Pontoon boat - stitch and glue

Builder's Forum
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I’ve hesitated starting this thread, as it may well raise scorn and derision.

I know , a pontoon ‘boat’ hardly deserves being called a boat. It’s a deck on floats. But a deck on floats has its charm. What’s wrong with sitting on a deck out in the middle of a beautiful lake?

But they are ugly. I think a wooden, varnished pontoon boat would actually come close to looking nice. So anyway, I think it would be cool if CLC offered a pontoon boat kit. I’m thinking just basics- pontoons and cross members. I can come up with the deck, railings, etc. I did search on the internet a bit and saw a few plans.

Anyway is this a crazy idea?

2

Well, powered heavier than air flying machines were considered a “crazy idea” in 1903, but most people have gotten over that by now. <;-)

But, seriously, folks…the whole idea of pontoon boats, as currently produced, is that they are largely made of metal with a deck of plywood, particle board, or even PVC or HDPE sheet (probably covered with outdoor carpet) over metal truss structures connecting mostly cylindrical floats. Cheap to mass produce, easy to maintain, nearly indestructible, and typically meant to be used by folks way more interested (and likely way more knowledgeable) in cooking out on a patio than messing about in boats.

I’m guessing, without any sort of engineering workup, that a “floating deck” as you describe in stitch and glue plywood meant to show off varnished surfaces would have a very high part count and be very time consuming to build. As you did, I saw some plans for plywood pontoon boats from various sources on the internet. They tended to look pretty clunky to my eye, which is, it might be that the whole idea of a floating patio deck is doomed to be clunky, hard to say, a fact not important to the intended audience mostly interested in the “floating” and “patio” parts of the concept.

Then again, John Harris is a genuine creative genius, so if anybody could come up with “The Elegant Pontoon Boat” the way Phil Bolger came up with “The Elegant Punt” he’s the man to do it. Whether the potential market for such a thing is worth the time developing it is another question he’d have to ask himself.

What might be more possible is a lighter scow type hull, perhaps with a bit of curve to it, meant to support a light awning with crouching headroom and benches along the sides and just enough beam so that folks wouldn’t be likely to capsize it by lunging about. In use, it might be something like a launch (electric powered, I think) which was living on our local water reservoir last summer. See attached photo. Maybe something with a garvy (*) like hull with a bit of deadrise forward so it’d pound less in a chop, with a motorwell for a whisper quiet electric outboard, would make an elegant platform for a pleasant gathering of friends and family for an afternoon cruise with a floating picnic…anchored out in front of multimillion dollar waterfront estates. <;-)

Okay, somebody stop me now…

…Gramps/Michael

Note * It’s depressing how many “gravy boats” come up in a Google search for “Garvy Boat Designs”. Maybe they should make their AI search engines digest some of Howard Chapelle’s works?

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Thanks for your reply, gramps!

I still think a wooden pontoon boat could look elegant, but thanks for thinking outside the box (well, two boxes)

We have a cottage on a lake in Quebec, and there is an electric launch there similar to what I see in your picture. And it is gorgeous. I have to rank it just above my Passagemaker that I keep up there. I may have to think along those lines. I want something that can take 4 adults and a handful of grandkids out on a lake in North Carolina to cruise slowly and be able to anchor and let the kids jump overboard to swim. We have an aluminum pontoon boat in Canada that works well for that. It’s also our ‘pickup truck’ to move big stuff to and from the cottage. It’s very functional but bland.

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Steve,
You could buy the Madness Proa plans and make 2 hulls the same size and design/build your deck across them. You could choose what size you wanted, 30.5’ or 22.5’. It seems like it might move along fairly well with the hull shape.

https://clcboats.com/shop/boats/pro-kits/madness-31-foot-pacific-proa.html

Sounds like a fun project.

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Thanks- interesting idea. I was wonder if it’s more streamlined than what I need. I intend to go slow and desire good buoyancy. I think something around 16’ would be good

Holy cow! I just googled pontoon boats and they are expensive!!! Like $20K and up for a small one. So here is a boat category where CLC can not only be the aesthetic leader but price leader too .

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Well, I pinged CLC about this idea and they kind of shot it down:

“Thanks for your interest. A wooden pontoon kit would be very heavy and a challenge to make strong from side to side, especially with higher horsepower outboards. It is fun to think about, but aluminum has all but been determined to be the best material.”

I’m still not totally convinced, but they didn’t jump at the idea…

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I was curious after your post and googled “wood pontoon boats” and some of the ones out there are pretty cool looking. I say go for it.

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I’m very tempted. I was talking to a fellow boat builder today and we riffed on the idea. Since one would want maximum buoyancy over speed, I’d think I’d follow the typical ‘round tube with pointed front end’ that the aluminum ones use. Make bulkheads out of ply or Coosa and strip plank it. Then there would be multiple water tight compartments. Could even foam fill them. Need to figure out how to Fiberglas the inside- probably have a wide plank at the top (cut off the top of circle) to get access to do that? Sapele keel to protect the bottom. Keep the deck lightweight with Coosa. Need to think about rails and seats more, but strip planked side panels would be beautiful. I haven’t done strip planking or used Coosa so that adds to the desire to do it.

Be interested in any advice from the pros!

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Not a pro, but if you want max buoyancy for a given dimension, a square or rectangular cross section is the way to go. Consider a circle scribed into a square.

Rounding the bilges will give you reduced wetted area and less drag. Curving the ends to close them (instead of pinching them shut) will also reduce the drag. And if you give each pontoon rocker that matches the side-to-side curve, you’ve just about re-invented the Bolger Sharpie Catamaran, a 24x14 ft boat.

A flat rockered bottom makes beach operations easier, including recovering from accidental groundings. It also spreads out the weight being supported by the grounded pontoons.

Even if you don’t want high speed, reducing the drag with an easily driven hull is a good thing. It lets you use a lighter and cheaper motor with better gas mileage. Or it could let you go electric. It will also slice through or slip over wakes and chop instead of bulling through.

Just my thoughts, worth triple what you paid :slight_smile:

Laszlo

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Thanks Laszlo,
That all makes sense. I was playing around with buoyancy numbers and starting thinking a more rectangular section would be better and easier to build. I also looked at the Glen-L Marine Huck Finn design which is the only decent wood pontoon boat plans I’ve seen so far. It looks to be a rectangular cross section. That would be more conducive to stitch and glue bottom with maybe strip planing above the waterline.

We use an Epropulsion Spirit on our Canada pontoon boat and it is perfect for a slow cocktail hour cruise. We do a full circle of a three mile lane and only use about 10% of the battery. Now, this is in calm weather, but it shows what’s possible.

Lots to think about. Might be next winter’s project.