Pontoon Boat Conversion to Sailboat

Pontoon Sailing

That is pretty impressive! I always thought it could be done. Was there ever any chance of flying one of the hulls? Describe the piece welded on keels. Size, location, shape.
Thanks,
Silverbullet!

 

Pontoon Sailing

No, with only 80 SF of sail I doubt it would fly enough to lift a pontoon.

each pontoon has a run of 3" aluminum angle metal (like angle iron - but aluminum - positioned in upright "V" ) welded on the bottom (6 oclock) the full 24' of boat length. these "V" ridges serves each pontoon as a little keel to protect it from rocks or reef scrapes as well as impediment to side slippage.

Gregdog

 

Lucky Boy!!

That was an expensive piece of welding for two pontoons!!
I cant do anything like that on mine because its fiberglass. I had the option of which to go with and gave the aluminum one I had to the kids and grandkids.
Coming out of a wicked river with logs and stumps and sandbars, I figd the fiberglass would hold up better. Plus we have redneck gunners who get great pleasure out of shooting holes in the aluminum. Mine, being fiberglass, is filled with foam so they generally dont bother. They only shoot holes in one pontoon so it lists into the water on just one side. Course Ive got a .50 cal I take on my big sailboat that I could mount on the bow of the pontoon...hahahaha. I am really interested in your progress and would love to see a you tube video underway.
Ive even thought about putting a pulse jet on one of mine. Hey, if it aint fun, why do it?

 

Pontoon Sailer youtube links

Ok. I was able to get 2 of the three videos onto youtube:





These shallow waters of Homosassa Bay are filled with corals, sponges sea fans and a host of other tropical creatures.

Gregdog

 

Here is the third video link

 

So far past cool!

Gregdog,
Im impressed. For all the naysayers, you got it done boy. That's livin. No worries. Its all in the journey, not the destination. Course I got one son who has to get there in a hurry and scares the tunket outta me everytime I set foot in his speedster. The other, he is a sailboat guy. I think in order to be able to add more sheet you would have to have stays fore and aft which would mean moving the mast further toward the stern. Or a sturdier mast. But, hey its fine like it is. Most folks never consider the importance of the invention of the sailboat. Without it, we would probably all be stuck on some little island somewhere. You go boy!

 

Thanks for the encouragement.

Our plans are to take out the wood dowel rods (1 7/16" diameter) out and replace with galvanized 1 3/8" pipe top rails (for chain link fence - these are cheap at home depot/lowes - lower cost than wood which swells under the wet conditions on the water) for a stiffer mast. Using #40 1 1/4 PVC to sleeve the rails is a perfect fit and metal does not swell. Why PVC at all?: Looks, Lines and Lightning. Here in the west coast Tampa Bay area we live in the lightning capitol of the world. With PVC we can also easily glue on a variety of fittings on the top and on the shaft upon which we can secure pulleys, cleats and other useful line gear.


We will re-purpose the long wood dowels as booms for the side masts. Once we have all three masts up and fitted we will test to see how far cross wind we can go without side slippage and just how far into the wind we can tact - if at all.

Beyond being just a couple of McIver knukleheads, we see a practical solution in these inventive efforts: All the turtle grass chopped up and floating around with power boats ripping across the flats of Homosassa bay - or any shallow water bay - constantly jambs up the water intakes requiring most boaters to go slow, and constantly reverse engines to clear the intakes or blow their engines. You could get back inshore just as fast under sail power and save gas to boot to say nothing of the pleasure of sailing and saving the grass you would otherwise be mowing up in these skinny waters of the nature coast.

Gregdog

 

Hello again

Silverbear here. Much time has passed since I nosed around this site asking questions and getting more insight into the pontoon boat under sail proposition.

The sailing itch is finally getting scratched this summer in the form of a Grumman canoe sail rig. The 17' double ender is from 1963 and the sail kit is from 1953. Ancient history The cotton sail is still usable and the mast is a combination of wood and aluminum. I've been having fun learning the rudiments of sailing and now feel inspired once again to sail the pontoon boat. At 71 my days of using the sail canoe are numbered, but I think I could enjoy sailing the pontoon boat for a couple more decades.

I still have a newer dacron sail and all aluminum mast from Grumman, a Gunter rig which is 65 square feet, small for a pontoon boat yet big for a canoe. Sailing the canoe has given me some valuable experience and a better understanding of sailing into the wind, functions of the lee boards and rudder. You can learn something about sailing from reading about it, but experience is the real teacher The main thing I've learned is that being under sail is a whole lot of fun. I capsized once and have come close several times, which is another reason for coming back to the idea of converting the pontoon boat to sail.

What I'm picturing now is using the newer Gunter sail rig with aluminum mast, making a pivoting center board under the deck and adding a retractable rudder to the engine (raised when the engine is in use and pivoted down into the water when under sail).

I think the engine I will use is a pull start 15 horse OMC 2 stroke engine with a long shaft. Turning the engine will turn the rudder at the same time. I'm dropping the idea of building a cabin onto the deck. If I want to sleep over I can use a tent, putting it up at night and taking it down in the morning. I picture a pretty open deck with folding aluminum deck chairs for seating, a folding cot for sleeping, retaining the guard rails and positioning the mast step so that the boom clears the guard rails.

This boat would be used spring to fall on a thousand acre fresh water lake lake in fair weather for slow cruising, star watching at night and fishing; all good excuses for being on the water. It's fun to think about and has been a pleasure reading the "newer" old posts of this thread. Thanks for the continuing inspiration.
SB