Cheap and Not So Cheap

[Drago]

We were out Saturday the 20th and had an interesting time dodging storms. I had the thought to image some of the stuff we have added to the boat both cheap and not so cheap.

First I want to mention that dodging the big storms was most effective having a boat that is capable of moving near 40mph with a crowd onboard.

This is the kind of crap we had roaming around all day. It is nice to be able to bring up Nexrad Radar on my phone to see which way the big downpours are moving.


First on our list is toys! Not really, but the Big Mable gets plenty of use when we are out cruising with folks on the boat.


One of the simplest ways to get the wakeboard out of the way is with a bungie cord tied up behind the helm chair.


A neat little gadget we found at West Marine is the power cord velcro tie. It is extremely useful for many duties and is extremely strong. Only $0.99 each.


We have been using them with the cheap biner clips from Academy to hold the big bumpers and have never had one pull loose. With the little biner, you can wrap it to shorten it if needed.


Our daughter found this floating cooler for keeping the beverages cool and handy when out floating around.


We found these really big Noodles at WalMart in Destin Florida. Conroe does not carry them. They are perfect to just float around on.


I found a cheap and simple way to attach flags to the boat using snaps on the bimini railing.


I finally attached an $8 clock with thermometer to the helm - Wally World again. It displays the stereo amp temperature (outside) and current temp (inside). I was tired of always picking up my phone to check the time.


I added two heavy duty 12vdc plugs fused directly off the Perko switch to handle the inflatable duty near the back of the boat.


A must for the kind of music fan that Joy is - dual battery Perko switch - with deep and start battery.


I just recently replaced the "chinas finest" stereo/cd player with a IPod compatible Kenwood. The old one had to use the speaker inputs on the amp. This one uses low z inputs -- sounds so much better, it's hard to describe!


I've had the GPS/Fishfinder since the boat was new. It uses the Navionics chips for high resolution surveys of 5 southern states.


Joy finally found me a cheap caddy for "stuff" kept near the helm.


This is the Sony 600 watt amp with the remote thermometer attached.


We upgraded the speakers (old ones were "chinas finest") to some nice Infinity speakers to match the amp output.


Just recently (July 4th), we lost one of our anchors. Picked up this one at Academy for $29. It's a Danforth S920 -14# 28" long.

[ToonGuy]

We just tested out our Big Bobber last weekend...gotta drink up those cold ones quick, other wise the lake water gets in and melts the ice. No big deal on a warm day at the lake

[Bryden24shp]

Nice! I like the idea of the thermometer on the amp... Great idea! And the bottle coozies! They need straps on them, because they always disappear from my boat!

[TSip85]

A bunch of great ideas you have there! My good friend who goes out on the toon with us every week kindly "donated" his bobber cooler to the boat. Agreed....you have to drink 'em fast, but that's not a problem in TX. My father in-law has a house on Conroe. I think next summer I may tow our boat down there. Growing up in the Houston area, I have spent many hours on that lake!!!

Great pics and ideas...thanks for sharing.

[evinrude2stroke]

Nice idea to show some of the gadgets & ideas for boating.
I like the idea of the Velcro ties to hold lines for quick retrieval. I keep about 4-5 bungee cords on board. there great for strapping down toys etc.. I also use them under my Bimini when its open to store light stuff up out of the way while anchored. Just yesterday I switched out & upgraded my stereo & speakers to this.

stereo.jpg (23.61 KiB) Viewed 7197 times

Never liked my original stereo that came with the boat & the speakers were shot. No amps or anything like that but we can now plug in our I-phones. my boat only came with 2 speakers but I'm thinking about adding 2 more up front. I'm also thinking about getting this mount that fits in the cup holder to hold the phone but where will I put my beer??

phone holder.jpg (20.47 KiB) Viewed 7192 times

[Drago]

Hey ToonGuy, we only noticed that problem in rough water or when the Boober is lightly loaded. The other issue is that if someone not careful does not latch it correctly, you'll find yourself chasing LimaRitas to the bottom!

Bryan, the thermometer was a back idea since it came with the remote outside transmitter - wasn't sure what I could do with it. The only ones that came with a clock were the dual temp units. I simply used velcro to attach because I was curious. It really should be connected with heat sink glue. It was more like $14 not $8. We keep a large supply of the bottle koozies on-board since they have wings. You're right about needing straps on them.

TSip85, let us know when you make your way to Conroe. I know the area very well and like you, grew up in Houston (Bellaire).

Dave, We added the amp and replaced the speakers just after getting the boat in Feb. '08. The cheap stereo did so-so since we could make cds and the amp had direct speaker inputs. What shocked me was how much better the sound was when we connected up the new Kenwood using line instead of speaker inputs.

One other small thing I did not mention was that I've been using locking carabiners to quickly attach the tow rope to the towables and the anchor rope to the boat.
http://www.rei.com/product/710216/black ... ID=1888585

Also the absolute first thing bought for the boat was a porta potty to fit in the changing room. It's this one but was purchased at Academy much cheaper.
http://www.portapottystore.com/p14-dome ... oilet.html

I have a wish list of 3 other items....

1) a good mirror
http://www.ptmedge.com/pontoon-mirrors/#pxr100pro

2) a wake-board rack
http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product ... rchID=4005

3) set of speakers hanging from the rear bimini frame so folks out back can hear the tunes better. I'll have to install a switch to go between the already installed rear speakers to the hanging set.

[tms0425]

We have the PTM Edge mirror and it is awesome, worth every penny. Unfortunately not so cheap

[jrolin1]

3) set of speakers hanging from the rear bimini frame so folks out back can hear the tunes better. I'll have to install a switch to go between the already installed rear speakers to the hanging set.

Unless you have a ski tower I would not want that weight hanging off my bimini. I just mounted my rear facing speakers on the back of the boat with a switch out back to power up the 3rd amp that powers the rear speakers.

[Cycleman07]

Great Ideas Guys. Thanks!

[Drago]

I had not thought of a second amp possibility. The bimini frame will support lots of weight. I saw one guy pull himself up on his frame. I have not looked around yet but expect I can find something that I can easily hang temporarily for a days outing. It would need simple wiring from the helm and a switch for either rear current speakers or new hung speakers.

[Bamby]

A lot of nice additions . I at one time had my amp mounted tight against some plywood much as you do. Anyway at times especially when it was hot or warm outside the amp would get so hot I really couldn't hold my hand to it. I then decided it needed to breath better to dissipate excess heat. I got some half in. nylon mount washers and some longer mounting screws and put back to the same place. It now has about a half inch of air space between it and the plywood and always seems to run noticeably cooler.

[Drago]

Bamby,

Thanks for the idea on the amp mount. I've never noticed the structure getting that warm to the touch. I think the highest I've seen the thermometer was ~105. Also, I think the heat sinks for the amp are on the outer skin, where I have the remote mounted. At least that is where the cooling channels are.

[FireEMT41]

Awesome ideas!!

[katieclooney]

Love the helm caddy!