Ok - this is a pet peeve for me
pon·toon
n.
1. A floating structure, such as a flatbottom boat, that is used to support a bridge.
2. A floating structure serving as a dock.
3. A float on a seaplane.
Edited by rwj0j0 on Sep 10, 2013 - 01:56 PM.
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Rob Jones
1976 Yellow p-16 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1978 Yellow p-16 - in good working order
1979 White p-15 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1985 White p-15 - good working order
1982 White NACRA 5.8 - project boat.
1986 White p-16 - in good working order
1975 White Hobie 3.5 - PM me if you want it
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They are not Pontoons!
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 12:56 PM
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 02:27 PM
to me your first definition describes it perfectly, a floating structure (last time i checked), (random example, not imperative to the definition), that is used to support a bridge (sounds a lot like a trampoline to me)...
thats just my opinion. I definitely think they're pontoons
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Nacra 5.7
Falcon Lake Manitoba
Canada
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 03:29 PM
catamarans have hulls, pontoon boats have pontoons -
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 03:56 PM
I was almost had by that interpretation of "bridge"!
noun: pontoon; plural noun: pontoons
a flat-bottomed boat or hollow metal cylinder used with others to support a temporary bridge or floating landing stage.
a bridge or landing stage supported by pontoons.
a large flat-bottomed barge or lighter equipped with cranes.
either of the floats fitted to an aircraft to enable it to land on water.
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Rob Jones
1976 Yellow p-16 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1978 Yellow p-16 - in good working order
1979 White p-15 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1985 White p-15 - good working order
1982 White NACRA 5.8 - project boat.
1986 White p-16 - in good working order
1975 White Hobie 3.5 - PM me if you want it
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 04:24 PM
if i put a mast and sails on a pontoon boat would they then be hulls?
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Nacra 5.7
Falcon Lake Manitoba
Canada
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 05:34 PM
I guess another question is if you take the hulls off a cat and make a pontoon boat, are they still hulls?
Tom
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Tom Benedict
Island of Hawaii
P-Cat 18 / Sail# 361 / HA 7633 H / "Smilodon"
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 06:04 PM
thats deep...
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Nacra 5.7
Falcon Lake Manitoba
Canada
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 06:07 PM
Is it the shape or the purpose that makes a hull a hull?
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Rob Jones
1976 Yellow p-16 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1978 Yellow p-16 - in good working order
1979 White p-15 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1985 White p-15 - good working order
1982 White NACRA 5.8 - project boat.
1986 White p-16 - in good working order
1975 White Hobie 3.5 - PM me if you want it
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 06:21 PM
I thought nuts had hulls.
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 06:48 PM
Perhaps that's the difference... still I'd rather have hulls than pontoons!
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Rob Jones
1976 Yellow p-16 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1978 Yellow p-16 - in good working order
1979 White p-15 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1985 White p-15 - good working order
1982 White NACRA 5.8 - project boat.
1986 White p-16 - in good working order
1975 White Hobie 3.5 - PM me if you want it
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 06:50 PM
I would say purpose. A rose is a beautiful flowering plant, unless it is growing in a football field since then it would be a weed. A boat has a hull, a pontoon boat is basically a floating dock with a motor.
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Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 08:18 PM
Once a hull gets major soft spots it becomes a pontoon. Your cat is then only good as a floating deck.
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Jack B
Hobie 17
BC, Canada
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Posted: Sep 10, 2013 - 09:24 PM
What difference does it really make? A good way to run off newcomers to any sport is to insist on knowing certain jargon which really makes no difference. For example, I once went into a bike shop to look for a new "seat". The sales gal says, "you mean a saddle?". Yeah whatever, she came across as a real snob. Now some nautical/sailing terms are important to know, but that's not one of them.
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Tim
Collierville (Memphis), TN
Supercat 15--sold :(
Hobie monocat--given
Vanguard 15--traded for...
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Nacra 5.7
Hobie 14–sold to make room for...
Supercat 17–sold
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Posted: Sep 11, 2013 - 04:55 AM
+1 It doesn't make a damn bit of difference.
