Pontoons? Ideas wanted!

[bigscoop]

Here's the deal:

For some time now I have had in my mind that I wanted to build a small, lightweight, pontoon type watercraft, something similar in appearance to a Hobie Cat sailboat. My situation now is affording me the time and I certainly need the project to help consume the many hours I have to spend at home now. So, in recent months I have been looking at all the different ways I can go about constructing the pontoons, even including the use of 10, 12, inch PVC pipe. But before I make that final decision I'm hoping some of you may have had experience with this sort of thing and I am hoping that you might be able to offer me other pontoon material options I am not aware of. The idea is to keep the watercraft light with a low profile, which is why I don't like the PVC concept because it is rather heavy and subject to cracking. So I'm all ears.....anyone got any ideas that you'd like to share?

 

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[spartacus53]

Before we get creative with the ideas, what type of water will you be plying this craft?

Ocean, river, lake

 

[bigscoop]

Before we get creative with the ideas, what type of water will you be plying this craft?

Ocean, river, lake

Smooth water with only mild currents. Nothing too rough.

 

[bigscoop]

as a kid I had a really simple one built out of 55 gallon oil barrels attached together...it worked wonderful for the tank we used it in. Here are some links to much more efficient ones.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/home-built-pontoon-boat-how-to-build-a-pontoon-boat.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/home-built-pontoon-boat-how-to-build-a-pontoon-boat.html

This will be a small watercraft, no barrels, and the PVC is still an option but I'm hoping to find something with a bit flatter profile without having to actually build them, or the whole pontoon floats from scratch?

 

[mojjax]

check this out -

 

[bigscoop]

Tee, I've already worked out all the displacement, floatation, etc., factors, been thinking about this for a long time.
mojjax, that's pretty darn close to what I have in mind only I'm thinking 3hp - 5hp as my power source.

Just not sure if I want to use the PVC in light of an idea or optional ready made shell material that I may not have considered.

 

[bigscoop]

I'm not against building the pontoons from scratch if I have to, but I'm really trying to avoid all the mess of glass work, etc. Again, I'm just exploring the pontoon options because I really can't do much else until the pontoon issue is decided. Not too crazy about the PVC concept but I may have to run with it or face building from scratch, which I would rather not do.