AquaCraft Mini-Pontoon "Little River Boat"

During a trip to Crystal River in Florida, my wife and I saw for the first time several "Mini Pontoon" boats of a couple of different styles and decided that would be a good alternative to my Jon Boat and my Runabout project (that I started and never quite finished). I had had the 12' Alumacraft ("Nauti Girl") for 8 years and enjoyed it (I had kitted it out with a full electrical system including trolling motor and GPS fish finder), but it was pretty cramped with more than one person, low to the water, and a little tippy and scarry to Marie. I had also got practically knocked over by a wake boat one time, which I was not a big fan of.

So, I started looking around, and as common as they seemed to be there, they were pretty rare here in Texas. But, in the spring of 2025, I found one and purchased an AquaCraft Little River Boat 9.9 secondhand from a retired couple that live on the Brazos River near Grandbury. It had a bare deck and was powered by an 8 HP Mercury tiller. She was a little dinged up in the front and had obviously sat in the river at their dock for long periods, the Bimini top was toast, but she was overall in good shape.

I knew I wanted electric start and remote control for the outboard, but after a little research I found that upgrading the Mercury 8HP would be both difficult and more expensive than purchasing a new motor. So, I purchased a new fuel injected Suzuki 9.9 HP with electric start, remote, and power tilt/trim. I installed it with a "high thrust" 4 blade propeller.

A side note on the new motor - the guy (Jake) who makes the boat hull is very clear - the reason it's rated for 9.9 HP is the Coast Guard will not certify a boat for over that amount unless seats are bolted down when sold - and he doesn't want in that business. He stacks these guys on a trailer many deep and bolts on the railings during final delivery. The transom, he says, will "well exceed" the 9.9 HP rating (The very similar Pond-Tini boat design is rated at 20HP). It's not illegal in Texas to run a motor bigger than the Coast Guard rating (it is illegal in many states), and Eagle Mountain Lake isn't Horsepower restricted - but let's just say mine might be running a little hotter than the stickers say. It's pretty easy to upgrade the Suzuki 9.9 to 20 Horsepower and it's a worthwhile on this boat (you know, theoretically).

Having put in an electrical system greenfield in my previous boat, I had a solid plan to add a console and wire it up. I was able to use all the stuff I had bought for the runabout project, so it's a little older (i.e. the Humminbird fish finder/GPS is discontinued and map support has ended), but it all worked out good. I had wanted to add a trim gauge, but I found out afterwords the Suzuki 9.9 doesn't support it (it also doesn't support the extra idiot lights on the fancy official Suzuki tachometer), so I put another gauge in the hole I drilled for that, but that was really my only misstep.

[This post is a work in progress, adding much more info soon]