[Puzzle] The Puzzle Boat

Now THIS is a puzzle! Or many, actually.

You get puzzles like:

Hokey Pokey
Where: Disgruntled Lobsterman

You put the left one in. You take the right one out. That's what it's all about.

PDB' FHNG RSL
(+ these vowels, in random order: long i, short i, long e, short e, schwa, ou)

Abbreviated genre that includes Hugo Gemsback and Edwin Abbott (5, hyph.)
Championer of a cause (11, 2 wds)
Flashy outfit with an extreme cut, padded shoulders, and a thigh-length jacket (8, 2 wds)
"Help"-ful phrase derived from French for "help me" (6)
Like some sexy boots (9, hyph.)
Metal Health band (9, 2 wds)
Nonalcoholic malt concoction (8, 2 wds)
Short and pudgy in stature (8, hyph.)
Small bedtime illuminator (10, 2 wds)
Weapon designed to immobilize (7, 2 wds)

Here's a general hint from the site:

"With these puzzles, you are typically going to be looking for a word or short phrase as your answer. You may want to look at first letters, or use numbers to find a specific character in a word or phrase."

So this puzzle's answer is a word or short phrase. And it's one of the easier ones. ^_^