Discover the expert in you.
Discover the expert in you.
With the inherently stable, twin-hull, small-water-plane area vessel called a pontoon boat, a rebuild follows a set pattern. While no two pontoon boats are exactly alike, when you start to rebuild them, the first efforts should make your boat watertight and seaworthy. After those two critical needs are met, you can relax a bit and let your imagination run free as you dress out the boat’s interior. The process begins after you have a professional marine surveyor’s inspection report in hand so you learn what problems lurk within. Then, you can begin one of the most challenging projects a boater…
Installing a Sony Xplod marine radio in a boat looks more complicated on paper than it does when you do the work. The radio's installation is as straightforward as installing an Xplod automotive radio, with the exception of removing the radio's waterproof, drop-down faceplate. The electrical connections that provide power to the radio and illumination for night operation are through a harness, as is the ground -- the only three connections to your boat -- that plugs into the back of the radio.
An airboat combines the propulsive drive train of a light airplane with a hull similar to that of a traditional boat. The design was first intended to enable access to areas of water too shallow to accommodate a regular inboard or outboard motor using an underwater propeller and rudder, and originated in the Florida Everglades. Airboats are now used for many open-water hobbies, as well as in competitive events.
The integrity of an aluminum pontoon is crucial to the safety and operation of any boat. If pontoons leak, they will send a boat to the bottom. For this reason, pontoons are sectioned into series of bulkheads. Bulkheads prevent an entire pontoon from filling with water if it develops a hole. For the most part, pontoons are a commercial business. It's almost impossible for an individual to fabricate round nose cones and cylinders to build a pontoon. But if you order parts for one, you can build your own pontoon the size you want with a MIG welder.
Whether you have children who have an interest in boats or are looking for a craft to entertain a group of kids, before spending a lot of money on store-bought kits consider making your ship from items found at home. Making a wind-up rubber band boat is an easy, quick craft that's not only perfectly suitable for children, but can be completed using many common household items. In total, this project may take between two and three hours.
Marine plywood, a specialty form of the wood product used in so many applications where solid wood would be too heavy and too expensive, sometimes is used aboard bass boats for hull framing and trim. When it's damaged, you may have little choice but to replace it. Sometimes, though, a repair is not only possible, but preferable. When the damage is cosmetic -- a crushed corner on a deck or a seat that has a crushed edge -- the right supplies and a bit of polish make a world of difference.
A Power Pole is a type of anchor, manufactured by JL Marine Systems, that is used with a small boat in shallow water. If you have a14-foot boat for fishing, a Power Pole will tether the boat to the bottom of a river or lake bottom. You can mount a Power Pole on the bow or stern of your boat. Typically, this anchor is automatic, but you can build a manual version for use on your boat.
You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to spruce up an aluminum boat. In fact, you can often do so with materials you have on hand. This means you can turn a broken-down aluminum jon boat into a boat that's suitable for your own use or for sale. As long as the boat isn't sitting on the bottom of your favorite body of a water, a weekend's work can yield results.
A boat stand for your RC boat is an important and sometimes overlooked piece of equipment. While they can be purchased, they can just as easily be made with PVC pipe. In fact, many of the versions that are for sale have been made out of PVC, which is a preferred material for its strength and lightness. A similar type of frame can actually be made out of copper plumbing parts, but it will not be as light and might be more difficult to transport.
Fiberglass boats are used in commercial fishing and recreation. Because the watercraft is a considerable investment, most owners like to keep them well maintained and in prime aesthetic condition. Given the speeds with which these boats move through the water as well as the conditions they are exposed to, it's difficult to avoid cracking and fading on a fiberglass exterior. Luckily, there are remedies for these problems.
Whether you own a pontoon boat, or are curious about them, you already know that their multi-hull design makes them different from other boats. While boating with a pontoon boat is every bit as fun as with any other boat, there are differences of which you should be aware, in both handling and performance. The pontoon boat's differences give you some advantage over other types of boat, but they also mask things of which you should remain aware.
Sailboats often make use of the hull as a small living quarters. Seldom do small sailboats have the roomy superstructure you'd find on a cabin cruiser. It's a major remodel, but a sailboat's cabin can be raised to enjoy the economy of sailing and the roominess usually only found on power boats. Most of the skills required to extend a cabin are common to boat building in general.
