Hi folks
I've been out in the pontoon a few more times now and have started to get a better feel for them.
I think it would be safe to say that I have probably seen far more first time float tubers than most folk, I can remember Henry's maiden voyage and plenty more. You all took a while to get to know float tubes and went round and round in circles in the wind etc, so maybe your first pontoon boat outing would be a similar experience?
So yes, a similar experience maybe, but we had the back up of our float tubing knowledge and soon put this to good use. Peter is quite right, as soon as you put flippers on your feet you gain as much control as you would normally have in a float tube and everything falls in to place. You can drift a pontoon in exactly the same way as you would a float tube, using slight flipper movement to maintain direction with the wind behind you.
I can possibly see a few advantages that a pontoon might have on larger waters. You can row a pontoon in very shallow water indeed ( some of you will perhaps have found out just how far you have to walk backwards in the shallows at Lochindorb before you get to knee depth and can sit down and flipper ) I think you would be able to row and flipper a pontoon at the same time to get back up the loch against the wind ( but I'm not sure that I'd fancy trying that in high winds for sure ) you would be more visible to motor boats in a pontoon than a float tube, pontoon boats are easier to get in and out of at the bankside ( so we are hopefully less likely to fall in! ) ........... just a few points that spring to mind.
So Mike prefers pontoon boats then? ..... I don't actually, there is something very magical about float tubing, you are
in the water with the fish
A pontoon boat is great fun and good to fish from, but it is still a boat and it is
on the water, even when you use flippers
I've been on and off the phone to Steve Parton a good few times this week, we are making a line tray to suit the pontoons and Steve is busy sewing it all up for me, I should have the prototype at Haddo over the next few days. Designing one is dead simple of course
but then we started to think about folk possibly getting tangled up in one in a mishap ( some float tube line trays could be more than a bit tricky in a dunking! ) so we are putting the first one together with velcro straps instead of bungees and clips to see how they look for the task, which should be much safer. I love working with Steve, we both get out on the water ( or better still - in the water ) and try stuff for real ........ and if he don't like it "a spade's a spade" as the saying goes!
"Caddisfisher" Dave went out in the pontoon for the second time at the Bamboo Gathering and looked very much at home, he appeared to me to be fishing just as he normally does from the tube. Any comments Dave?
The pontoon cup holder is a tad too small for my favourite wee dram glass, but I guess finding a slightly smaller glass will be easier than modifying the cup holder!
Great thread Paul
Best wishes
Mike Barrio