Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hello All.
I have to say one thing... It should be illegal to put a pontoon boat in the water without under skinning!! Single most impressive improvement that can ever be made to a boat (in my humble opinion)! I finally got all the boat pre launch work done and the under skinning project I have been planning on for at least 1 1/2 years (thanks to all of you!)... We were able to launch last evening and it was nothing short of amazing!! Our kids thought we were literally on a new boat because of the ride difference from pre-skinning!!! Our daughter said it was like riding on air and our son said it felt like we were being lifted. They both said it was like we were "skimming across the water like an air hockey puck!!" I am not kidding, before skinning we felt ever hit of the wake/wave... Yesterday, it felt like we were flying across the water!
Also, we have a Merc 75 4 stroke and I did it!! I pulled the air restrictor!!! I couldn't find 1 person that said they pulled their restrictor and it caused "this problem". It ran like a top too. I have an 11" cupped prop on it, 4 adults, full tank about 32 gallons and we were easily doing 20.5 MPH and I had to hold off slightly fom mashing the throttle to keep it at 6K RPM. It was a most wonderful launch and first ride on our "new" boat!! Thanks for the inspiration and know how to under skin our boat.

Safe boating.

Sincerely,
Rich

P.S. Sorry I didn't take in process pictures of the install.

Nice boat! Yes, the under skinning really works...

So true, These things are amazing. I could put a glass of wine on the floor and not spill it.

When I get up to 30 mph and throw the throttle to it, I swear wind gets under the boat and the front end raises a foot or more. It's almost like riding in a tunnel hull boat above the waves.

And the underskinning makes the boat so quiet when running.

I like the way you did this. I was reading other posts about underskinning and most had the metal all thd way to the sides. A few suggested thd concern of water being trapped between skinning and deck. The way you applied there is plenty of open air for water to run off and deck to dry. What thickness did you use?

[quote="Xxxander"]I like the way you did this. I was reading other posts about underskinning and most had the metal all thd way to the sides. A few suggested thd concern of water being trapped between skinning and deck. The way you applied there is plenty of open air for water to run off and deck to dry. What thickness did you use?[/quote]

The way he did it is just fine for 90% of the use as the 2 wakes from the pontoons collide and catch the middle of the chassis, going full width and maybe down the risers a bit helps more when crossing big wakes or deal with "big water" waves a lot.

I gotta say I am jealous! That's on the top of my non-maintenance to do lists! I am one of those people concerned with trapped water, saltwater in my case, and I think I will do it just like yours and try to add a slight bit of slope to the sides when I do it. I have to underskin this year!