The transom, the flat back panel of a boat, prevents water from entering the hull of the boat. Transoms also hold inboard motors and major wiring components. A hatch can be installed in a transom so access can be gained when maintenance needs to be performed.
A firefly boat is a type of dinghy boat, and dinghy boats are essentially very small boats used for racing or recreational purposes. A mast can be attached to transform the boat into a small yacht. These inexpensive boats are typically less than 12 feet long, carry only two people and do not contain a spinnaker. In order to build a firefly boat for personal use, a set of plans is needed to ensure the boat floats. Be aware that most racing organizations have specific building requirements for racing dinghies that can vary among organizations.
Weather shields for boats come in a wide range of options. From buildings that house the boat when it is not on the water, custom-constructed frames that fit over the entire boat to hold up a tarp, or slapping waterproof varnish to shield the boat, there are many types of weather shields available. You can create your own weather shield that will protect against the ravages of snow, rain, winds, insects and sunlight without having to spend a fortune for a custom-made version.
Although most new fiberglass-core boats feature a color-tinted gelcoat exterior, not all of these resin coatings hold up well. Thus, you may wish to paint your boat's hull for a more long-lasting finish. Painting a fiberglass-core boat requires a certain amount of effort and skill, as with any large painting job. But more importantly, it requires urethane paint and paint stripper that work with the material. Failing to use the proper paint can result in a finish that does not last or even damages the hull.
Rigid-hull inflatable boats, with their fiberglass or metal bottom, will float just as well without a floor. If you use your inflatable as a tender for a larger boat that's moored or anchored, you may think installing a floor a waste of time. But if your inflatable is your boat, installing the floor panels civilizes the RHIB's otherwise-raw and uninviting shell. The flooring comes as a kit. The only tool you need is probably stored in your garage.
The type of pontoon boat known as a party barge -- a pontoon boat with twin metal hulls, with a detachable flat deck between them --has a special problem that fiberglass pontoon boats don't have: scratches and dents on its hulls. To repair these dings, you need to use the same glue puller an auto body shops uses to remove small dents in a car's body. For the pontoon boat owner, this is a project that will preserve the watertight integrity of the metal hulls and keep the boat looking good during the season.
On boats intended for luxury and comfort, carpet may be installed for greater traction while walking across the deck or inside the cabin. Exposure to the moist, salty sea air and plenty of sunshine may cause the carpet to age or erode faster than carpet in an interior space. If you decide to remove the carpet, you'll also need to clean up the leftover adhesive before installing another deck covering. The process of removing the adhesive from fiberglass is similar to removal from most other surfaces.
If you have a sailboat, you need a way to store it safely when it's not in the water or on a trailer. The solution is to use sailboat cradles. While you can buy ready-made cradles, you may want to save money by building your own. You can make cradles for a one-man sailboat in an afternoon.
A regatta racer is fun to build and even more exciting to race. Parents can guide their child while they help fine-tune a vessel in preparation for one of the most fun Boy Scout events, the regatta sail boat race. If you’re looking for a positive activity that will teach new skills, help your child build his own regatta racing boat from the start, all the way to the finish line.
Whether you take your boat out in salt water or fresh water, regular flushing of the engine is essential to ensure its longevity. This will clear out any corrosive salts that can cause long-term damage to your engine, as well as eliminating dirt and grime that can cause blockages. Although you can buy a boat flush kit in stores or online, it is just as easy to make your own.
Proper boat maintenance should be a concern of every boat owner. Fiberglass boats require customized care when it comes to maintaining the paint job. Unlike metal-core boats, fiberglass boats are painted with gel coats, instead of acrylic-based paints. Over time, the gel coat can corrode or wear off. Learn how to reapply a new coat of fleck paint to your fiberglass boat to help keep it in tiptop condition.
Removing the old carpet is an important part of refurbishing a bass boat. You will have to do this every few years, as old carpet becomes soiled and worn. Carpeting is applied for comfort and protection on all horizontal surfaces inside the boat -- bottom and decking -- including storage compartment hatches. Boat carpets are usually held down with carpet glue or paste rather than nails or staples. You will have to remove the adhesive, as well. While not technically difficult, this is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process, and an assistant can make your job much easier.
If you've ever built or expanded any cabinetry in your home, you know that measurements make or break a project. Most often cabinetry afloat has few special requirements, save that the exterior should be painted, stained or varnished. The drawers, though, do require a bit of attention, since they must fit in spite of the beating the boat gives them. The drawer slides – like slides used ashore – are adjustable. Drawers afloat, though, have one important difference.