Several have quoted one definition as the devices to enable an aircraft to land on water.
I have several thousand hours in float equipped aircraft, mostly Turbo Beavers & Twin Otters, they were NEVER referred to as pontoons...it was floats, as in, "you working wheels today, or floats?"
The endorsement on your pilots license is a "float endorsement", the training manual is titled, "Flying Floats".
Perhaps it's a regional thing, sort of like you say toe -mate- toe, I say toe-matt-toe.
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Posted: Sep 11, 2013 - 05:54 AM
I suppose it makes no difference at all. It is indeed a semantic discussion and I am really concerned with the meaning of words though. Call them hulls bananas if you want! Right? It definitely makes no difference at all when your bananas are going 10+. At one level I really agree with that.
For me it's just a pet peeve - I hate the sound of the word if it is being used to refer to a catamaran.
I want to know the correct terms for anything I get into and do not consider it a turnoff when somebody politely lets me know that I am using the wrong term. I wonder if the Oracle team talks about "flying a pontoon"... (Does anybody say that?)
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Rob Jones
1976 Yellow p-16 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1978 Yellow p-16 - in good working order
1979 White p-15 - parts is parts - hulls cut up
1985 White p-15 - good working order
1982 White NACRA 5.8 - project boat.
1986 White p-16 - in good working order
1975 White Hobie 3.5 - PM me if you want it
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Posted: Sep 11, 2013 - 07:22 AM
sure it does
Boats have lots of unique names, parts and history for a reason....
is a sheet also a rope? yes, but it has a proper name on a boat for a reason. you don't pull a rope on a sail, you sheet a sail.
how about that thingy-ma-bober on the front of the boat. you know you need a new one, but since you can't explain to the guy on the phone from murray's what the name of the part is .... you waste his time, and make yourself look like a noob and risk not being able to get the right part.
how about this one: "Hello 911 - there is a pontoon boat right outside Start Island. The skipper is having a heart attack and needs assistance right away .... the coast guard will now be looking for a pontoon boat instead of a catamaran
Edited by MN3 on Sep 11, 2013 - 07:39 AM. -
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Posted: Sep 11, 2013 - 07:28 AM
I have always wanted to do that. and some lee boards too of course.
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Posted: Sep 11, 2013 - 08:17 AM
I have to weigh in on this--I can't stand some of the non-sailing morons that try to use sailing terms:
Mask? No, it is a MAST
Ruter? Nope, rudder
little flippy things on the back of the boat? Again, rudder and on the stern
Tarpouline? Trampoline
And the WORST?
Sponsons. I'll accept pontoon, but I just can't take the term, 'sponson.' -
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Posted: Sep 11, 2013 - 12:47 PM
I agree with Dan, "pontoon" doesn't bother me but I draw the line at "sponson". That just sounds ridiculous.
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-Zach
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Posted: Sep 11, 2013 - 01:34 PM
For the record, "rutter" is a mariner's record of a sailing route. "Rudder" is the fin thingie on the back of the boat.
And if that wasn't fun enough, for our next lesson we'll teach you the proper pronunciation of "forecastle" and "leeward". :)
On a more serious note, I could totally see a bunch of cats in mast-up storage discussing the philosophical implications of all this.
"I am my hulls. But if another boat takes my hulls, are they still mine?"
"For that matter, are they still hulls?"
"If the other boat is a power boat, does having your hulls make it a sailboat?"
"No, because I am also my sails."
"But if another boat takes your sails, are you still then a sailboat? And what do you call your hulls?"
"What is the sound of one halyard slapping?"
Then at the far end of the boatyard the hoodlum cats are saying, "DUDE! We were like going almost 20 knots, and get this! Get this! I TOTALLY STUFFED A HULL! You shoulda seen his face. HAHAHAHAHA! Dude was like, 'Nooo!' and I was all like, 'OH HELL YEAH!', and then he was all like..."
It's all sailing. It's all fun.
Tom
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Tom Benedict
Island of Hawaii
P-Cat 18 / Sail# 361 / HA 7633 H / "Smilodon"
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