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Mishap on the lake today

dmenardmd

dmenardmd

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Unfortunately today, we were riding back to the dock and hit an unseen tree stump that ruptured my pontoon. Luckily, I was able to get to my lift but still need to get it back on the water to be able to trailer it to my dealer. Any thoughts on how to get it back to boat launch without sinking the boat? IMG_9589.jpegIMG_9593.png
 
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Welcome to the forum dmenard! How far is the ramp?!? And do you have Sea Tow on your lake/waterway ?!? You might want to call them to see if they have some way to keep that pontoon afloat or buoyant long enough to get you to your ramp to load it up! Where do you boat? Good luck!
 
BigKahuna said:
Welcome to the forum dmenard! How far is the ramp?!? And do you have Sea Tow on your lake/waterway ?!? You might want to call them to see if they have some way to keep that pontoon afloat or buoyant long enough to get you to your ramp to load it up! Where do you boat? Good luck!
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BigKahuna said:
Welcome to the forum dmenard! How far is the ramp?!? And do you have Sea Tow on your lake/waterway ?!? You might want to call them to see if they have some way to keep that pontoon afloat or buoyant long enough to get you to your ramp to load it up! Where do you boat? Good luck!
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We are about 3 miles away from the closest ramp. I’ll be looking into getting a tow on the water as well next week. We are in Toledo Bend, Louisiana. I’ll talk to our dealer Monday as well to see if we can get a temporary patch on the lift.
 
Glad you got back safely. Sorry you have such a bad mishap. Hopefully there will be some ideas/options for you. OOC, is it a bi-toon or tritoon?

If it is a tritoon, I can say it really should just list and sag badly, but it would be plenty buoyant in good conditions to get your to the ramp. The pontoons are chambered, so if that is your only damage (that rear port side pontoon), it’s just the rear portion of the one pontoon that would be filled with water. With a tritoon, that leaves the other two chambers on that pontoon AND two entire other pontoons good to go.

On a traditianal dual pontoon, I’d be more worried. I’d want a patch or to know if there are any other options myself before trying anything.
 
Each pontoon should have 2 or more chambers. So, in your case the back portion would take on water but the front would not. Unless it is damaged as well. You could lower it on the lift to see how bad it will get just sitting with the lift under but not supporting the boat. If it sinks too much just lift it back out of the water.
 
Call your insurance company ,they should have contacts for this type of occurrence .
 
Sorry about the damage to your boat! There were a lot of problems like yours in SWFL after Hurricane Ian. I saw a lot of companies, like SeaTow, putting the damaged boats on portable floating docks so they could pull the boats in. If you belong to one of these companies, it should be no charge but I would definitely tip the guys getting you back to the ramp. If that doesn't work and all else fails, use "duct tape" like Lakeliving suggested! OMG LL!!! too funny
 
Vikingstaff said:
Glad you got back safely. Sorry you have such a bad mishap. Hopefully there will be some ideas/options for you. OOC, is it a bi-toon or tritoon?

If it is a tritoon, I can say it really should just list and sag badly, but it would be plenty buoyant in good conditions to get your to the ramp. The pontoons are chambered, so if that is your only damage (that rear port side pontoon), it’s just the rear portion of the one pontoon that would be filled with water. With a tritoon, that leaves the other two chambers on that pontoon AND two entire other pontoons good to go.

On a traditianal dual pontoon, I’d be more worried. I’d want a patch or to know if there are any other options myself before trying anything.
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Thank you very much for the advice. Have a great weekend!
 
Julianna said:
Sorry about the damage to your boat! There were a lot of problems like yours in SWFL after Hurricane Ian. I saw a lot of companies, like SeaTow, putting the damaged boats on portable floating docks so they could pull the boats in. If you belong to one of these companies, it should be no charge but I would definitely tip the guys getting you back to the ramp. If that doesn't work and all else fails, use "duct tape" like Lakeliving suggested! OMG LL!!! too funny
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Thank you very much for the advice. Have a great weekend!
 
When when we had a 4" gash in our duck blind pontoon boat (ice froze and blew out of the bottom of the tube), we ratchet strapped (4) 55 gallon empty sealed plastic barrels to the side with the busted toon. We got them from the local car wash (that's what their soap and stuff comes in). It kept the duck blind afloat long enough to get it from the dock to the ramp. I think they charged us $10 for each barrel.
 
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