After many trips dragging my 14' Aluminum V bottom boat from the boat rack to
the water and back I decided I needed something lighter for those times (most)
when I fish alone. I started looking around and found something I liked but it
was $500.00.I thought I could build something like that! I came up with the idea
of using Styrofoam insulation panels glued up to make the pontoons.The Foam
comes in 4'x8' Panels and is scored for breaking at 16" intervals. I bought 4
sheets planning to build two pontoons 12" tall. I had heard that Gorilla glue
was good for gluing foam so I got two bottles and some plastic Bondo spreaders.
Since gorilla glue expands as it dries I punched small holes in the surfaces of
the panels being joined for a stronger bond.
As I glued up the laminations I realized the 10" was plenty of
height and I had done some calculations on the buoyancy and found that my
pontoons should float about 600 lbs, I'm big but not that big!
Once
the Pontoons were finished it was time to shape them, I rounded the bow and
tapered the stern and reduced the length to 7' you can kinda' see the layout
marks in the picture. Now comes the fun part, cutting them out.
Next Page
BACK
|