it also now that its there. Its rated for 400 lbs so I'm not worried.


http://www.discountramps.com/telescoping_dog_ramp.htm

BiXLL wrote:I got it for my dogs, but people use it also now that its there. Its rated for 400 lbs so I'm not worried.


http://www.discountramps.com/telescoping_dog_ramp.htm

damn thats cheap!

I use sea legs.... awesome!

A 7 and 1/2 ft. long aluminum motorcycle ramp that folds in half rated for 750 lbs. Works just great although beware of the large holes if you have a dog, some aluminum mesh tack welded to the top would take care of that issue... IIRC I paid around $65.00. Weighs 16 lbs. and stows easily: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004IA ... 03_s00_i00
Without it, access to land at this particular mooring would have been very difficult since the rocks at the edge were almost vertical, and it was too far to jump safely.

Gotta get wet to get on my boat.

bstat1020, we are also on Pool 13, You must be hitting Princeton Beach, the pits and Coney, huh? We use a plastic tote bottom, its about 18x12x4-deep. fits in my anchor locker. it also fit under the seats in the old Manitou. I think Denise picked it up for like $2 at one of the Dollar General stores or WelfareMart, here in Clinton. We just put it out in front of the bow and fill it with river water. The Grandkids, and anyone else, just steps into the bucket, then onto the bow. If they get into mud, they may have to swish there feet abit. I also have a small 2 step plastic ladder that folds. So the small Grandkids can climb onto the bow, it also fits in the anchor locker. Works good.
Been working on a project to market for this. I'll share it with ya, when its done.

Whats your Port of Call? Might see ya out! (Probably have already) Look for the Premier!
Bryan

We we used to beach on th river, we used a square tupperware container filled with water to wash the kids feet. Even my size 12 feet fit into it if necessary.

Good to see you posting again Dave. Hope all has been well.

@bryden24shp - our port of call is the Savanna Marina. We dry dock the toon there. We usually hit Sebula Lake, Santa Fe beach, and maybe head up to Chesnut Beach in Pool 12 on a nice day. There is a big bar there called Offshore on the Iowa side that we sometimes go to as well. We have not headed south of Sebula too much yet. The Army has been dredging a lot this year so they have made several new beaches in the Savanna area. I would love to meet up with you some weekend. I would like to see those shiney toons you have in person! I will shoot you a PM.

I just bought a plastic Rubbermaid container for washing the feet and going back to the store today to get a two step plastic folding ladder. This one has some larger feet on it so I dont think it will sink into the sand too much and become unstable.