Airboats are made with a flat-bottomed hull of aluminum or fiberglass, a propeller with a guard, and an engine, which may be auto or aircraft. All airboats have no working parts under the hull or at the waterline, but different types of airboats are designed for different functions. There is variance in the size of the hull, the speed at which they travel, and their capabilities in different environments.
You can make a boat float by using straws and wood to construct the hull. The sides of the boat will be made from straws with an interior frame constructed from wood. A wood frame will provide the needed rigidity and strength to keep the craft together. To do this you will need to use a form to make the curved shape for the hull of the boat.
Hardened marine epoxy, plus the glass fibers of fiberglass mat and cloth, form the laminate we know as fiberglass. If your aluminum boat has exposed fiberglass surfaces, the aluminum might bend in reaction to a small collision at the fuel dock. The fiberglass will crack or crater, slightly though, because fiberglass is, after all, glass. You can start the repairs -- a very straightforward process -- almost as soon as you get the boat back home.
If you own a boat that gets much use, you know that the seat cushions will see a great deal of wear. Everything from coffee to motor oil might eventually find its way onto your cushions, and eventually the cushions will need to be replaced. Most boats have standard-shaped seats, so you can make a template or pattern to help you make several cushions that are all the same size or shape.
The deck on an aluminum boat is frequently subjected to stresses that lead to cracks in its welds. In days past, these cracked welds would have required the assistance of a welder before the boat was launched again. But new sealants mean a cracked weld or a pinhole can be repaired by the boat owner without resorting to a full-blown welding job. The process is straightforward and ensures the deck is watertight.
Building a wooden boat out of toothpicks can turn any standard weekend afternoon into a creative adventure. Toothpicks naturally float due to the design of wood and are an inexpensive craft material with which to work. The trick to making a boat from toothpicks is to find a way to increase the surface area of the boat. Employing several additional household objects will give you a boat on which to set miniature objects or figurines.
Pedestal seats are popular choices when it comes to boats and can be installed in just about any type of boat. If your boat's deck is made of fiberglass, you will need to add a little strength to the underside of the deck because the fiberglass might not be able to hold the weight of someone on the seat.
Spider cracks are hairline fractures that affect the gelcoat of a boat. The fractures are especially prevalent in vintage boats with a thick gelcoat layer. Luckily, they aren't structurally damaging, but they are unsightly. If you experience a large amount of spider cracks on your boat, examine where the cracks are coming from. They are often caused by the hull of the boat flexing or by hard objects impacting the boat. However, if the cracks radiate from the base of heavy equipment, you may be overloading your equipment. If this is the case, consider shifting the equipment load to other…
Harness the power of heat by making a putt-putt boat out of copper. A putt-putt, or pop-pop, boat is a toy heat-powered boat that can be fabricated from any type of material. Coiled copper is heated to produce an engine that moves the boat through the water. Craft your own putt-putt boat by repurposing an old milk carton, and use copper tubing to make a vacuum that draws and pushes water through its motor.
Any solo boat fisherman who's ever been caught in a gale, a center console can be invaluable. Tillers force all the weight in the back, and if you don't have someone or something weighing down the bow, the boat is subject to weathercocking -- which is when the wind steers the boat for you. Converting a Terry Bass Boss tiller model to a center console can be a worthwhile project. And specialty epoxies let you make the conversion without TIG welding or drilling through the hull of the boat.
If you already have a successful business or a popular website, receiving a commission for sending customers to another company is one of the simplest ways you can create another income steam. You don't have to invest in any stock, won't need additional locations and there’s no need to hire more staff. If you're passing on leads for large items such as boats and boat-related equipment, you could bring in thousands of extra dollars a month in commission payments.
When you want to fiberglass a small boat floor -- a "deck" in nautical parlance -- the project begins with a special kind of plywood and the basics of fiberglass work, including some painting that may be wholly unexpected. Even if you have the whole project organized, it will still take at least 48 hours. When you are finished with the project, though, the deck panel you've created will withstand the rigors of life at sea quite well.
The design that is on the hull of your Cajun bass boat is either painted on or it is a decal. When the decal on your boat hull has been damaged or is faded you can replace it with a new one. To do this you need to first remove the old decal from the hull. Once the old decal has been removed you can then add a new one. This process is the same for decals that are on any bass boat, including a Cajun.
