We Highlight Fun & Unusual Pontoons
Recapping The NMMA Awards
What Upgrades Do You Really Need?
Executive Editor Brady L. Kay
Editorial Staff Nicole Richens, Heather Magda Serrano, Roy Sparks, Annie Carbutt, Bradley Sallee
Editorial Correspondents
Dan Armitage, Sky Smith
Advertising Director
Greg Larsen, glarsen@pdbmagazine.com
Advertising Executives
Robin Witbeck, rwitbeck@pdbmagazine.com
Administrative Assistant Robin Witbeck
Marketing Director Cameron Bischoff
Circulation Director Chuck Harris
Lead Designer Chloe Adelizzi
Production Jim Donovan
www.harrispublishing.com/pontoon-deck-boat
Publisher Greg Larsen
Executive Editor Brady L. Kay
Production Manager Janet Chase
Circulation Manager Chuck Harris
Controller Clayton Ward
Production Janet Chase
Founder Darryl W. Harris
President Jason Harris
Vice President Chuck Harris
Vice President Ryan Harris
Vice President Greg Larsen
Treasurer Clayton Ward
Secretary Janet Chase
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Also publishers of Houseboat and Great Lakes Boating magazines.
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?
e-mail: sales@jcpontoon.com
Always wear a personal flotation device while boating and read your owner’s manual.
By Bradley Sallee
A Primer On What To Take With You On Board
oating should be fun and relaxing. The last thing you want is to get out on the water and realize you’re missing something you need. While your pontoon’s hardware—anchors, lights, etc.—are hard to forget, sometimes boaters find themselves lacking the basic necessities. Rather than return to the dock and waste hours of prime boating time, it’s best to just take what you need with you the first time. Easier said than done, right?
But what do you bring? While there are checklists for everything, you’ll find experience is the best teacher. Instead of worrying over bullet points, consider this article an overview, covering the basics and getting you started with some key recommendations.
Departments | No Wake Zone
NO WAKE ZONE | PLACES, FACES, VIEWS, NEWS, PRODUCTS & MORE
Where’s The Paddle?
A paddle is hiding inside each issue of PDB and the names of the first readers to find it are printed in an upcoming magazine! In our February issue the paddle is on page 18 (shown in the photo on the left) hidden on the knee of the man driving the boat. Here are the readers who spotted it first:
Marcus Rosehill, Kaneohe, Hawaii
Bill Parker, New Bern, N.C.
Danny Criner, North Chesterfield Va.
Bob Reed, Pendleton, Ind.
Scott Slagley, Richmond, Va.
Rich Christensen, Townville S.C.
Jim Greenwald, Little Rock, Ark.
Kathy Smith, Lake Bruin, La.
Power Couple
Photos By George Denny Photography
efore Jim and Carolyn Dorris drastically changed the perception, pontoons in their region were primarily known as the utility/pleasure craft you used to view the Lake of the Ozark boat races, not the vessel for participating in them. The evolution of the modern-day pontoon boat began in 1952 when a Minnesota farmer fabricated two pontoons from steel oil drums welded end-to-end, with a rudimentary upswept nosecone on the front of each pontoon, topped with a plywood deck and surrounded by a two-by-four wood railing.
Since then there have been countless advancements, but there is no way one can write the history of pontoon performance without first including who many in the industry believe to be pontoon’s ultimate power couple.
Models &
Products From
he Minneapolis Innovation Awards honor manufacturers and suppliers who bring new, innovative products in the boating industry to market. The prestigious National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) Innovation Awards are judged by a panel of journalists from Boating Writers International (BWI), and as luck would have it, I happen to be one of those judges. Okay, so it was a little more than just luck and probably has more to do with my 20 plus years in the industry… as well as the fact that I’m currently the president of BWI.
The NMMA added the Innovation Awards to the Minneapolis Boat Show in 2018 and I’ve been fortunate enough to be one of the judges on the panel each of those years. Other judges at the 2022 show included Adam Quandt, editor of Boating Industry magazine and Eric Colby, editor at BOATTest.com.
appy April Fools’ Day everyone! Here at PDB magazine we all love a good prank and a good ol’ laugh. In fact, we just like having fun. Luckily for us, boating and fun mix well.
That’s why we thought it would be cool to round up a few fun and unusual pontoon boats to celebrate April Fools’ Day all month long. Check them out!
Sauntoon
Ever feel like relaxing in a sauna on the lake? Well, we’re pleased to introduce you to the custom-built Sauntoon II from Loonie Toons Pontoons & Powersports in Desbarats, Ontario. As the name suggests, it’s a sauna built on a triple pontoon chassis.
