underseat cooler??

I have storage under a seat cusion and thought about either making or finding a cooler bottom to fit in the space. Much like you see in all the new boats. Anyone know where you can find a plastic or fiberglass shell? How about making one? Worth the trouble?

i think they're kind of a pain in the butt. transferring stuff into it, taking trash out at the end of the day. i'd rather a drop-in cooler. load it up inside the house and take it out of the boat when you're done.

Sounds like a good idea but... I'll put my $.02 in...

I dont know if they are all created equally, but the built in cooler in my 07 Supra was more of a melter than a cooler... A good seal on the top of any cooler is CRUCIAL to keeping things cold for any amount of time.

I'll X2 what salty said... Although they take up a lot of space, a portable cooler will actually keep ice for a while.

Yeah I'm sure its not going to be the best ice holder. Just looking to get some crap out of the boat. I've got a DD and coolers take up too much space.

How about buying a cooler bag. I have one that I use to store ice for my big cooler in the boat. I put a couple of bags of ice for later in the day that I add to my regular boat cooler. This keeps my drinks ice cold. The ice last a long time in the cooler bag. I have a smaller one that has the sandwiches and other foods and that seems to work out great for me.

Mine is a little different, but same idea.
http://www.pleasureboatmarineelectronics.com/norcro13.html

http://www.valuebuy.net/cooler.html

My Malibu came with a custom-fitted cooler bag that goes into the under-seat color. It's the best of both worlds since it's out of the way, keeps stuff much cooler than a standard under-seat cooler and can be taken in and out easily.





Check out http://www.aocoolers.com for some bag coolers that might fit under your seat. I used mine for the first time last weekend and it really keeps the ice for a long time.

I want another one of those Malibu soft bag cooler. I lost mine.

Thanks Brannon and David that is probably the easiest way to go.

My older supra has an under seat cooler. I use a soft sided cooler as well.

The lid on the cooler doesn't really seal that well. The lid is a seat bottom, plywood with foam on top, vinyl wrapped - but not on the bottom! It just has mesh over the wood. It is ALWAYS wet and sometimes gets mildewy! Any sugesstions????? I think it needs plastic sheeting stapled to it.

my tige has one, but making one sounds like a lot of work

My Tahoe has one built into the rear bench, Cooler plug is at the bottom to drain into the hull at the end of the day. Works great and good design. The front seats are also coolers if you put the plug in, we store towels in them, and the glove box also doubles as a cooler. Drain lines are all run into the hull for clean drainout. Also, one the left compartment of the engine, thats a cooler too lol...Guess they thought we would get quite thirsty...David, that cooler bag is pretty cool...lol

X2 on the melter

On a real hot day mine does'nt keep ice too well, not to mention it's about 4' long, so you've got to add about 6 bags of ice to get the level up to keep your can's under ice. I'm trying to find some way to improve this. Maybe wrap it with some sort of insulation and cut out a lid to go between the seat and top of the cooler.

damn, i don't think i've ever had a 40 on my boat

i saw someone glue styrofoam under their ice chest seat cover once. the cushion still fit flush, the styro was kind of like a plug in the middle of the cushion.

Drink fast before the 40 gets warm! I consider it a challenge!

My 07 surpa cooler serves as storage on my boat. The malibu cooler idea is the only one I've ever seen work very good.

I live next to guy on the lake ( his second home) that drinks nothing but O.E. 40's. Occasionally he'll be sipping on the one ( 40) with the big bull on it. He looks like your stereotypical uppercrust white collar businesman...lol.

I would like one of those malibu bags. Anyone know how to get one? I think my dealer is out of business! (sactown)

The cooler on by cobalt is about 2ft deep and holds ice for days!

The cooler on my boat is so bad we use it to store everyones flops. I want to build one that will double as a filler seat in the bow. I wish someone made one it would serve too purposes.

Those built in coolers typically suck. I injected foam around mine but the results were not the greatest. You need not only an insulated box but a decent sealing lid to really work well. Why do the manufacturers even bother. It looks good in the brochure but thats about it.

On my Moomba LSV i have the same problem, a melter. I used HVAC silver foil self adhesive insulation to cover the cooler all the way around and the bottom of the cooler lid. I keep ice half a day now. I'd like to encase the cooler with spray foam insulation though and i'd bet you could keep ice all day.

We throw some dry ice in with regular ice in my BU underseat cooler. It works great but only if you break up the dry ice on smaller chunks and spread it out. Otherwise it freezes anything next to it.

That 40 in the cooler is awesome. I can't get them here in Tampa. i think 32 is the biggest they make. I used to drink one almost every day when i was going to school in NYC. Anyone remember ice cube doing the ads for St. Ides.

gosh damn its good to see you drinking malt liquor. looks delicious.

I liked the Malibu inner cooler bag at first, but it takes up to much room. And that extra room gets important, especially when loading up the boat with thirsty people!

Matt G, that's not me. I don't look like Chewbacca

I'm still looking for ways to improve that cooler though. It's hell trying to drink your ••••••••••• it stays in the melter too long.

i shall give you chewbacca mo ••••••

>>><<<

Fo Dee Liciouse

the Malibu bag is nice
but it does take up some room
and
it isn't water tight
when the ice melts, it drips everywhere

so try not to drip water through the kitchen....and you remember hang the bag out to dry.....

The only place online I have been able to find the Malibu cooler bag
http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=1103

I have the Malibu bag cooler for the Vride too. We stopped buying ice last year & just froze all our bottled water instead. Then I just fill the cooler with beer, pop & frozen water bottles. Keeps things cool, no melted ice mess & plenty of water to drink.

In Montreal we say ''IF you need a cooler, you're not drinking fast enough''.

My buddy bought one of those 2.00 styro coolers from the jiffy at the beginning of last summer and it fit perfectly in the v-drive compartemnt, forward of the ballast tank. I used that thing all summer, but eventually it broke from bringing it in and out to clean it. I plan on picking another one up soon to have for this summer.

I don't think making one would be hard at all. I'm thinking the lid is probably the most important aspect if you could insulate above and around all the sides. I might take a crack at it.

You guys obviously haven't gone out with thirsty people. I've only done it once, and only 1/2 way, but the trick is this:
-Open ski locker (that no one uses, a couple skis that you don't need in here won't hurt this)
-Decide how many beers you think your crew will drink. Double it. Then buy another 30 pack
-Pour said beers into your ski locker
-Go to your favorite free ice spot, and load it up!

Problem solved. I dont think there is a place that will melt a ski locker full of beer and ice in a day on the water

A lot of boats don't have ski lockers. The only place on my boat that isn't carpeted is the center area for the front ballast bag, and that takes up the whole space.

Yeah, I don't have a ski locker either. My Dads boat has a cooler in the floor and it holds ice forever, so it seems a good thing to take advantage of if you have it.

does anyone know what size cooler comes in the new mastercrafts. I have an X15 and can find one short enough.

Only one or two flaws in your theory dhcomp.

Some of us use the locker for ballast and i've yet to find a "free ice" spot in capitalist california. If you know 'em then share 'em with the rest of us!