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Started By
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Pontoons and salt water
Posted on 7/12/25 at 10:01 am
Posted on 7/12/25 at 10:01 am
I'm getting ready for retirement and I'm going to retire the do-it-all bay boat and get a family pontoon plus a small flats skiff. I've never owned a pontoon, are there brands that are strictly for lakes that should be avoided for coastal use?
8
Posted on 7/12/25 at 10:14 am to Flats
Just dont store it in the water and do the basic cleaning and preventative maintenance and it won’t be a problem. There are some good protective coatings also.
Some companies may market saltwater ready or whatever but it’s probably just paint or coatings
Some companies may market saltwater ready or whatever but it’s probably just paint or coatings
Posted on 7/12/25 at 10:41 am to Flats
I see a lot with painted toons these days...mostly black.
Might be a better option.
Might be a better option.
Posted on 7/12/25 at 11:46 am to DMAN1968
I'd think Gator Glide would be a viable option, claims it's for salt water also. https://gatorglide.com/
Posted on 7/12/25 at 12:25 pm to Flats
Pontoon tubes are very thin, usually 1/8” or less, and very susceptible to corrosion, especially since it doesn’t seem like many even have anodes on them.
As others mentioned, primer and a few coats of barrier paint (2 part epoxy paint), can go a long ways. And is necessary to apply any sort of anti fouling paint.
If there is any anti fouling paint, make damn sure there is no copper in it, or that the boat has a least 3 barrier coats and is not scuffed/chipped anywhere, as the copper will corrode any exposed bare aluminum while in the water.
For the price of a new pontoon boat nowadays, I would strongly consider having someone weld up a boat/pontoon that would serve the same purpose, and it’ll last forever.
As others mentioned, primer and a few coats of barrier paint (2 part epoxy paint), can go a long ways. And is necessary to apply any sort of anti fouling paint.
If there is any anti fouling paint, make damn sure there is no copper in it, or that the boat has a least 3 barrier coats and is not scuffed/chipped anywhere, as the copper will corrode any exposed bare aluminum while in the water.
For the price of a new pontoon boat nowadays, I would strongly consider having someone weld up a boat/pontoon that would serve the same purpose, and it’ll last forever.
Posted on 7/12/25 at 4:22 pm to ultralite
quote:I'm guessing that would be a non-fouling paint which doesn't oxidize out of water?
As others mentioned, primer and a few coats of barrier paint (2 part epoxy paint), can go a long ways.
Posted on 7/12/25 at 6:25 pm to Flats
Have you looked at the SeaArk easy cats? Basically a big jon boat with 2 pontoon boat sofas in it. It's better suited for fishing and will ride better. Only drawback would be stability and deck space.
ETA, I see now you getting 2 boats. Looks at whatever brands they rent out at Crab Island, those things go get a lot of use and seam to hold up well.
ETA, I see now you getting 2 boats. Looks at whatever brands they rent out at Crab Island, those things go get a lot of use and seam to hold up well.
This post was edited on 7/12/25 at 6:29 pm
Posted on 7/12/25 at 9:17 pm to CHEDBALLZ
quote:
ETA, I see now you getting 2 boats. Looks at whatever brands they rent out at Crab Island, those things go get a lot of use and seam to hold up well.
Yeah, looking at the pontoon for max seating and looking at an Ankona or similar for fishing.
Checking rental brands is a good idea, thanks.
Posted on 7/13/25 at 7:51 am to Flats
If you plan to keep it in the water, just get the toons painted. My neighbors pontoon has been in the water at his dock for the entire 5 years i've lived here and it still looks perfect. Hose down and flush the engine after use and it'll be fine.
Posted on 7/14/25 at 7:02 am to Flats
This one seemed to make it fine from Louisiana to south palmetto point, Eleuthera, Bahamas. I wonder about its story and how exactly it made its way here.
Posted on 7/14/25 at 10:40 am to Flats
quote:
I'm getting ready for retirement and I'm going to retire the do-it-all bay boat and get a family pontoon plus a small flats skiff. I've never owned a pontoon, are there brands that are strictly for lakes that should be avoided for coastal use?
