A 6-foot wave about 100 yards offshore crushed it, tearing the railing off and pulling the seats out. He had recently refurbished the boat with new deck, carpet and furniture.

"It was pretty scary," says Andrea Myers. She and husband James once ventured out into an inlet off Lake Michigan on a choppy day. They turned around and recommend calmer waters.

"It is definitely not meant to be," she says.

PARTY BARGE GROWN UP

One industry website, Yachtcouncil.com, credits Ambrose Weere, a Minnesota farmer, with creating the leisure pontoon boat in 1952 by tying a wooden deck to two aluminum cylinders. He built a few more and easily sold them. Weere's Pontoons continue to be produced today, though the founder died in 1991.

The Myers also have researched the pontoon's early years. Aqua Patio, of Sturgis, Mich., started making galvanized steel pontoon boats in the 1950s. The owner of an auto parts store fabricated a pontoon boat for his family and others saw it and wanted one, launching Kayot Pontoons. Crest Pontoon, still a big name in the market, got its start in Owosso, Mich., in 1957 as Maurell Products.

The first big step in the evolution that led to today's cushy performance pontoons came in the 1960s, when the Harris Flote-Bote came out with deluxe upholstery.

Other big players today include Tracker, Bennington and Godfrey.

Nearly 1 million pontoon boats are out there, according to the Myers' estimates and research. Another 400,000, they say, are in disrepair, stashed in a backyard, shed or under a tree and waiting to be rehabbed.

The Myers started their business on eBay in 1993, supplying components to folks who want to fix up an existing pontoon boat. The next year they started PontoonStuff.com; in 2006 they built a 30,000-square foot warehouse and distribution center in Elkhart, Ind.

Andrea Myers estimates they get 30,000 customers a year, a figure that continues to grow.

"As long as the tubes are okay, we can sell you everything else," she says. "It has become our love, our passion."

REHABILITATION

That's the route Larry Ray of Littlefield, Texas, took. He spent $1,250 on a 28-foot boat damaged by a tropical storm and left exposed to the elements.

At first, his wife Sandy said simply, "No way." About the only salvageable components were the flooring and rails. The top rails were trashed, the seats ruined. The Rays lucked out with the motor, though, which was part of the deal. The 60 HP engine needed only a new impeller, carb cleaning and line flushing.

The rest of the boat needed rebuilding. The Rays bought the shell in May 2006, spending the hot part of the Texas summer on the project. By that fall, the pontoon boat was ready for the water. Larry even built in a live well for fishing.

He figures the have about $5,000 invested in their new favorite pastime.

"I love the room," Larry Ray says. "We love it. My wife can get on one end and me on the other end and that way we don't hurt each other."

They trailer the pontoon to Lake Graham and Lake Eddleman in far west Texas, where they'll spend a full day, often joined by their cocker spaniel, their children and grandchildren. The boat easily seats 12.

"We have a "˜99 fish-and-ski, with a 125 horsepower motor," Larry Ray says. "We don't even take it. We just take the pontoon."