Mahogany Pontoon Boat

D

Dave S

Well-Known Member
TECHNICAL Contributor
Oct 3, 2006
6,014
Upstate South Carolina
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Boatless
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Boatless
I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Looks like the Pontoon Boat is headed into upscale territory.

[video=youtube;7U9_H1yrfIM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U9_H1yrfIM[/video]
 
Dave,

It's still a canbote!

I am certain that the "mahogany" is simply plastic woodgrain attached to the fencing via velcro or double sided tape or the "mahogany" is simply sprayed directly onto the fencing.
 
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MMmmmmmmmmm.

I see the KFC bucket holders have been upgraded to accept Boston Market Rotisserie Style Platters - very nice touch!
 
Looks like it could be an upscale version of the can boat though. The upholstery looks like it's been sewn together to withstand the rigors of the outdoors. My guess is the parts that we can't see are well made too. One of the "newbies to boating" from our shop just bought his first "boat" as he calls it. It's a pontoon job but none of us can believe the way it's made. Stantions and cleats have absolutely no backing and in most cases the nuts on the bottom are run right through the first ply of the wood. The upholstery is all exposed, single stitching that looks thinner than the stuff we sew our buttons on our shirts with. The massive area of plywood on the underside has been left untreated and some of the fasteners don't even have washers under them. It's a pretty looking boat at first glance but I'm wondering how long it will last, especially being moored in the lake all year.


Edit; These boats do present an opportunity for someone to get on the water with all their friends aboard for close to the same price as a small B-, B-, Ba-, Ba-, Bay-,,,,,, Bowrider !!!! The main thing is, they're out there on the water, having fun in a healthy way.
 
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Yikes !!. $130,000. :wow:

For that money, I'd buy a real boat = Sea Ray. :smt001
 
The general public doesn't give a damn about our nautical traditions and "real" boats. If a can boat has the room and options (including some not on many of our boats) of a 30 foot bowrider it's all good to them...

MM
 
Some of these pontoons are getting pretty nice...they'd better serve the purpose I think for most the boaters on this website:smt043
 
Have you been on a pontoon in the last 10 years? They have been moving upmarket for a long long time and some of them are really pretty posh these days. For most small to medium lake boaters, a pontoon is going to give you all you need. Sure is a long way from my grandfathers blue astroturf deck on aluminum 25 horse job we tooled around on in the 80s.
 
On inland lakes, you see a lot of pontoons as the boat of choice for people who have waterfront homes. Many of these folks have multi million dollar homes and an upscale pontoon just fits their lifestyle. It will be interesting to see what COBALT's pontoon looks like since you can bet that will not be a cheap "boat".
 
Woody said:
Some of these pontoons are getting pretty nice...they'd better serve the purpose I think for most the boaters on this website:smt043
Click to expand...

Ouch!!! Truth hurts.....bad.

I'd rather see a pontoon boat running, than a Sea Ray rotting in it's slip, because the owner doesn't know how to run it! Or worse can't afford the gas to take it out............
 
I didn't necessarily mean from a $$$$ standpoint but ya, that too. We've discussed many times here how boats are used, how much fuel is burned. It seems a large portion of owners just go to the, closest, sandbar or hangout. Some have talked of only using a tank or two of fuel in a season...this from some that can boat almost year round. Many never anchored out for the night or even slept in their boats, some don't even poop in their toilets. Sounds like a nice pontoon would be ideal for them.
 
We don't have many of them around here but last summer I did see a crazy bunch of people just outside Long Beach harbor with a pontoon running through some pretty good 2' wind chop at like 25 kts. Family of 10 jumping waves in a pontoon on the ocean, spray going over their bow, they were all soaking wet. Sounds safe doesn't it? Surprisingly they all made it to the dock later on when I was having a beer at the Yard House. Thought that "skipper" was absolutely nuts.
 
My buddy in Ottawa Illinois had a tri-toon with an I/O set up that ran damn near 80mph on the Illinois River. That was a fun ride.
 
That's a special edition Bennington Pontoon, finished by Stancraft boats. Stancraft makes some of those most gorgeous wood boats in the world.

If you haven't been on a Bennington pontoon boat, I'd highly recommend it. It's NOTHING like the pontoon boats of yesteryear. They're super plush, and smooth riding. Like Bucit said, the I/Os will push speeds above 50mph, and they'll turn like a bowrider (not a joke). They're not for everybody, and it's not a replacement for a Sundancer, but they are much nicer than a lot of other 20'-26' open boats on the water these days (with a pricetag to prove it)

Here's a picture of the interior of one of them (can't post pics I guess)
http://img.benningtonmarine.com/ima...15ee2b/640px/2550RCB-ClubSeating-Bar-0712.jpg
 
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