LSV owners - cooler situation?

Took our new 2010 LSV today for first "lengthy" cruise. I believe I've read it on here before, but never really paid much attention since we had an Outback at the time, but these coolers really are a bit inadequate. It was slightly overcast, but the sun peeked in and out. We were out for about 4 hours all total, and the ice didn't hold up that well even though it never got above the low 70's. I'm afraid that in July and August the ice will last about 15 minutes! (Texas :D)

I'm hoping for some cool innovations....don't really want to throw a cooler on the floor and take up space, but we filled the built in cooler up pretty quick and there were only four of us. Let's hear 'em!

PS - so far the cooler is my only gripe. I can live with that! It's sooooo nice to be able to surf without having to direct traffic in the boat as far as where to sit. And that's with the stock ballast - I already have the 750's just waiting on the fittings (thanks Jason). I am a happy camper!

Lots of Moomba cooler haters here let me tell ya LOL.

We used the cooler all year last year. it works well for our purpose of water, few sodas, and such. We generally put 20lbs of ice in it at the gas station then load up all the drinks.

At the end of the day its full of water but its still cold. We drain it at the end of the day.

As for beer we have a cooler and it sits on the ski locker door. that way its easy to step over, it doesn't slide around, acts as a seat, and lastly makes a little extra center boat ballast.

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Originally Posted by newty

I use an igloo cube. It uses much less realestate than a normal cooler. It kinda serves as a little table when were sitting around.
The built in cooler is now my recycle bin.

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Those don't have any drain plugs on them do they Newty?
Maybe it's just the 48 can size that don't?

I have the pre-upgraded cooler on my boat-I actually use it for ...gasp... a cooler. I was afraid to admit it with all the moomba cooler haters out there. I just fill it with beverages, ice, and one of those freezer packs. It took me a while to figure out where the water drains to- for a while I was convinced my boat leaks!

i am looking to do something different too. i won't even bother using mine its so bad. thinking about taking it out all together for more storage.

cut mine out last year-ice melter is what it was. no regrets. Actually installed a 400lb balast bag under the port side seats.

Yeah it sucks! I bought a 56qt Igloo marine cooler at Costco for $25 to try, smallest one i've seen at only 14" tall. Gonna try putting that in the starboard locker. I've tried everything including HVAC insulation and foam, little improvement. Even put a half block of ice in last year every trip, at least that was better but you cut down the space. This year it's a "small item" receptacle!

Cutting down a cooler to fit (via rear storage) is an interesting idea. May be tricky to cut it the exact size so that it's a tight enough fit to prevent sliding around, but I think this is a good thought. Of course you'd only gain about 2 inches in depth, but you could make it slightly longer so it would hold more. If anyone does this, please post pictures. I'm going to start looking at Academy at coolers. Don't mind spending the $$ for a cooler if I know it works.

For those of you that already "removed" the factory cooler, how did you do it?

Moombadaze had a whole thread on cutting his out and making the space useable for more ballast. As for a custom fit cooler, why not get some 2" polystyrene like we use for sheeting houses. Cut the panels to the size you need and fabricate a cooler to suit your needs. I bet the 2" walls will work awsum.

I just picked up a couple of soft side coolers from Wally's. I think they are the 18 can ones- Ozark Trail or whatever- the store brand. I pulled the plastic "ice bins" or whatever you call them out and cut 1 1/2" off the top all the way around. Now I can fill them, zip them and they still fit under the seats. I want to get one more of them. Then I can have a food one, a drink one and a beer one. They were about $13 apiece. I like the fact the kids don't have to open the beer one to get a water bottle. I like the fact I can spread the load and put them in different places in the boat, wherever there's room. I also like the fact I can fill them in the house and then easily lift them into the boat. So, I'll be cutting my cooler out too, just not yet.