BOATING THROUGH THE YEARS
This undated picture shows a late-1960s fiberglass closed-bow boat with an outboard motor. It was taken in an area of Lake Panorama close to where the lighthouse is now. Note in the upper lefthand corner there is a small pontoon boat along the south shore.
Lake Panorama watercraft have evolved over 56 years from simple runabouts to high-powered vessels.
By Susan Thompson | Lake Panorama Times
June 8, 1970, marked the closing of a dam gate and the start of a boating culture that has evolved for more than five decades on Lake Panorama. What started with modest outboard runabouts and inner-tube rides has grown into a high-powered, high-tech fleet — a transformation traced through the experiences of longtime marina owner Lyn Coulter and current owner Phil Watson Jr.
The beginnings
This photo taken in 1983 shows two boats on the Lake Panorama boat ramp, both of which were available for purchase that year at Panorama Marine. On the left is a Century 4000 Cuddy. On the right is a Century 1000 Open Bow.
Construction on the Lake Panorama dam began in mid-April 1969. The work, expected to take three months, stretched into 13. On June 8, 1970, the dam gate was closed, and Lake Panorama began to fill.
A marina opened Aug. 1, 1970. A structure of three floating docks where boats could moor was built at the southeast corner of the main lake basin, then floated to the northeast corner behind the jetty. A boat ramp was nearby. The marina included 68 slips plus four service docks.
The first year boat stickers were issued by the Lake Panorama Association (LPA) was 1972. An annual registration fee of $2 was charged for nonmotorized vessels, plus the first “power” boat. Property owners could register up to four powerboats with the second costing $15, the third $25, and the fourth $50.
Stories of boating
Coulter Panorama Marine was founded in 1983. That year Lyn Coulter had a display at the Iowa Sports and Vacation Show at Vet’s Auditorium in Des Moines. The display included boats, motors, skis, kneeboards, T-shirts, lifejackets and more. Coulter is shown in front of a 1983 Century 3000, which was the first boat he ever sold. The buyer was a doctor who lived in Des Moines.
Since then, there has been steady change in the watercraft on the lake. Two men are uniquely suited to help tell the story of boating on Lake Panorama through the years.
One is Lyn Coulter, who owned and operated Coulter Panorama Marine from 1983 to 2023. The other is Phil Watson Jr., who purchased Panorama Marine from Coulter in the fall of 2023. Both have fond memories of boating on Lake Panorama when they were young.
Lyn Coulter was 18 years old in 1977 when his father, who owned a Lake Panorama lot, bought a boat.
“It was a Pipestone 16-foot runabout with a Chrysler 115-horsepower outboard motor,” Coulter said. “We did a lot of skiing and tubing behind that boat. It came with water skis and trick skis. The trick skis were short and wide, and you could spin in circles with those. For tubing, we used old tractor inner tubes. The fun tubes you see today didn’t exist back then.”
Phil Watson Jr. also has a longtime connection with Lake Panorama. His parents, Phil and Judy Watson, purchased a house at Lake Panorama in 1972, the year he was born. The couple still owns that home in Hughes Cove with their fulltime residence being in Indianola.
From 1983 through 1999, most pontoons were sold with hardtops. Coulter Panorama Marine sold more than 450 Harris Flote Boats from 1983 through 2011, with most being 22-foot and 24-foot models. This photo was taken in 1994 in Horseshoe Cove. The Lake Panorama HALO organization organized a floating picnic, with 15 pontoons tied together so 150 guests could stroll from one boat to another.
“The first boat our family owned was a 16-foot with a closed bow and a 50-horsepower Mercury outboard motor,” Watson said. “My dad said he paid $800 for it. I was really young, but I can remember that black motor looked like Darth Vader to me.”
Years later, in 2008, Watson proposed to his wife Cindy while on Lake Panorama in his parents’ 1985 Century Resorter.
Coulter’s notebook lists 4,670 water vessels sold over 40 years
In 1982, Lyn Coulter and his brother Jon ran the gas dock at the LPA-owned marina. A lease agreement called for the pair to stock the dock with basic marine accessories and keep consistent business hours.
