1987 "new" pontoon..

[Vaughn]

This is one of my questions! We bought an 87 pontoon boat (Riveria Cruiser) that had the black stuff below the waterline as well. The guy pressure washed it and then I sprayed it with Arm and Hammer with bleach yesterday which did a pretty good job.We pressure washed it again, but that is all that came off. The side facing the sun did better with the bleach.. Course it is pitted a little bit from being in the water, but it is not bad for a 22 year old. Is there anything else we can put on it to keep it from further pitting? The whole boat is in good shape other than that so far that we have found.

Another question is does the wind catch the hard tops bad while it is tied on the docks? We had a 98 Fisher that top let down for one summer, but I've had NO experience with these hard tops. Naturally, we'd try to get off the water if one of these nasty storms come up that we've been having lately! We live in North Alabama and have a campsite on Smith Lake that we will be leaving the pontoon at when not in use.

Thanks.....
melissa

[mike]

the wind seems to push my pontoon around pretty good without a hardtop, I bet someone who has one will chime in soon.

I am not sure what you would use for the dirty pontoon, maybe a weak acid solution?

[lakerunner]

The top will catch the wind but if tied up well no biggy. The best way to remove discoloration is use AC coil cleaner then treat with something like sharkhide. Sharkhide won't prevent growth but will prevent staining.

Those were great old boats in their day ands still are in IMO. How big are the logs diameter wise?

How about some pics?????

[dockholiday]

Can remove some of the shallow pitting with wet/dry sandpaper, about 400 grit. The smoother and slicker the surface the less it is apt to gather algae and other growth. Leave the deep pits since you would have to remove too much metal which would decrease their strength. Still not exactly sure what the wall thickness is on the toons.
doc

[badmoonrising]

To prevent further pitting, you can use anti-fouling paint below the waterline as well. Prior to painting, fill the pits with epoxy.

[FloterBoter]

we trailer, but i've been tied at docks overnight for up to a week and
weathered some really bad storms. i leave the hardtop up and haven't
had a problem with that. biggest problem i had was one time i did a
crappy job of tying it off, and the bumpers squirted out leaving the
toon scraping on the dock, dammit.

[Vaughn]

Thanks for the suggestions and welcome.
The pontoons look to be 18 inches to 2 feet wide just from estimating. I'll have to find a tape measure and see for sure, I'm not real good at that!
We took the boat out on the maiden voyage today on Smith Lake which was just covered over with big boats, huge waves and tubers! The motor needs a tune up after just being used 3-4 times a year. We hope that is all it is. It sounded better when we tried it out.
The 24 ft handled the waves well, but the hard top rocked a good deal! Not sure if this is normal but we are gonna check it all next week. Overall it was nice to be able to be out and not feel like we were gonna get washed out of a boat or beat to death!
The folks at our seasonal campground were impressed with the looks of it, just hope the motor is not too involved.
An older man that lives at the lake and has been boating a long time suggested the AC coil cleaner stuff as well and some other stuff to put on the tunes to help with gas milege and everything.
We had a 98 Fisher 24ft DXL a few years ago and decided we had too much money tied up in and sold it. Right now we have 94 Caravelle Fish and Ski I/0 and this pontoon. I want us to use the pontoon for puttering around the lake and fishing and use the Caravelle for the long and fast expeditions!
I'll get some pictures soon!

[dockholiday]

Try some seafoam added to the fuel, can't hurt and will probably help the motor.
doc