Simplify your boating

Consider New Zealand’s extensive and complex coastline with its many sheltered nooks and crannies, coupled with the long, narrow shape (so the sea is always just an hour or two’s drive away) and it is little wonder that boating, fishing, diving and other maritime pursuits are so popular.

You don’t have to rank amongst the wealthy to enjoy time on the water, either. If you want to get out there, enjoy yourself and harvest some kaimoana, there is a great deal of coastline that can be accessed from smaller craft, affordable by most, and towable by the average family car.

In fact, smaller boats with the ability to beach-launch without the need for formal ramp facilities often have the advantage over much larger craft, providing a lot of enjoyment with minimal running costs. Hawkes Bay is a good example of this: once you get away from the port of Napier, there is a wide range of small beach communities (often with campgrounds) to the north and south, where beach or river-mouth launching is required, and nippy little aluminium pontoon boats are popular vessels.

Such boats can be easily manhandled in the surf, are stable with good load-carrying ability, and, should the worst happen, they have high levels of reserve buoyancy.

Napier-based Profile Boats, owned and marketed by Firman’s Marine, is a manufacturer well known for its pontoon hulls. The company has just added a new hull, the 1410 D, to the models at the smaller end of their range. On a recent visit to Napier I had a chance to check one out.

On the water

With the co-operation of new owner, Mark Gregory, we took the first production 1410 D for an outing near Napier. Mark was due to head off on a family holiday up to Mahia, and the necessity of surf-launching there was the motivation for purchasing this boat. Thanks to this vessel, he could get out to fish, dive, surf, and enjoy the things that we Kiwis love doing in the summer. With Tim Hagen as crew, Mark headed out to pull a few cray pots and do a little fishing.

Fortunately, the crays were playing ball, with the pots providing a decent feed. Pontoon hulls are ideal for this type of work: the stability of the hull is such that Mark can stand and pull the pots over the side; once the pontoons hit the water the hull doesn’t tip much further – even under the weight of pulling the pot and two guys on one side of the boat. Also, the wide, flat gunwale tops covered with tough non-skid ‘Octi-Deck’ panels are ideal for sitting the pots on.

I manned the cameras, with Profile Boat’s owner Brian Firman at the helm of his launch, before jumping ship into the pontoon boat to try it out with its new owner, Mark.

The 4.30m hull is powered by a 30hp Yamaha two-stroke outboard with a 12-inch pitch prop. This is a long-shaft model on a 20-inch transom, a simple pull-start model with a tiller, so no steering remotes to worry about and no battery or electrical system either. Fuel is carried in a 25-litre tote tank that sits under the stern thwart, restrained by a couple of brackets.

A quick twist of the throttle saw the rig running at 22 knots (42kph) flat out with two adults aboard. There is probably a bit more speed there – I didn’t want to thrash the engine while it was still being run-in – and the pitch of the prop is fairly fine at 12 inches, favouring torque over top-end speed, with a view to carrying heavy loads including divers and their gear.

In a relatively small boat, 22 knots is plenty fast enough anyway. Conditions were relatively benign, with only about half a metre of lift offshore and 10 knots of breeze. The rig turned in an excellent performance, travelling softly and producing very little spray. The rising bow-line, fine entry and ‘gull-wing’ hull form provided by the tapered pontoons are the main reasons for this. The pontoons and sheerline should give good bow-lift in the surf, too.

The nuts and bolts

The bottom and pontoons are made from 3mm aluminium plate, the transom from 4mm, and the deck is 4mm Tread Plate. The latter is sealed and drains to a pair of efficient scuppers in the stern. Duckbill scuppers are standard, but Mark’s boat was fitted with easily reached internal bungs. The fully welded floor provides under-deck buoyancy, which supplements three separate chambers in the pontoons. Although buoyancy figures were not available at the time of testing, my ‘eye-o-meter’ estimated there is plenty of reserve buoyancy, as befits a hull that will see lots of beach launching. Profile Boats swamp-tested the prototype of this hull and found that it still floated with the gunwales out of the water.

Construction includes a flat plate welded across the keel line, with angled bracing between that and the deck forming a matrix of strong triangular sections. The pontoon structures add to the longitudinal support. Laterally, there are two bulkheads in the bow, another where the bow taper finishes, and the transom assembly.

The bow layout starts with split bow rails that drop down on either side of the fairlead, constraining the warp. Immediately behind this is an open anchor well with a tie-off bollard, and behind this a forward seat/casting platform, again with ‘Octi-Deck’ panels, and stowage space beneath. The flat-topped gunwales built on top of the pontoons have access slots along the inside, providing a useful amount of stowage space right around the sides where items can be at hand, but out of the way and protected from the elements.

The internal beam is 1.310m, and added to the 4.30m length, provides a decent amount of very usable space in what is essentially a small boat.

There are two cross-thwarts: the rear one is sited so the helmsman can easily reach the outboard tiller and will also seat a second person. The second thwart is amidships and movable (or removable) with a choice of two positions. As Brian Firman explained, “this is to offer a method of adjusting the trim of the boat fore and aft, as smaller outboards are not usually fitted with tilt-trim options”.

As an aid to manhandling the boat in the surf, external grab rails had been added to the sides, one forward and one towards the stern, supplementing those on the bow.

Quality has not been sacrificed in order to keep the price down, though. The rig is carried on a fully-galvanised DMW Premier series single-axle trailer with leaf-spring suspension, two pairs of wobble rollers per side, plus a keel roller. It also has a wind-down jockey wheel, manual winch and submersible LED trailer lights. Tow weight of the rig is around 350kg.

As this hull is a very new model, optional extras are a work in progress, but could include grab-rail placement, a fold-down boarding step, lock pin for the movable thwart, and so on. But bear in mind that this all adds to the price, and a lot of the point of the rather Spartan set-up is to provide a well-made boat for a very affordable price. Profile/Firmans are offering the base rig (25HP Yamaha two-stroke or 30hp Mercury two-stroke and DMW trailer) at a very attractive $12,995.

Fitting up for fishing

As you will have gathered by now, this rig has been left very basic for a number of good reasons. Keeping the price down is one, but by keeping the fit-out simple the weight is minimised, so it’s easier to tow and launch from the beach, as well as cheaper to power and run. And, if it all turns to custard during launching or landing, the basic rig is positively buoyant and fairly bullet-proof, with no steering or electrics to worry about. (Simple, cheap, light, hand-held GPS units are available - or phone apps, with the addition of a waterproof case for the smartphone/tablet – as are basic portable sounders if you need them. Ditto for a waterproof, handheld VHF.)

Four through-gunwale rod-holders were fitted, but more could be added if desired as there are plenty of spots to do this. For the type of coastal work envisaged for this boat, however, ‘keeping it simple’ is a good mantra. Going fishing? Chuck in a chilly bin for bait and catch storage, a few rods and a small tackle box. Easy. Off for a dive? Wear your wetsuit and put the rest of the gear on the deck. Same deal with a net or long-line.

The high level of buoyancy, stability and load-carrying ability of the pontoon configuration make the Profile 1410 D a great work platform for coastal fishermen and divers, especially in areas where launching facilities are informal. It is solidly made, has scupper drainage, and has been kept simple and sensible. Easily powered, it’s a smooth, dry rider that lands softly. Fun in the sun at a price you can afford.