Maybe it was the Court Jester weed whacker propeller conversion kit that we “tested” or possibly the how-to feature on a do-it-yourself project where we included the step-by-step directions of how to cut an ice fishing hole in the center of your pontoon floor. You know, so you could do a little tip-up fishing! And yes, we included photos.
To be fair, the issue wasn’t completely made up, as we just mixed in a few foolery features or sections. In hindsight, adding Elko, Nev., to the list of top 10 boating cities wasn’t such a good idea, or maybe it was our fake tips on how to motivate kids who aren’t interested in fishing that took the issue too far. Who knows?
Overall we simply fooled the wrong people into thinking the entire issue was 100 percent legit and I sincerely hope no one cut a hole in the floor of their pontoon boat after reading our article. (If you did, please let me know. I have some investment opportunities I’d like to run by you.)
Months ago we started planning the editorial for our April issue and when the idea to do another April Fools’ edition resurfaced, I was quick to shut the idea down. Not immediately, but fairly quickly if I’m being honest. Despite hearing some of the fake feature ideas my staff came up with that truly had me laughing, I knew better than to attempt something like that again.
Instead we chose to take a much better approach and do a feature highlighting some of the most unique and head-turning pontoon builds out there to celebrate April Foolery. Every boat included is legit and nothing is made up. To check out what we discovered, be sure to see page 30.
Not all of the unique builds I’ve personally come across over the years are included in this feature, such as the Toontanic or the Wooden Pontoon. In fact, one of my all-time favorites that should have made our cut is the Herbie pontoon. I discovered that infamous build on my trip to Carlyle Lake State Park in Carlyle, Ill., back in 2005. When it comes to being unique, Herbie clearly checked all of the boxes and it’s safe to say there’s nothing quite like it out on the water.
Kurt and Nancy Richter bought a 1969 Volkswagen Bug with plans to make a dune buggy out of the chassis and motor. Kurt took the VW body off and went to work on the dune buggy, leaving the body sitting in the yard. He then got an idea to make it into a boat and went out and bought an old pontoon boat for the platform.
The result was a Herbie pontoon boat that I got to take a ride in. At the time the couple said their biggest challenge was not being swamped by other boaters who wanted to get a closer look as they admitted the pontoon tends to attract children and those who are young at heart.
“It’s crazy when we’re on the water because it’s like we’re a target,” said Nancy when I asked her about their pontoon. “All the boats start heading toward us to snap photos and all the kids are yelling, ‘It’s Herbie’ as we’re cruising along.”
