Cooler doubling for a Bench seat in CD22?

[Fishhawk]

Hello all from from the frozen Northern MN,

Although it's snowing here right now, I am dreaming of spring and summer and boating.
We are thinking as I know a lot of you have already, of getting a large cooler with a seat cushion for the stern of the cockpit on "Osprey".

Though we have always gone with Igloo Marine coolers, do any of you have strong or humorous opinions about:
1. Size (for two to sit, and 100 lbs of fish...and BEER?)
2. Brand, Quality
3. Cost versus value
4. Anything else worth knowing about the idea.

If this should have been posted to some other thread, I apoligize profusely. Otherwise thank you in advance for your enlightened replies.

Capt. Dan

[Wefings]

Ice Station Zero . Pretty good value.
Here is too much information .
http://www.moellermarine.com/sites/moellermarine/files/MM082_DYK_R-Value.pdf
Marc

[JamesTXSD]

We won a 125 quart Igloo Extreme marine cooler with a cushion in this past Lighted Boat Parade. I've never filled it with fish or beer (big surprise), but it makes a great additional seat for up to 2 in the cockpit. We use it for storage, 'cause we have a fridge (let's not start that debate again! )





So far, it's been a good solution for us.

[Wandering Sagebrush]

When we want an extra seat, or something to throw fish in, we use an Igloo 94 quart cooler with a cushion on top. When we want to keep something seriously cold, then it is a Coleman Xtreme.

In a recent catalog (Cabela's?), there was a comparison between the Coleman Xtreme and the Coleman Marine coolers. The Xtreme was advertised to keep things cold for 5 days in 90 degree weather. The Marine was advertised at 6 days.

We have taken the Xtreme into the Southeastern part of Oregon where daytime highs are often well over 100 degrees. A big block of ice ( I think they are 7 pounds now, not 10 pounds) lasts a good week.

At about $80 for a 100ish quart cooler, the Coleman Marine seems like a good deal.

Steve

[Valkyrie]

Steve,

I'm with you on the Xtreme. We have two and have seen the same results. At this point, the our big Igloo with the cushioned seat stays home and we go with two Xtremes when cruising because, in our experience, the Igloo does not keep ice as long as the Xtreme. With our Xtremes, one is the stay-closed-but-once-a-day cooler and the other is packed with drinks, lunch stuff and so on.

As I mentioned before, we often use one as a freezer and have ice and rock salt in it, which freezes our catch if we are out for a number of days.

Nick
"Valkyrie"

[westward]

I looked at that Ice Station Zero and it looks like a great cooler. A sturdy, durable marine cooler/seat would be an asset for any boater. Even for commuters like us, they make great sealed totes and flexible cockpit seating. What I did, however, is go online and order a replacement drain plug and latches to repair my old Igloo 94. I'll try to limp it through a few more years. But my next cooler will be the best one I can afford. Mike.

[Chris Bulovsky]

Capt. Dan-
Be careful of a monster of a cooler on a 22. If you trailer it can become a burden to load and unload a huge cooler. Even a smaller one with Ice and beer (its a Midwest thing) can be difficult to hoist up or down. The truth is with fish slime on the inside is needs to be cleaned after every outing. I ended up using a Coleman extreme from target in Duluth. Cheap and functional. Its smaller size makes it more desirable in the cockpit IMO. One of those Igloo cube coolers makes for a fine lunch box that fits under the drivers seat. They can hold a case of cans and two coolers keep the beer from tasting like laker slime. Also very reasonably priced.

Think Spring
Happy cooler hunting

Chris Bulovsky

[Wefings]

Chris , which cooler do you keep the Brats in ?
Marc

[Fishhawk]

Thanx all for the good ideas,
Several including Chris are touting two smaller coolers. This makes a lot of sense to those of us familiar with everything smelling and tasting like fish!
The Igloo cube under the helm seat sounds real smart. We will have one soon!

Chris, I sent you a PM as well. Let me know what you think.

Capt. Dan

[Chris Bulovsky]

Marc- The small one of course! Goes right next to the cheddar and swiss
cheese. Now excuse me ......in morning over Brett Farve and need a little time to adjust.






Chris Bulovsky

[thataway]

In the CD 22 and 25 we used two 94 quart Igloo marine. One was only opened once a day--and also had the initially frozen food in it. The other had soft drinks and the food for that evening (out of the other cooler). We sat on them, used them as steps etc. We would put the ice and food in the coolers in the boat. They were slid around the boat cockpit fairly easily. With towels which are kept moist, in the hot weather, it would extend the block ice by several days.

[Doryman]

[Valkyrie]

We have found an easy and inexpensive way to keep coolers from sliding without the need for hardware. Buy a couple of those sticky, rubber-type placemats that West maine sells and put them under the cooler.

We have been out in some heavy stuff and the coolers have never budged with a couple of those mats under them.

Nick
"Valkyrie"

[colobear]

We use two containers in the cockpit on C-Cakes, one is a cooler the other a black and grey Rubbermaid "Actionpacker" and not insulated, one for cold things, the other for bulky items not needing cooling, i.e. bread, cereal. That saves valuable inside storage space. That system seems to work for us.

To keep things from sliding around and for cushioning,both in the cabin and cockpit, I use WEP enterprises Shelfcover for wire shelves. It is great! It exactly matches the slightly off white color of the interior flat surfaces. Its a closed cell foam about 1/4" thick and either 12 or 16" wide. Just cut a piece a little smaller than the footprint of whatever you want to stay in one place and lay it down where you want the item to stay. It will be like it is glued in place. The stuff is sold at Home Depot in the flooring area by the wire shelves and is around 6-8$ for a 16x48" roll. I really recommend it.

[Capn Jack]

I just added a picture of my cockpit with the 80qt. Ice Chest aka. Extra Seat / Boarding Step / Storage Locker / Fish Box I move it to either side, or the stern and attach it with rubber snubbers.

Jack