The Coulters stocked water skis, tubes
and ropes, and, in that one summer, became the largest Connelly ski dealer in Iowa.
“People asked if we knew someone who could work on their boat. Jon is a pretty good mechanic, so we started doing that. Then a couple of guys said they would buy a boat from us if we had some available,” Lyn said.
Coulter Panorama Marine was founded in 1983 with the $7,000 profit from that first year running the gas dock.
This photo of a Viking deck boat was taken at Lake Panorama sometime in the 1980s. Shawn Briggs, who lived for a time in her grandparents’ Lake Panorama home after they passed away, found the photo in the home. Briggs says she learned to ski behind her grandfather’s fishing boat but was glad when her father bought this deck boat.
Lyn Coulter has a notebook filled with details on every boat sold by Coulter Panorama Marine. That notebook lists 4,670 water vessels sold over 40 years including pontoons, fiberglass boats, used boats and personal watercraft.
Coulter said several other entities sold boats to Lake Panorama buyers before he got his start.
“There were two businesses in Panora that sold boats for a few years, beginning in 1972. Tom Shroyer owned the Panora Service Center, where he worked on cars and had a body shop,” Coulter said. “Once the lake filled, he saw an opportunity. He sold Starcraft and Invader boats, plus VW dock and Shore Station lifts.”
The other business was Acme Boat Company, which operated out of the metal building north of the Heartland Coop gas pumps, a building Coulter now owns.
“Frank Spuzello owned the company and sold Tahiti brand jetboats,” Coulter said. “There were about 20 of those on the lake when we started selling boats in the early 1980s.”
Lake Panorama buyers also purchased boats from S&J Marine and Regency Company, both in Des Moines, Reynoldson Marine in Boone, and DC Boats in Dallas Center.
The first Kawaski jet skis introduced in the early 1970s required the operator to stand up. This photo taken on Lake Panorama’s main basin shows Phil Watson Jr., now owner of Panorama Marine, on a jet ski when he was a teenager.
“From 1972 until about 1984, most of the boats on Lake Panorama were 16-to-18-foot outboard runabouts with motors from 60 to 115 horsepower,” Coulter said. “By the early 1980s, there started to be more fiberglass runabouts with inboard/outboard (IO) engines.”
Early options at Coulter Marine were Century and Invader boats and Harris Flote Bote pontoons.
Power boating began in the 1920s with Century and Chris-Craft among the predominant boat builders. Early boats were made of wood with the industry transitioning to fiberglass in the 1950s and 1960s.
“The use of fiberglass brought the cost of boats way down, making them more affordable to more people,” Coulter said. “One of the most popular early fiberglass boats was the Century Resorter, produced from 1948 to 1993. We sold six of those on Lake Panorama.”
Coulter said his boat business didn’t really take off until he added the Four Winns brand in 1987.
This 2026 Mastercraft NXT was on display at Panorama Marine in mid-April, priced at $148,000.
“It was a dominant company offering IO engines. I am not sure we would have made it without Four Winns,” he said. “For a while, we were selling 65 to 75 Four Winns boats each year. Buyers were coming from all over. About half were sold to Lake Panorama residents and half to others.”
From 1987 through 2023, Coulter sold 1,860 Four Winns boats.
“The most popular was the 18-foot 180 Horizon,” he said. “We sold more than 500 of those units.”
The first Mastercraft boat was sold by Coulter’s Marine in 1988.
“We sold 54 Mastercraft inboard Prostar 190s,” Coulter said. “These boats were very popular with water skiers because they made almost no wake. The downside was the inboard engine was in the middle of the vessel, which really reduced the amount of interior space available for passengers.”
The most popular selling boat on Lake Panorama in the 1980s was the Century 19-foot 3000.
This triple toon Godfrey Monaco pontoon has a 250-horsepower motor, is 25-feet in length, has a passenger capacity of 17 and sells for $98,000. Several of these pontoons have been sold at Panorama Marine this year.
