Spring
Ice-Out
Ice-out is a holiday and the Poontoon is the parade. Slushy edges, frozen toes, and brave people in sweatshirts.
It's not a lifestyle
Poontoon Life: Wisconsin Lake Living
The floatstyle is what happens when a Wisconsin summer gets a raft, a speaker, and no supervision. Below you will find one typical day, four seasons, a bingo card, a way to name your boat, and an ope counter.
First coffee to the last flashlight
A Day on the Poontoon
One perfectly ordinary Saturday, from first coffee to the last flashlight.
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7:00am
Loon Alarm Goes Off
The loon-call alarm rings. Coffee is poured. Nobody is speaking yet.
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9:00am
Inflate and Launch
The boat launch line is 40 minutes. We are already floating. Ope, pardon us.
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11:00am
The Firetruck Arrives
The firetruck rolls up and showers everyone. Sunscreen is now a suggestion.
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12:30pm
Brat Hour
Brats on the grill. Squeaky curds on the side. Mayflies are garnish.
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2:00pm
The Muskie Story
Somebody's uncle caught a muskie "this big." The arms keep getting wider.
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4:00pm
Diving Board Olympics
Slide, dive, cannonball. Judges are strict and mostly unqualified.
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6:30pm
Friday Fish Fry (It Is Saturday)
Fish fry anyway. The Captain declares it a Friday. It is now Friday.
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9:00pm
Somebody Find the Dock
Sunset, then stars, then the loons start up. Nobody remembers where the dock is.
Ice, sun, leaves, and ice again
Four Seasons of Poontoon
Wisconsin has four seasons. The Poontoon has opinions about all of them.
Summer
Peak Float
Sun, waterfall, curds, and a firetruck. The lake is 68 degrees and everyone is calling it a hot tub.
Fall
Leaf Peeper Cruise
Gold and red on the shoreline, hot cider in the coolers. The mosquitoes are finally gone. The loons are heading south.
Winter
The Ice-Toon
We park the Poontoon on a frozen lake and add a fishing shanty. The hole is small, the stories are large, and the space heater is a hero. How ice shanty villages work.
Bragging rights are real
Wisconsin Lake Bingo
Click the squares as they happen. Five in a row wins. Bragging rights are real; prizes are not.
FREE: Someone says ope
Your card and marks stay on this device, so you can finish the game after the boat launch line. Need the lingo? Read Wisconsin Lake Words.
Forty names, zero regrets
Name Your Pontoon
Every great vessel needs a name. Ours needs 40. Click for one.
Your pontoon shall be christened:
Ope-n Water
- Ope-n Water
- Knot on Call
- Cheese Curd Cruiser
- Muskie Business
- Reel Trouble
- Lake Effect
- Loon Tunes
- Walleye Not
- Brat Pack
- Fish Fry Friday
- Supper Clubbed
- Ice-Out Party
- Sweet Old Fashioned
- Bubbler Trouble
- Up North Express
- Bobber Betty
- Stop-and-Go Light
- The Neighbor's Dock
- Curdled Dreams
- Sunfish Sunday
- No Wake Zone
- Barely Buoyant
- Cheddar Days
- Mayfly Mayhem
- The Lake Ness Monster
- Door County Dreamin'
- Lake Flies High
- The HOA Nemesis
- Northwoods Nonsense
- Fin-ally Friday
- Tackle Box Tiki
- Ripple Effect
- Gary's Problem
- Curd Herder
- Dock Talk
- Lake Life Crisis
- Captain Cheesy
- Splash Landing
- Rod and Reel Deal
- The Muskie Made Me Do It
A personal tally
The Ope Counter
Squeezed past someone at the cooler? Bumped a kayak? Tap it. Nobody else sees your number; it stays on this device, like your shame.
0 opes and counting
Ten questions, zero cheating
How Wisconsin Are You?
Supper club orders, bubbler vocabulary, boat launch manners and one question about cheese curds that separates the locals from the tourists.
Nothing here has been inspected
Scenes from the Lake
Real-ish photos of a very fake boat.