Simply put, if it can be tested and it applies to our favorite type of boating, you’ll find it in this section. And the one thing each review has in common is they were all tested and evaluated by one or more of our qualified PDB staff members.
Simply put, if it can be tested and it applies to our favorite type of boating, you’ll find it in this section. And the one thing each review has in common is they were all tested and evaluated by one or more of our qualified PDB staff members.
hey say it takes only seven seconds to form a detailed opinion upon first meeting someone. While that may seem far-fetched considering all the conclusions we tend to draw when first getting to know a person, we can say for sure we know this to be true when it comes to meeting a pontoon.
The Sanpan 2500 SBC struck us immediately as an uptown girl with champagne tastes. It didn’t take long at all to soak in the details aboard this craft and conclude that this was a high-quality boat set up for performance and comfort. As part of Godfrey’s luxury line, this Sanpan beckoned to us and made us want to venture out onto the water. Our friends at Godfrey assured us we wouldn’t be disappointed and they were right. She’s a beauty.
hen it comes to boating, high horsepower outboards seem to get a lot of attention. Yes, having a 350hp engine on the back is a lot of fun, but part of the reason these boats are so enjoyable to drive is the ease of the steering. Once you reach a specific size of outboard the manufacturer quickly goes from recommending power steering to including it with the price of the boat. When you think of your own experiences on a 90hp pontoon you most likely can recall the forearm burn you received when trying to turn sharp. It’s just how those cable-steering models are, right?
Dometic Marine believes in the importance of its power steering lineup so much that it released its groundbreaking Xtreme Power Assist (XPA) steering system last year. What makes the new Xtreme so unique? For starters it was designed specifically for smaller horsepower outboards. While we continue to see higher horsepower engines, there are clearly more pontoons in the 90 to 200hp range than there are in the 250hp plus category.
King Crappie
Soft plastic baits come into their own as crappie-catchers after the spawn when the fish begin to disperse from the shallows.
By Dan Armitage
mong my favorite rites of spring is the first push of crappies into the shallows of my local lakes. Overshadowing morel ‘shrooms emerging, dogwoods budding and turkeys gobbling, the first catch of crappies tells me the fishing season is underway.
Depending upon your latitude, about this time each year panfish such as crappies, perch and sunfish emerge from winter depths heading toward staging areas just off the shallow cover and structure where they will spawn. Fortunately for opportunistic anglers such as me, each of the popular panfish species follows its own biological calendar that determines the timing of the spawning move, and with few overlaps. In most systems, the crappies begin the panfish show, followed by sunfish and perch.
remember way back when I bought my very first motorcycle. Not sure it really counts as a motorcycle; it was a Honda CT70 Mini Trail so it was more like a “mini-bike.” But it was licensable, and it had a title and I had to make payments. This was a big step for a young kid, and I of course needed my parents to help me make the purchase.
Basically, they had to co-sign for it, but I was able to go through the process at the local Honda dealer and experience the buying process.
The reason I bring this up is that I bought my first motorcycle before I ever bought my first car or boat. I built my first car from a kit, and my first boat was a backpacking canoe on which I hand laid in the fiberglass. Like I have said before, my family had a dealership and manufacturing facility for small boats, canoes, and motorcycle accessories. That situation gave me the opportunity to build or rebuild a lot of things that many people would have just bought.
This brings me back to the motorcycle. I believe a first purchase can have a lifelong effect on buying style. The dealer experience can be positive or negative and it will dictate how, where and what you buy in the future.
Boating Tips & Observations with
Sky Smith
Sky Smith
remember way back when I bought my very first motorcycle. Not sure it really counts as a motorcycle; it was a Honda CT70 Mini Trail so it was more like a “mini-bike.” But it was licensable, and it had a title and I had to make payments. This was a big step for a young kid, and I of course needed my parents to help me make the purchase.
Basically, they had to co-sign for it, but I was able to go through the process at the local Honda dealer and experience the buying process.
The reason I bring this up is that I bought my first motorcycle before I ever bought my first car or boat. I built my first car from a kit, and my first boat was a backpacking canoe on which I hand laid in the fiberglass. Like I have said before, my family had a dealership and manufacturing facility for small boats, canoes, and motorcycle accessories. That situation gave me the opportunity to build or rebuild a lot of things that many people would have just bought.
This brings me back to the motorcycle. I believe a first purchase can have a lifelong effect on buying style. The dealer experience can be positive or negative and it will dictate how, where and what you buy in the future.
