Why I hate drilling holes in boats to mount accessories!
Broken Cup Holder & Fire Extinguisher Mount
During my three year journey restoring my Haines Hunter 560F, I went through the pain of filling 52 holes. This was mostly as a result of mucking of around with various fixed mounted accessories including Cup Holders, GPS & Fish Finder Mounts, Rod Holders and other gadgets. This is why I hate drilling holes in boats. Apologies for the poor photo quality, however, the photo is just a small sample of the number of accessories I had permanently mounted that were removed during the rebuild; yes that’s another broken Cup Holder.
What’s the big deal about having cup holders in a boat?
Well, to be frank, there are very few places you store an open drink safely. In my case, I would store my drink in my boat’s side pockets only to find it had tipped over as the boat rocked around. Having easy access to your drink whilst fishing and keeping your drink clean when bait fishing can be a challenge. I am forever changing places when fishing and found if I wasn’t careful my drinks would get contaminated with bait; YUCK!!
One alternative is to install one of those cheap flip out style cup holders, however these are the issues I have found:
- They don’t last very long. They would fade within a few months to the point they looked ugly;
- Someone would forget they were there when the cup holder was open, brush past it and the cup holder would end up in pieces;
- Worst of all, after a few years the manufacturer changed the design, as a result I discovered the holes I originally drilled no longer matched with the new cup holder; and
- After replacing them several times the area behind the cup holder looked like Swiss Cheese, I ended up getting a bunch of holes filled as a result, NOT GOOD!!!
The SeaSucker range of Cup Holders
The SeaSucker Online Shop has a dedicated category for our Cup Holders; Please Click Here
Our Blog also has a dedicated Cup Holder section providing more detail. They are more than just a Cup Holder. Almost every Cup Holder can be customized. My two favorite customizations are:
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Small Dry Box
Small Dry Box – Keeping valuables like your Smartphone, wallet, keys etc. safe and dry can be a challenge. Too often they end up getting damaged or worst still saltwater gets to them. The Small Dry Box is completely waterproof and is super easy to access. Being waterproof does cut down your ability to hear your phone ring, you can still hear it but it is not as loud. To overcome this I configured my iPhone to also trigger the flash providing me with a visual warning when my phone rings; and
DinX Cup Holder Insert
- DrinX Cup Holder Insert – This is ideal if you want your drink to stay cold for as long as possible when sitting in the Cup Holder.
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Like our motto says!
NO DRILLS! NO SCREWS!! NO PROBLEMS!!!
