It’s not every day you get the opportunity to buy a pontoon, but there is something empowering and uplifting when you dive in and purchase your very own for the first time. At least that was how the Smith family felt when they finally bought their pontoon after years of encouragement from a dear family friend. Barrett Smith and his wife Michelle live in Atlanta, Ga., with their two teenage boys, Brock and Sawyer, ages 13 and 12 respectively, along with their dog Marshall. Barrett grew up in eastern Virginia near Chesapeake Bay with his good friend James “Jamie” Dodd. Needless to say, Barrett grew up with the water practically surrounding him.
When they were younger, Jamie frequently invited Barrett to join his family on their boat. As Jamie recalls, Barrett would always say, “One of these days I’m going to get myself a boat.” Virginia is the ideal place for water sports of all kinds, to which both young men were frequent participants, such as tubing. Jamie ended up owning a boat for well over 20 years and to this day still spends a great deal of time on the rivers and lakes.
Barrett, however, ended up moving with his family to Atlanta where, unfortunately, the area isn't surrounded by nearby waterways like Virginia is. Nevertheless, these two friends continued to stay in touch, and it became Jamie’s mission to encourage Barrett to follow his dream of owning his own boat.
“In the warmer months, I would send regular pictures of my family and me out on our pontoon. I kept planting those seeds hoping he’d catch on,” Jamie stated.
With these pictures Barrett’s desire to relive his memories out on the water continued to grow. Jamie knew it was only a matter of time before Barrett committed.
PDB Motivation
“I’ve been a subscriber to Pontoon and Deck Boat magazine for years. In 2019, I bought Barrett a subscription of his own and told him he would learn a great deal from it.” Jamie goes on to say, “I knew someday it would be a great match for him and his family.”
“We didn’t know a lot about owning a boat, there's only so much you can learn beforehand but the extra knowledge we gained from reading the magazine really helped us further on our journey,” Barrett commented.
With the magazine’s helpful information, Barrett started renting a pontoon so he and his family could go to Lake Sinclair in Georgia. Lake Sinclair is a captivating wide expanse of luscious blue waters, and is known best for its tranquility and amazing fishing areas.
“The renting of a lake house and a pontoon is ultimately what sold us on wanting to buy our own pontoon,” Barrett said. “My wife and I started talking about it and we came to the conclusion that having our own boat could really be fun.”
Beyond The Unknown
“It was a daunting idea to purchase one. We’ve never had one before and we’ve heard that it can be a lot of work.” Despite the concerns of the unknown, Barrett knew exactly who to turn to at this crucial juncture on his journey of owning a boat. Early in 2022 Barrett called Jamie and told him he was ready to buy a pontoon boat.
“Jamie is a guru on all things related to water sports, PWCs, boats, tubes–you name it. Together we went through a list of activities my family and I were interested in to figure out what kind of pontoon would be the best match.”
Jamie owns a dealership in eastern Virginia called Dood RV and Marine that sells RVs, pontoons, deck boats, and fishing boats. His family's business has been around nearly 70 years. He was thrilled to hear Barrett was ready to purchase a boat and made sure he would get the best one for his money.
Barrett remembers Jamie telling him, “For your first boat you don’t have to go too crazy,” then proceeding to break down some of the features Barrett would want so he could find the right one, making the idea of a pontoon “a much more practical purchase.”
Jokingly, Barrett said, “Usually, I just buy things without asking too many questions. If I like the color and it makes me happy overall, then I’ll just buy it right then and there.”
Going With The South Bay
After that discussion Barrett and his family purchased a South Bay 224 CR with a Yamaha 150hp engine. In the spring of 2022 Dodd’s dealership delivered the pontoon to the family in Atlanta. When asked why he decided ultimately to go with South Bay he commented on the layout being similar to the rental pontoons, just nicer.
“The layout was great and the configurations on the South Bay were much better than the rental boat.” The pontoon is rated for up to 200hp, but at the time the 150hp was what the dealership had access to.
“There was a lot of debate about the engine because in 2022 it was difficult to get any outboard,” said Barrett. “So when I saw other boaters with 200hp engines I thought, ‘I feel a little inadequate with my 150hp.’ However, our South Bay goes about 30 miles per hour with my whole family on it and it has not slowed us down at all.”
Loaded For Fun
The 24-foot South Bay came standard with features the family wanted including a single Bimini top, rear seating and a stainless steel ski/tow bar. Jamie convinced Barrett to also upgrade to hydraulic steering which Barrett agreed, “made a great difference in the driving experience, and overall enjoyment.”
When asked which features he likes best Barrett said, “The GPS fish finder that is built into the console is my favorite. It plots charts and wake points. My youngest loves to fish so it was helpful when the GPS would locate places for us to fish and then mark them for later. It also has a depth sensor which I like because we were able to see where our boat would be able to go better.”
The whole Smith family couldn’t be happier with their boat. Mostly what they liked to do while on Lake Sinclair was cruise around, grab some lunch or dinner at the local eateries and pull the boys behind on their tubes.
Cruising around on the lake on Fourth of July this last year was the best time for them as a family. “We were out in the middle of the lake and watched all the firework shows go off. All the lights reflected off the waters around us. It was a spectacular feeling; we’re already looking forward to this year’s summer,” Barrett said.
Picture Perfect
Now it’s Jamie who is receiving pictures on a regular basis of the Smith family out boating. There are pictures of sunsets, the kids on the tubes and even their dog Marshall on the boat.
Boating as a whole family has been one of the best experiences the Smiths have had, and has truly bonded them together. Barrett loves how going out on the lake has helped Brock and Sawyer become nearly inseparable.
“They have so much fun together, and Sawyer looks up to his brother for dependence more out on the lake than anywhere else. Brock has become such a protector of him on the tubes and it is such a great sight to see.”
This inspiring story continues to influence many who know the Smith family. In fact, his friend Jamie enlarged a photo of Barrett’s family on a canvas and displays that photo in his dealership. “I did it because I wanted to be reminded that it took many years for Barrett to buy a boat, but they finally got there in the end.”
To anyone thinking about purchasing a boat for the first time look at this family’s example. In Barrett’s words, “Everything has been an experiment but it has been a pleasant one.”