Coulter said triple tube, high horsepower pontoon boats are all the rage now. But before those, from 1983 through 2015, two tube pontoon boats were popular.
“Most pontoons were sold with hardtops from 1983 through 1999. After that, Bimini fold-down sun tops became popular,” Coulter said. “Those hard tops made it difficult or impossible to get pontoons onto lifts. We sold more than 450 Harris Flote Boats from 1983 through 2011. After that, we started selling Godfrey pontoons.”
Coulter said deck boats were popular on Lake Panorama from 1988 through 2014.
“These had large, open cockpits and no windshield. We sold more than 230 Four Winns deck boats,” he said. “The triple tube pontoons with even more interior room displaced deck boats.”
Ask Coulter what his favorite boat was during his 40 years in the business, and he doesn’t hesitate for long.
“The 24-foot open bowed Four Winns,” he said. “That boat did everything well. It had plenty of room, lots of power. It didn’t stick its nose in the air when you accelerated; it would plane out.”
New owner Watson fulfills his dream
Growing up on Lake Panorama planted the seeds for Phil Watson’s adult career in the boat business.
After high school graduation in Indianola, Watson attended Southwest Missouri State in Springfield, Missouri. The first Bass Pro Shop is in Springfield, and where Watson got his start selling boats. Next came a boat sales job in Kansas City.
In 1999, Watson took a job with Water’s Edge Marine in Johnston. He was the company’s sales manager for two years before purchasing the business and moving it to Polk City in 2011. Cindy Watson joined the business in 2017, helping with bookkeeping, benefits and other human resources duties. She now does the same at Panorama Marine.
In December 2022, the Watsons sold Water’s Edge to Hicklin Power Sports.
“My dream has always been to have a boat shop at Lake Panorama,” Phil said. “In March 2023, I started looking for property here and purchased the land on Highway 4 where Panorama Marine now is located.”
On Sept. 26, 2023, the LPA board of directors approved a 2024-2028 lease between LPA and Watson for operation of the LPA-owned marina.
Boat lines carried by Coulter’s still are carried by Watson and include Mastercraft, Four Winns, Godfrey pontoons and Kawasaki jet skis. A new line of pontoons, Barletta, was added in 2024.
“When I was a kid, we had a fishing boat on Lake Panorama,” Watson said. “I was 12 years old when I would take that boat out by myself to fish. As a teenager, I worked some summers at the marina gas dock.”
The first Kawaski jet skis introduced in the early 1970s required the operator to stand up.
“We had a stand-up jet ski I used a lot as a teenager,” Watson said. “I remember seeing a couple of wetbikes on the lake, too. Those were a cross between a motorcycle and a jet ski. I thought they were pretty cool.”
Beginning in the mid-1980s, “wave runner” models were introduced that allowed the operator and one or two passengers to sit down. Watson said wave runner models now are the most popular personal water craft (PWC).
Watson said boats on Lake Panorama in its first few years would have been small outboard motors that didn’t provide a lot of power.
“Change started in the early 1980s when sterndrive boats were introduced,” he said. “These combined the components of both inboard and outboard systems and could run faster on the same horsepower.”
Watson’s knowledge of boating trends mirrors the boat sales listed in Lyn Coulter’s notebook.
“The 1980s saw Century Boats produce lots of new models, including the Bronco in 1983 and the Mustang in 1984,” Watson said. “Those were sterndrive fiberglass boats that were mostly 18 to 20 feet long. Four Winns was another company that produced popular sterndrive boats through the 1980s and into the 1990s.”
The evolution of Mastercraft boats shows how water recreation has changed.
“First it was the Mastercraft Prostar 190 with an inboard motor in the middle of the boat,” Watson said. “These closed-bow boats made almost no wake and were loved by skiers, especially slalom skiers.”
Once wakeboards were introduced, people wanted boats that created more wake.
“Ballast tanks were added that could be filled with water to lower the boat in the water for more wake,” Watson said. “That led to the idea of surfing and adding more weight to boats to create even more wake.”
Pontoon boats also have evolved from earlier days.
