Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I was wondering if any of you often sleep (yes, I said sleep, not pass out ) on your boats. If so, do you have full camper enclosures? What have you found works best (besides going home to your own bed) if you stay overnight on the pontoon? Pictures of any full or partial enclosures are welcome, of course. Thanks for your thoughts.

I don't have one but look here

http://www.north-american-waterway.com/ ... losure.htm

Great topic idea! I'm interested in something like that as well. Wife and I want to spend a couple nights out on the lake this summer, but don't want to spend a great deal of money on full pontoon enclosures. I was thinking about just getting something simple like mosquito netting.

I have a full enclosure but it would honestly be easier just to put up my tent on the front of my boat... If I were to be out for more than a night it would be worth it to put the full enclosure on...

We also have a full enclosure for our pontoon boat. But the true reality of it is we've barely ever actually used it. Though we pack it along most of the time the few times we actually used it was only when rain or bad weather caught up with us. We actually prefer to sleep under the stars, just utilizing some light sleeping bags and totally enjoying the serenity surrounding us. Just like our forefathers did.

Yup, I'm always Camping on mine. I even set it up with a 2000 watt generator so we have movie night on the lake and it will run a heater, Griddle and of course a blender as well as lights and such at night. I have an inflatable mattress that fills the space between the to front couches and sleep up to 3 or 4 kids. Lots of fun. I've never taken the top down because it has more than enough windows to roll up on top of the the door opening which also roll up. Here are a few pics of the set up.

sorry about the first two pictures being so big.

Think we have a few that have nice enclosures an use them. Here is an idea someone posted a while back an said it worked well. think it will fit between the two front couches..........http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... p&No=162&N

I love my half enclosure.

OOOPS!
That came from my Blackberry guys, sorry!

i luv it when the water snakes crawl up for the warm engine and then as the engine cools
they head for the warm bodies. you get a nice massage for free.

Weve thought about an enclosure, but bought a popup camper instead.

camping enclosure - $3500
brand new popup with a/c, furnace, fridge, hot water, heated mattresses, shower, king, queen, and 2 twin beds - $6800

We just bring it down to the slip n camp.

Although enclosures are cool.

Thanks everyone for the responses and suggestions. Nice enclosures, thanks for sharing the pictures and ideas everyone. We will primarily use our boat pretty close to home, but I have always loved the water most at night. It seems like when most people are hitting the ramps and loading up and sunburnt is when I start to enjoy the lake the most. Not because people are leaving, but there is just something about the water when the moon and stars are out, and sunsets are pretty amazing too. As for the enclosure need, I think it would be nice to have if we do some farther away trips. I would love to spend several days at a time on Lake Powell, for example (6 hours away) and I think an enclosure would be nice for those trips. They are "pricey" though. Thanks for the ideas and please keep them coming if anyone has anything to add.

Here's how I did it.
http://picasaweb.google.com/shootmor/Fi ... ampingTrip#
Click on the pics for full view.

My wife and I were looking at a enclosure but they are pricy. I decided since we are in North Texas and would not be staying on lake when it was cold that a large piece of mosquito netting over the bimni top might work. I found the following website www.mosquitocurtains.com and they had heavy duty netting in 10 and 12 foot widths. Super nice people and they made me a 22 ft by 22 ft piece for under 300 dollars. We are just enclosing the back 11 ft and leaving the front open for fishing. The black netting is not hemmed around the edges so I took black silicone caulk and put between the folded edge leaving room for a draw cord. Found a site that had 50 ft rolls of 3/8 in elastic cord. Just on the back and sides. Just hook it at each front door and it makes a snug fit all the way around. I left the front loose so we can raise it to go in and out.I also siliconed a flap that fits the area in front of the motor to insure there is no area for squiggly things to come aboard. We just finished it today and are looking for the maiden camp over in about two weeks. I am really pleased how it is working out.