Nauti Dogs hot dog pontoon on the water flanked with its "hot dogs" and "Ice Cream" feather signs. — The original Nauti Dogs pontoon, captained by Jesse and Stephanie Mcatee. Credit: Dave Decker/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series on the floating food vendors feeding Tampa Bay boaters. Read more here.

Brian Scheeley was parking cars for a living when he came up with the blueprint many businesses would copy: a pontoon, a hot dog grill and a cooler full of ice cream and cold drinks.

“I used to come out here with the kid, and there was never food,” Scheeley told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “I was born and raised here in St. Pete, and I’ve been on the water my whole life, so I decided to come out and do hot dogs and ice cream. No one else was doing it.”

Five years later, a lot of people are doing it. Scheeley’s daughter, Ava, is now his first mate, and he’s got a crew that runs a second Nauti Dogs boat. His hot dogs are 100% beef, but he’s got no beef with other food boaters—many who say he inspired them.

“It’s all fair game,” Scheeley said. “Everyone does their thing. There’s enough people on the water. It’s not cutthroat or anything.”

Nauti Dogs’ quarter-pound Angus hot dogs can be loaded up with 10 toppings. And he’s got a handful of ice cream bars to choose from. The boats troll Pinellas sand bars and heavy traffic areas like John’s Pass and Bunce’s Pass on weekends and some holidays. He takes off when it rains and in the cold season.

Starting the business was easy, Scheeley recalled. Food boats get the same permits as food trucks.

“Instead of being on a trailer on wheels, we’re floating,” he said. But actually running the food boat is more complicated than that.

“You’ve gotta know the water, the tides, the winds, the boats,” he said. “(Watch for) anchor lines of boats sitting next to us, other boats that don’t know what they’re doing.”

He trusts Jesse and Stephanie Mcatee to run the original Nauti Dogs pontoon, while he operates a new hard-top skiff. The couple drives over six hours from their home near the panhandle for the weekend gig. They start serving around 9 a.m., with Sephanie grilling dogs in an American flag bikini top while Jesse wrangles the boats. The money is good, of course, but the memories make the drive worthwhile, Stephanie said.

“It’s really nice to see all the families having a good time,” she said. “The way kids’ faces light up when they actually get their ice cream.”