When I was young, I had an electric guitar. I took lessons and felt I was well on my way to being a rock star with a few of my friends. But as it often happens, band members have issues and bands fall apart. In my case, we got out of sixth grade and ended up going to different junior high schools and just like that, my rock star status was over.

I held onto that guitar for years, but eventually sold it and gave up the dream. Years later a friend convinced me to play again so I could sing love songs to my wife so I ended up buying a few guitars. After all these years, it finally hit me. Buying is so much easier than practicing. Yes, I own several guitars today, but I will probably never be a great guitar player. I’m just a dabbler, strumming a few cords and dreaming the dream.

Then I found the ukulele. Depending on your age, you might know of the ukulele from the 20’s and the Jazz Age or maybe Arthur Godfrey in the 50’s. And I bet many of you have heard Tiny Tim sing “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” in a falsetto voice while playing his ukulele in the late 60’s. Oh, and he actually lived in my area for a while.

Then the ukulele started a comeback in the 1990’s, which is when I started playing it. I decided they were small and easy to haul with me on trips, plus they only have four strings. I have four fingers; it’s seemed like the perfect match!

Now I know you are wondering why I’m talking about ukuleles. Well, when most pontoon owners think of boating toys they think of tubes, skis and wakeboards. But when you own a pontoon, you own a floating patio-family room, which means boating toys can be so much more on a pontoon.

A pontoon has room for friends to gather around and play board or card games. I have even seen a few pontoons with a fire pit with people gathered around it. You can get together on a `toon and have a sing-along, and what better musical instrument to use than a ukulele? Plus, ukeleles are a great way to get kids into music.

Ukuleles are small, easy to carry, fun to play and they are usually associated with music from Hawaii. Seems like a no-brainer, right? Ukuleles and pontoons!

Except most ukuleles are made from wood, which does present a problem when it comes to boating. Boats are around water and usually warm weather. Heat and humidity can wreak havoc on lightweight wooden instruments.

That means if you are shopping for a ukulele, you buy a really cheap one so when it gets wet and warped (you know it will), it’s not a big deal. But that also means it won’t sound as good as a better-quality ukulele. Not that you’re going to have concert hall acoustics on the pontoon, but it is nice to be able to recognize the tune.

I went in search of a better option and ended up finding the perfect pontoon ukulele and it’s made by Outdoor Ukulele (www.outdoorukulele.com). Disclaimer: I don’t work for or sell these ukes; I just bought one for my wife and myself and have been very happy with our purchase.

The tenor is a little bigger than traditional ukuleles and I like the size, plus it’s a bit easier to play in my opinion. And I like what’s called the low G tuning. Standard ukulele tuning has that octave higher G string that gives it a unique tuning (my dog has fleas) and sound. Whereas the low G makes it sound more like a guitar, but still only four strings.

The neat thing about the Outdoor Ukulele is how it is made. Wood ukuleles are at risk on a pontoon, but these are injection molded in a polycarbonate that is reinforced with carbon fiber strands so they are tough, durable as well as waterproof. Worth noting, they have a temperature range from minus 40 degrees to 250 degrees.

Just think: you can play songs while floating around the pontoon on a tube and use the ukulele to paddle you back to the boat. You can’t get a better pontoon family instrument than that.