The Great Pontoon Boat Adventure

My friends Jason and Sarah recently bought a pontoon boat. A beautiful boat, I might add. The only tiny little detail they overlooked? Neither of them had ever actually driven a boat before.

What could possibly go wrong? I met them at the boat launch, where excitement was high and confidence was… probably higher than it should have been.

To their credit, they managed to get the boat into the water without any major disasters. We all stood there admiring it for a moment before they climbed aboard and attempted to fire it up.

Nothing. Again. Nothing. A few more attempts. Still nothing. There was a lot of button pushing, head scratching, and theories being thrown around. Was it the battery? The starter? Some mysterious mechanical issue?

Nope. The boat was out of gas. I wish I was kidding.

Once fuel was added and everyone’s dignity was partially restored, the engine finally came to life. We cheered like we’d just completed a major engineering project.

The three of us spent a little time cruising around the lake. It was actually beautiful. The water was calm, the sun was warm, and for a brief moment it felt like maybe we were all natural-born boaters.

Then came the real challenge. Getting the pontoon into their dock slip. Now, this dock slip was the entire reason they wanted a boat in the first place. Jason took the wheel. The dock took the beating.

What followed was several minutes of corrections, overcorrections, drifting, backing up, going forward, and a level of stress that could probably be seen from space.

At one point, the pontoon met another pontoon in a way that neither boat had consented to. The impact wasn’t catastrophic, but it definitely wasn’t gentle. That was apparently the final straw. Jason threw his hands up and yelled, “Someone else do this!” I did my best not to laugh. Sarah calmly stepped in, took control, and within moments had the boat safely tied up in the slip. Leave it to the woman.

Once everything was secured, we went back and Sarah and I had a quick drink but not long after, I decided it was probably time for me to head home. Jason’s stress level was somewhere between “frustrated” and “volcanic eruption,” and I figured giving everyone some space was the kindest thing I could do.

A little while later, my phone buzzed. It was Sarah. “Well… he hates me now.” I immediately called her. We both laughed.

She told me she had left for a bit to give him some space and let the emotions settle down. Honestly, I think that’s probably the smartest boating decision anyone made all day.

The truth is, they’ll be fine. Someday they’ll laugh about all of it. The empty gas tank. The docking attempts. The pontoon collision. The fact that Sarah ultimately saved the day.

And because every great adventure deserves a keepsake, I painted them a little watercolor of the sunset over the lake with their pontoon floating peacefully on the water.

Is it my best work? Absolutely not. I’m a photographer, not a painter. But sometimes it’s not about creating something perfect. Sometimes it’s about capturing a memory before it drifts away.

And yesterday’s memory was definitely worth saving.