Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

[marktwainsonic]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

Thanks hauln,

I've got the battery under one jumpseat and the oil rez under the other.

Sure wish the Twain was about three feet longer (like yours, huh?). We sure love it!

 

[jkust]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

Our 18.3 foot Chaparral has decent and well designed storage and two built in coolers. We don't use either. The one on the dash we use for storage and the other at the bow under the center seat sits empty. Instead we use a soft side cooler and just work around it all day. We only have two kids, and not that i'd squish four kids on our boat but if I did, we would have plenty of cooler capacity with the two unused coolers. When we go out, we go out for 6-8 hours which can span lunch and dinner plus snacks in between. Our growing kids seem to eat the whole day. Try a soft side cooler out, it solves our cooler needs and easily fits where a hard cooler won't quite squeeze.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

Thanks hauln,

I've got the battery under one jumpseat and the oil rez under the other.

Sure wish the Twain was about three feet longer (like yours, huh?). We sure love it!

I'd love to see a pic of your boat if you have one to post. The 200V I own has been great for the family of 4. We can comfortably hold 6 adults and their stuff, but it starts getting crowded after 6 adults. I actually intend to get rid of the doghouse and two jumpseats in the rear and build a bench/sunpad in its place. No one uses the jumpseat(s) when we go out, and it will add an extra seat. However, I think I'm giong to remove the driver's back-to-back seat in exchange for a single seat with flip up bolster.

 

[marktwainsonic]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

Sorry haul,

I'm not much of a photo guy. My wife does all the pic taking. I'll try to attach the only known pic of our boat, which is really more of a...well, you'll see.

I had really made an effort to try to get the camera out on the boat and get some shots this year, but failed miserably.

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

I'd love to see a pic of your boat if you have one to post. The 200V I own has been great for the family of 4. We can comfortably hold 6 adults and their stuff, but it starts getting crowded after 6 adults. I actually intend to get rid of the doghouse and two jumpseats in the rear and build a bench/sunpad in its place. No one uses the jumpseat(s) when we go out, and it will add an extra seat. However, I think I'm giong to remove the driver's back-to-back seat in exchange for a single seat with flip up bolster.

That is exactly what I was going to do with my 20' Crownline, noone used the jumpseats so make a bench with a sunpad, But then I just upgraded and low-n-behold guess what the rear bench seat on my new to me boat is very popular! Not sure what the idea is in the wife and daughters minds but thats not somewhere I am prepared to go......EVER!!

The sunpad is a place under dispute as the pooch is fastest to claim it, the wife needs to speed it up!

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

Even better on your MT, since you have an O/B. You could try and fabricate a bench across the back which could hold a cooler underneathe the seats if you were so inclined. However, as you have mentioned, taking 5-6+ people out in a 17' boat is going to be at or over the limits of comfort regardless of seating arangements. I think a 20' boat may in your future! My ideal runabout would be 23-24ft personally, but I'm waiting to try and grab one of the Cobalt 242's here in a few years once the prices come down out of the astronomical range, lol.

LippCJ7, I know what you mean about the pooch taking up the space. Our 90+lbs golden likes to lay down on one side of the bow seats though since we have no sunpad at the moment. He likes the wind in his face I suppose.

 

[mj05]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

Mark, by fiberglass floor I mean fiberglass with nothing on it. You do not want carpet, in your situation.

Throw out some makes/models that have all glass floors.... all of the boats I've seen for sale seem to mention wood floors. (saying whether solid or rotted)

 

[marktwainsonic]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

Throw out some makes/models that have all glass floors.... all of the boats I've seen for sale seem to mention wood floors. (saying whether solid or rotted)

I'm interested in that, too. Used to have a Four Winns that was all fiberglass, and we looked at a Sea Ray with a bare fiberglass floor that was awesome (the floor was awesome). It was 20 foot, too, and in our price range. Too bad the care it was given was awful. Ski locker and bilge were both full of water.

I have seen listed Sea Rays about the same year with soft floors, though, so they must not all be fiberglass underneath.

 

[marktwainsonic]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

Sorry haul,

I'm not much of a photo guy. My wife does all the pic taking. I'll try to attach the only known pic of our boat, which is really more of a...well, you'll see.

I had really made an effort to try to get the camera out on the boat and get some shots this year, but failed miserably.

Sorry, had to remove pic. Had people in it that don't want their pics on the internet.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

I'm interested in that, too. Used to have a Four Winns that was all fiberglass, and we looked at a Sea Ray with a bare fiberglass floor that was awesome (the floor was awesome). It was 20 foot, too, and in our price range. Too bad the care it was given was awful. Ski locker and bilge were both full of water.

I have seen listed Sea Rays about the same year with soft floors, though, so they must not all be fiberglass underneath.

There aren't that many boats that are wood free except the higher-end manufacturers during the last 5 years or so. The floors are wood, with fiberglass over them. Transom and stringers being wood-free is much more important than flooring being wood-free. I also don't mind carpet at all, it cooler and softer to walk on. We have snap in carpet on our MT.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

Let me try again. I am referring to the floor (deck) surface only. I am not referring to the stringers, bilge, transom or subfloor. This is relevant for maintenance/cosmetics; he wants a durable weather proof boat. A plain uncarpeted fiberglass floor, drained by scuppers (deck drains) directly overboard, accomplishes this.
The rot issue is another subject, still very important. Hope this clears up confusion.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

Let me try again. I am referring to the floor (deck) surface only. I am not referring to the stringers, bilge, transom or subfloor. This is relevant for maintenance/cosmetics; he wants a durable weather proof boat. A plain uncarpeted fiberglass floor, drained by scuppers (deck drains) directly overboard, accomplishes this.
The rot issue is another subject, still very important. Hope this clears up confusion.

That's all well and good, but if he's looking at a runabout-style boat, I don't know a whole lot of them that use self-draining floors with scuppers.

 

[marktwainsonic]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

Understood

I had a problem this year with carpet over wood because we had a lot of rain and it was a busy summer, so I was not as attentive to keeping the boat clean and dry as I could have been. It always drained, but the carpet held water for a period etc. etc.

Thus, I would love to have a floor that is fiberglass or fiberglass coated, whether carpeted or not.

On my Four Winns, the interior was what I'll call "bathtub style". Plain fiberglass enclosure that drained into the bilge at the back. No matter how much rain you got it was just like draining the tub

 

[JBF 1962]

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

my cousins Vanguard Riviera has sweet coolers built in under the 2 back seats

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Where Do You Put Your Cooler?

That's all well and good, but if he's looking at a runabout-style boat, I don't know a whole lot of them that use self-draining floors with scuppers.

which is why I recommend against them. Other hull and interior designs will suit all of his objectives better. He's looking for "maintenance free" for the interior.

I know, not literally, nothing is 100% maintenance free, just meaning something that will handle being left outside uncovered. Carpets and cushions are not.

BTW I think the Sea Hunt ultra dual console might have scuppers; not sure. But they build boats for general purpose use and if they go off their other hulls, it should.