Pontoon boat decking is usually constructed of marine plywood screwed to the aluminum deck beams and covered with marine carpet. The bottom of the decking is subject to water damage from repeated exposure to spray from the pontoons when the boat is underway. Spray and rainwater can also accumulate on the upper surface, where it soaks through the carpet to the decking below. The carpet can also trap moisture that will produce mildew and mold, causing further weakening of the deck material. Replace damaged decking using commonly available materials and tools.
Fiberglass repairs, like almost any project you can imagine, begins with preparation and spreads out from there. Fiberglass damage can penetrate the fiberglass skin of the boat or merely crack the surface. Whether it goes all the way through or not, water can infiltrate into the core material of the boat, hindering its flotation. Either type of damage requires repair at the earliest possible time. The materials, tools and the step-by-step instructions for this type of repair are straightforward.
Create decorative nautical-themed table centerpieces for a bon voyage party, Thanksgiving celebration or other special event. Make miniature boats from poster board, coated with wood veneer for a realistic look. Top each boat with a sail and fill the centerpieces with tasty treats, nuts or candies for your guests to enjoy. Coordinate the boats with your party's color scheme by making the sail from the same colors and fill the boats with colored foil-wrapped treats.
The hatches on your fiberglass boat are part of the boat's watertight integrity. This means that if the hatch incurs damage, the pressure of the water -- particularly during rough weather -- could breach the hatch. The resulting down flooding, where water pours down into the boat, can cause fatal instability. The boat could capsize, turn upside down, sink by its bow or by its stern -- the front or back of the boat -- in less than one minute. Avoid this unhappy scenario by making timely repairs to the structural elements of the hatch, or its watertight seal.
Hunters use duck boats for tracking or laying in wait for waterfowl. The hulls of these boats usually consist of aluminum, which makes them lightweight and easy to carry over land to a lake or stream. These boats sit low in the water and the flat-bottomed hull provides hunters with a level, stable surface for shooting ducks and other waterfowl. Duck boats vary in size, can seat one or more hunters, and run on small outboard motors or are maneuvered with a pair of oars.
A Jon boat is a flat-bottom aluminum boat that anglers use to fish in shallow waters and boating enthusiasts ride in to navigate inlets. Hunters also favor these boats because the flat bottom provides a stable surface from which to fire a rifle, bow or crossbow. Jon boats consist of the boat hull, and two or three wooden bench seats that span the width of the boat. These boats stretch from eight to 20 feet in length and span a width of five feet.
When you have a child who enjoys laying with toy boats and ships, you can show your child how to make a handmade boat using natural materials. For example, form colorful wool roving into a boat that can be used as a whimsical bath toy. You can make a colorful felted wool boat using materials that can be purchased inexpensively from any arts and crafts store.
The 2002 Triton 200SFX Summit 20 is an aluminum pontoon boat. It was made by Triton, which is owned by Brunswick Marine. Brunswick owns Mercury Marine and its outboard motor affiliates, Mariner and Motor Guide. However, no engine was provided with the boat, according to the NADA Boat Guide.
Save the corks from wine and champagne bottles and use them to make boats. This is a great rainy day activity, and you can take your boats outside to float them on the rain puddles, in rivers and ponds, in the pool, in the bath or even in bowls of water. Decorate your boats with bright sails or create pirate boats to go treasure hunting.
A pontoon boat can provide your family with a place to relax and play on a lake, river or other body of water. These boats have the capability of lasting a long time, as long as you care for them properly. Whether you use your boat frequently or just a couple of times a year, you must conduct specific maintenance tasks to ensure that it is working at peak performance every time you use it. If you live in a colder climate, you will need to do even more work.
When you have an excess of used packing materials in your house, you may think that you need to throw it all in the garbage or recycling bin. However, you can also use packing materials to create a whimsical craft. For example, make a toy boat that actually floats using an old Styrofoam tray that was used as packing material in a box. This also enables you to show your children how to use a waste material in a new and innovative way.
An aluminum jon boat with a wood transom that needs replacement means possibilities, such as making the transom taller to accommodate a long-shaft outboard. Whatever your choices, the end result needs to fit well, be properly finished and securely attached to the aluminum hull. Whether the wood transom on your aluminum jon boat is damaged or deteriorating, replacing it takes only some wood, the right tools, the right kind of caulk and paint or other surface sealant.
