# Pontoon boats **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 23, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pontoon-boats/999261 "2024-03-23T23:54:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pontoon-boats/999261/1 "2024-03-23T23:54:16Z")
I’m not a boat guy but I do like the idea of pontoon boats on calm inland lakes. Huge flat decks with railings all around for kid’s safety. An upper deck or at least a roof for shade. Nice little kitchen. Couches. And an absolute must, a head (bathroom). Not some silly canvas sided add-on but a proper little room with a flush toilet. Cruise the lake in steady style, fishing if you like. I often look at boat ads and videos just for the heck of it. More and more I see pontoon boats with twin 400hp outboards jumping over 3’ wakes! What the hell are you guys doing with those things? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfAaTYpPS8o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfAaTYpPS8o) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pontoon-boats/999261/2 "2024-03-24T01:40:11Z")
Bein’ rednecks. Next question? ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pontoon-boats/999261/3 "2024-03-25T03:00:30Z")
While I expect that is the correct answer, I’ve wondered the same thing as OP. Are they pulling skiers? Are they participating in bass fishin’ competitions? ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pontoon-boats/999261/4 "2024-03-25T03:34:32Z")
Every pontoon boat I’ve been on here in Minnesota was just for slow trolling on a pleasant day, usually with beverages and plenty of talk. You could certainly fish from them, but just about everyone I know has a separate fishing boat. And perhaps another speed boat for water skiing; you CANNOT waterski behind a pontoon boat (at least not successfully). It’s Minnesota, after all. I have a friend with a two-deck pontoon boat, and it indeed has a head. Nice to have, but not _really_ necessary if you’re just a bunch of guys, if you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pontoon-boats/999261/5 "2024-03-25T04:08:14Z")
I misread this as “Pontoon boots”. Gave me a chuckle. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pontoon-boats/999261/6 "2024-03-25T04:18:24Z")
They’re called party boats. At the end of the day everybody on the lake ends up on one. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2024, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pontoon-boats/999261/7 "2024-03-25T11:30:53Z")
I’ve owned a few pontoon boats, but they’ve all been used boats that we allow our muddy dogs on. My boats have had 40 - 75 HP motors, but I typically putter around to most economically burn my gasoline. I’ve ridden on pontoons powered by huge twins and rigged to pull water skiers. Totally not my thing. A head? Wasted space IMO. I pee over the rail or in the weeds when we stop. I carry a 5 gallon bucket with an attached toilet seat for the womenfolk. A grill and a cooler of beer are two necessities. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pontoon-boats/999261/8 "2024-03-26T17:20:47Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > A head? Wasted space IMO. At my age there is about 18 seconds from when I think I might have to crap and utter disaster. I’ve had my gallbladder removed which doesn’t help. I’d have to jump in the water and make like a hippo. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pontoon-boats/999261/9 "2024-03-26T18:26:25Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > At my age there is about 18 seconds from when I think I might have to crap and utter disaster. I’m sure you know better than to ever trust a fart. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pontoon-boats/999261/10 "2024-03-27T15:33:38Z")
We had a family lake cabin when I was growing up. My grandpa built it in the late 40s and my dad spent summers weekends there as we did. My dad liked to fish but taking all of us girls plus my mom in a fishing boat never really turned out as he thought it would. So he bought a pontoon boat. We loved it. We would bring snacks, games, cards and entertain ourselves while he fished. We would sometimes fish too. He’d anchor in the middle of the lake and we’d jump off the boat and swim (he installed a ladder so we could get back on the pontoon). Those were great summers.