If you want to give a fun and interesting twist to your party, try throwing it on a pontoon boat. There’s comparatively wide space onboard for guests to mingle and you can roam wherever you want on the water, searching out new sights or finding somewhere private and unexplored to moor for the night’s festivities. The atmosphere is unbeatable. 
The pontoon welcomes both leisurely types and sporting types, offering you increased versatility in your guest list and guaranteed enjoyment for everybody, no matter what their tastes are.
Here is some great advice from our friends at Manitou to get you off on the right foot in preparing for an unforgettable celebration on the water. They’ve paired their pontoon knowledge with that of party planning, cooking safety and event designing experts to cater the utmost helpful advice to you, the pontoon party-planning-cook-designer-to-be.
The first thing on the priority list is always safety, as partying on open water brings certain possibilities for emergencies. If you follow these basic guidelines, however, you’ll be perfectly equipped to handle anything that comes your way.
Ensure that you have proper safety gear on your boat, including life jackets, a fire extinguisher, and a first aid kit. Heed the max number of people that your pontoon boat can safely bear. Make sure to dock or anchor your pontoon before you fire up the grill, and double-check that it’s stable-based and designed for boating. Your grill should have a locking device to enable you to fasten it facing inward on the side of the boat. And as fancy as they are, it’s a good idea to leave breakable serving items, like glass trays and cups, off the boat.
Concerning cuisine, any party planner faces the anxiety of preparing a striking menu. Like the old saying “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” the way to a partygoer’s good mood is through their 
stomach. This is tried-and-true from the most professional of get-togethers to the easy-going conglomeration of friends. Planning a menu that can be gracefully executed aboard a floating vessel requires agile thinking, but the good news is the pontoon is your best boating choice, thanks to plenty of seating and room to walk around. Manitou tapped into Kent “The Deck Chef” Whitaker’s store of wisdom for some good tips. (Whitaker’s website can be visited at www.thedeckchef.com).
Things will go a lot easy at the very beginning, starting with preparation, if you start in the land bound kitchen at home, Kent advises. If there’s any cutting, boiling, marinating, and baking to be done, cross it off your list before setting a toe onboard. In choosing your menu, remember that menu items like finger foods and Hors d’oeuvres are a breather to transport and a breeze to clean up.
Keep in mind that cold and hot foods should be stored apart from each other in coolers that don’t have
to be opened and closed often. If you have plenty of ice and your coolers are well-steeped in shadow, you should be fine. A general rule of thumb from the USDA is that after two hours in the “danger zone” (between 41 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit) food is no longer guaranteed safe and should be thrown out.
Double-check that you have all the serving utensils, trays, and other items on the pontoon before the party starts. One good tip is to fill a plastic tub with the following: a spatula, stirring spoon, corkscrew, bottle opener, can opener, tongs, knives, a hot pad, salt and pepper, foil, and mini cutting board, as well as unbreakable eating ware like reusable plastic plates, bowls cups, and silverware. You can then stow the tub away under your boat seats to preserve leg room.
Unlike a pontoon boat, this web site space is so small we'll have to split our party advice in two! For the second half of what our experts have to say, visit us at PDB magazine this Thursday to read more. As a teaser, it will include lots and lots of delicious food recommendations. See you then!