If you are going to buy one look at fiberglass pontoons. Aluminum pontoons will last a long time but they will look bad after one dunking and unless you are into polishing aluminum it will look bad forever. They try to coat them but it doesn't make much difference from what I have seen. if you haven't looked at one find a Hurrican Deck Boat...they are a good cross between a pontoon boat and a planing hull. Ponton boats are closer to displacement hulls - they displace (push) the water out of the way like a barge, not getting on top of the water like a bay or bass boat...not that you can't hang enough horsepower to make them plane but that is not what pontoons do....a planning hull will ride better and drier and perform better with less HP and will not beat itself to death....a 300 hp pontoon boat will certainly plane and haul arse but in 1 - 2s, not unusual on a bay mid day, they will go through a LOT of stress that welded aluminum is not truly designed to handle. There is no difference in aluminum and fiberglass pontoons in being closer to a displacement hull than a planing hull. Both will be under a LOT of stress at high speed in a moderate chop. They are safe but not really designed for it. And they can become unsafe in high speed turns in a chop...unlikely to turn turtle unless its really high speed but liable to sling everything including passengers all over the deck. The emergence of 150 + HP pontoon boats is a ridiculous, in my opinion, turn of events.
Posted on 7/14/25 at 10:52 am to Flats
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base MWR has (or had) a fleet of about 20(?) aluminum pontoon boats for personnel to rent....bare bone boats with 70s or 90s OMCs if memory serves. Vinyl flooring. They were used waaaaayyyyy more than any personal pontoon boat would ever be used...it was like $25 a day to rent one, dry, for the day in the early 2000s. They were stored on floating docks in the water but were also left in the water for weeks and months on end when they were being used a lot. They looked rough but they were sound. Those boats did not have plywood decks...they had spot welded aluminum decks which probably provided more lateral stability than play would have. The were solid boats...I forget what brand but it was a common brand...I want to say Sylvans but I am not sure. They were fully capable....GTMO Bay gets a nice 2-3 foot offshore swell every day by 11 am and other than being wet as hell and beating you to death they did fine. They were, however, properly rigged and not over powered. Had they had 150s on them folks would have slung one another out of them daily....even with 90s folks were slung all over the decks of those boats every day. They did not have biminis...they had solid roofs built on a welded aluminum square tubing. if they'd had biminis on them they would have lasted a week if MWR was lucky. I had a hurricane deck boat down there with a 90 on it and it was FAR better as far as ride and dryness when they offshore swell started up. I have the same model hull I am re-working to be a quasi center console flats boat because I know what that hull will do on a bay compared to a pontoon boat. The pontoons were safe but everything better be tied down or it is going to do the watussi.....
Posted on 7/14/25 at 11:18 am to AwgustaDawg
quote:
if you haven't looked at one find a Hurrican Deck Boat.
That's similar to what we have now, it's a Starcraft Stardeck fiberglass hull with a deckboat layout. It's just not a popular concept, I guess, because there aren't too many offerings. I have all the reservations about raw aluminum & salt water that you do, which is why I'm asking.
Posted on 7/14/25 at 11:48 am to Flats
quote:
That's similar to what we have now, it's a Starcraft Stardeck fiberglass hull with a deckboat layout. It's just not a popular concept, I guess, because there aren't too many offerings. I have all the reservations about raw aluminum & salt water that you do, which is why I'm asking.
The boat you have is pretty similar to a new Hurrican deck boat. The original hull did not have molded in seating and a cap like yours has. It was basically a pontoon type arrangement on a bass boat hull....it could be turned into just about anything one wanted. I know a man in Washington state with one that is a 8 man layout blind and it is a duck slaying machine. I know 2 people in the Venice Florida area with towers on them and they can run in 12 inches of water if they are on a plane when you get in the skinny water. I made the one I had in GTMO into a flush deck sled with no rails and nothing but a center console and T top....best saltwater fly fishing platform I ever fished off....nothing on the deck to foul a line when a fish was running. I think Hurrican still makes the Fundeck line...same hull, just does not have the molded cap and seating like yours does....I know they were still making them a couple of years ago.
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