Ice Chest

[Will Watters]

I have an 05 LSV where the rear seat can be positioned to allow folks to sit and watch the wake boarder ect... With the seat in this position, I was wondering if anyone has tried to add (or if Moomba offers) a large ice chest (90-120 qt?) in the open area where the rear bench normally is stowed. This can be handy because many times we will tie up with friends and anchor for the day. If I size the chest correctly, I could have a nice tiered set of seats; the rear seat and the lid of the cooler. Would be nice if a chest exists that has a notch that would fit over the v drive cover. If nothing like this is avaialable I could modify the chest to add a light weight plastic frame around the bottom of the chest for stability in the boat and add a drain hose to the bilge. Anyone here ever tried to add something like this??

Will

[Ian Brantford]

Igloo makes "marine" coolers (see http://www.igloo-store.com/product_l...W=marineseries). They appear much like regular coolers, except that they have a weight-bearing rating and are UV-resistant. Plus, they can be had with special accessories, like a cushioned seat cover or a tie-down kit.

On a lark (actually, it was a filler option to accomodate a change to my boat order), I got the cooler option with my 2005 XLV. That seems like a waste now, though maybe I'll use it now that I started to use the stadium seating. It's a 48-quart Igloo Marine cooler with the seat cover already on it. It fits in the spot left vacant by the XLV's removeable seat that becomes a seatback for the reversible stadium seat. However, it is too high to be used as a regular seat. It's 17.5" high, at least 3" higher than the rest of the seats -- leaving anyone on it kind of precariously perched. Maybe having that spot filled would be better than empty -- someone sitting in the rear corner fell into that empty spot last weekend, due to a combination of hearty laughter (someone wiped out) and me letting off the throttle.

Anyway, maybe one of the smaller marine coolers with a support that you make yourself would suit your needs.

Best wishes,
Ian