Staying Afloat
We all know that pontoon boats are a well designed vessel that offers stability, and a open deck plan, but did you know they are also quite durable as well? The signature pontoons on a pontoon boat have a special ability that allows them to stay above water, even if punctured. While normal pontoon boats have this ability, a Fiesta pontoon boat takes that ability and drives it even further. So how does a pontoon boat stay above water if there is a hole in it?
The simple answer is air pressure. The pontoons are filled with air, and with no holes for that air to escape, the air simply stays there, helping the pontoon boat stay afloat. Now, pontoon boats are built durable, making it hard to puncture them, paired with the fact they don’t typically sit that low in the water, and you rarely have to worry about damaging your ponting boat. Much like any boat however, they are not invincible. If a hole or tear is created in a pontoon, the water will only fill up to the rupture. The air inside of the pontoon will become trapped, stopping any more water from coming in. Combine this with multiple buck heads, and not will the water be stopped from rising above the rupture, it will be stopped from flooding the entire pontoon.
How does a bulkhead work? There are two kinds of bulk heads, one that is open in the center and one that is fully closed. Both serve the same purpose. They keep water confined to a single area. This way if you have four sections in a pontoon, each divided by a bulkhead, water can only fill up a small part of a single section instead of moving to the rest of the pontoon. When you consider that a Fiesta pontoon boat has two pontoons, with at least four sections each, a single leak will affect less than 15% of the boat. You could get a hole in a pontoon, relax for a little while, then return to dock to repair the hole.
Of course, this doesn’t cover catastrophic damage done to a pontoon. If another boat collides into your pontoon boat, or you get a serious rupture a foot or longer in size, you might need a little help. The chances of damaging a pontoon if you drive your boat responsibly is rare, and a serious incident like that is even rarer. To reduce the chances of damage even further, shop with Fiesta Marine for your pontoon boat. More bulkheads than their competitors, better materials, and a better build ensure you stay afloat. Visit Fiestaboats.com to see what makes our Florida saltwater Pontoon Boats so dependable.