“Pontoons weren’t very popular when I first started selling boats,” Watson said. “They usually were fitted with 90 or 115 horsepower outboard motors and were 20 feet long. These were OK for slow cruises, but you couldn’t make sharp turns. Once the triple tube pontoons were introduced in the late 1990s, things started to change.”
Watson said these newly designed pontoons offer more horsepower and can make sharper turns. These factors improved the image of a pontoon for water sports, since tubes can be pulled and boat captains can make sharper turns to give riders more of a thrill. Tritoons also made it possible to increase passenger capacity with some now capable of handling 17 passengers.
Beyond boat sizes and designs, Watson said many changes have occurred in the way boat engines are built.
“In the earlier days, most boats had two-stroke engines, which required a gas-oil mix to operate,” he said. “In the years I worked the Lake Panorama gas dock, there was a big barrel of oil there. We would have to add gas to a boat, then figure out how much oil was needed to get the proper mix.”
The advent of four-stroke engines eliminated the need to mix gas and oil to fuel boats. And fuel injection technology made it possible to start a boat without first having to “choke” it.
“The technology on boats is so much more sophisticated now,” Watson said. “Now to service a boat, our guys have to hook everything up to a computer for testing and diagnostics. Our mechanics attend training sessions on a regular basis to keep up with changes in boat technology for each brand we sell.”
While Panorama Marine doesn’t sell fishing boats, Watson said those also have evolved over time.
“It used to be a flat bottom boat with a small outboard motor was all you needed for fishing,” he said. “Now fishing boats are larger and offer more horsepower. The biggest change is the electronics available. These can come with live scope technology that allows those fishing to actually see fish in the water. And with the push of a button, trolling motors can hold boats in place without dropping anchor.”
It’s no surprise that as boats increase in size, horsepower and technology, prices also increase.
“I started selling boats at Water’s Edge Marine in Johnston in 1999,” Watson said. “That year we were selling open-bow Bayliners for $9,999. For a while, we were selling 70 to 80 of those each year, mostly to people who used them on Saylorville Lake. Now a similar boat costs $50,000.”
Boat sizes and showrooms
In Lake Panorama’s early days, no one looked into a crystal ball and saw how boat sizes would grow in coming years.
After their first season running the LPA gas dock in 1982, the Coulters asked LPA to build a building to house a showroom and two service bays. The LPA agreed, and the result was the now-empty building near the marina boat ramp.
“That building was designed for us to be able to sell and service 18-and-20-foot boats,” Lyn Coulter said. “As boats got bigger and longer, we weren’t able to get those tritoon pontoons and Mastercraft boats into the building. Boaters of the 1980s and 1990s wouldn’t recognize what’s on the lake today.”
This is the second season for Panorama Marine to be in its new location along Highway 4. The L-shaped building is about 17,000 square feet and includes both sales and service with six service bays on the north end.
“This is a big improvement over the previous building,” Watson said. “Now we have more bays for service work, and we’re able to bring new boats inside to prep for the showroom.”
A raised walkway runs along the east and south sides of the showroom. Customers can walk up a few steps to the dock, then directly into new boats available for purchase. Watson said boat sales have been strong.
“We did really well in 2025,” he said. “Having this showroom where people can easily walk onto the boats has made a big difference. By mid-April this year, we have already sold 36 new boats. Most of those have been triple tube pontoons, plus three or four wake boats.”
As boats are sold from the showroom, new ones are moved in. Watson said customers also can order boats.
“This allows them to choose colors and features they want,” he said. “For custom orders, it’s best to do that in the fall or at least by January or February. That way we can have their new boats ready in the spring.”
Custom ordering, just one more way, of many, that owning a boat on Lake Panorama has changed over 56 years.
I didn’t grow up on Lake Panorama — or any lake, for that matter. My summers were spent working on farms, shingling houses or pouring concrete. If I ever ended up in water, it was either the city pool or, if I was feeling reckless, a rural gravel pit that probably should not have counted as “swimming.” I didn’t know the difference between a Chris-Craft boat and a Kit Kat bar.
