Drilling holes in gunnel

R

rbfconstruction

New member
Hi, I am wanting to add some rod holders to both sides of my 19 ft. angler. Does anyone know if it is safe to drill in the gunnels, between the step area (rough) and the battery compartment. (in the middle)

I don't want to hit any cables/wires etc.

Thanks and Happy New Year,
Richard
 
On my 22', wires, steering and engine controls run underneath the starboard gunnel from the cabin to the stern. I wouldn't ever drill in to somewhere blindly without knowing what is there. Colby
 
All of the boats have the steering cables/hydraulic tubing, the electrical wiring shift cables running under the tunnel on the starboard side. So a lot depends on how large a hole your want to drill. There are the Scotty type of rod holders which require 4 bolts (or screws--but I would use bolts) for the base.

0250_01.jpg



or the thru the deck type of rod holders:

lush-Mount-Swivel-Base-Rod-Holder-2--1801390501287.gif

The latter requires a 2 to 2.25 slanted or straight hole--and there is some chance of damaging the cables. In this case, I would pull all of the cables down out of the way--this means that you should carefully remove the plastic side bin, if your boat has one. After the rod holders are added, then the wires can be put back in place.

The deck is cored under where you will be drilling, and it is advisable to take out a little of the core, fill with thickened epoxy resin, then sand or re-drill to the size of the outside diameter of the rod holder.

Another option would be to put low railings on each side and attach rod holders to these:

18462754_LRG.jpg
 
Thanks guys, There is nothing to remove to get at stuff, so I am guessing a small pilot hole to inspect first, I did get the clamp type that I have mounted to the handles, really want something solid for the huge tuna when trolling. (That was me hoping.)

Richard
 
I don't know if the 19 is anything like the 22 or not. But my 22 has side compartments running down both sides. These are modular and screwed into a flange coming off the gunnel, so they can be removed to get behind and above. As I stated earlier, and Bob attested to, all the wiring, steering and engine controls run above this modular compartment, under the gunnel. It would be quite easy to nick a wire drilling into this area. I have mounted downrigger base plates on both sides of my boat. But prior to doing that I pulled those modular compartments off to get better access for placing backing plates and to pull the wires back from where I was drilling. Colby
 
Hey Richard, The thru the deck type of rod holder is what you want for all fishing in my opinion for the bigger tuna or any tuna for that matter, go with the picture Thataway showed you, it is out of the way when not in use. Take the clamp on stuff back or use that on the bow rail?
 
I'm not sure what type of "clamp on" rod holders--a photo would help--as a photo of the gunnel area. On most of the boats you can look up under the fiberglass part which comes down into the cockpit--and that is where you access the wiring etc. Some boats have that fiberglass panel on the inside which goes to the floor--and in these boats there is a plastic insert, or bin...which can be removed.

Ask the moderator (TyBoo or DaNag) for an album. But you can post photos of any standard photo format--such as JPEG or GIF from an ad on the internet.

On my fishing boat I have 3 of the in the rail rod holders on each side, and two on each back seat (similar to the lazaretts on the C Dorys.). I use one of these if I want to troll with rods off to the side. They lock in place with notches in the bottom, and fit into the in the deck holders as in my second photo:

17287905_LRG.jpg


I have the rod holder to the side pointing slightly forward, and always put a leash on the reel--even in the ones on the back of the boat which troll directly in the wake.
 
On the starboard side of my 22, there are a bunch of electrical and control cables for the battery compartment and the engine that run on the top of the side bin insert along the gunwale. Also, there is not that much room between the top of the gunwale and the insert. Even if there were no cables involved, I don't know that there is enough depth to insert the flush mount (through deck) rod holders without penetrating the cutout liner.

It would seem that even if no cables are involved, there are limited places where the through deck type rod holders can fit on the gunwales (I don't have any installed).
 
Thank you. I see no access (the top 1/4 is riveted onto the bottom 3/4s of the boat) Makes sense that the starboard side would have all the stuff in it. I have the clamp on type (west marine) mounted to the two handles one would use to climb in (from the trailer). My boat has a 1 1/4 tubing solid mounted cover over the entire deck (canvas, top only. Might find some heavy duty clamp ons for the stern and consider the port side as being safer to drill but with no access to use bolts, maybe not. I went through the previous help as to how to post pictures. Next questions I have I will figure that out first. Agreed that would solve the guessing part.
So as always, you guys are very helpful and equally fast with replies. I appreciate that.

Richard
 
The 19ft is different than the 22 in that the 19 has flotation in the gunnel area. I have never owned a 19, but the area behind the riveted on panel should contain foam.

Boats under 20ft are required to have flotation installed in the hull to provide for level flotation in the event of swamping.
 
Hi. A friend of mine showed me an easy way to put pictures up so I wanted to see if I could. I ended up with the bolt ons. They seem pretty darn strong.
qrhdap.jpg
http://i65.tinypic.com/xm7702.jpg The second picture was to show my gunnel (no access)

Hope the picture upload works as it was actually pretty easy to do.


Richard
 
That is far better than drilling thru the gunnel. You probably want to keep the rod holder down fairly low, to decrease the torque on the holder--and so it will not pivot it around the Bimini support. Be sure and have a leash on your rod and reel.
 
Hi Bob, Your sentence got cut off. Be sure to ...
I actually have them mounted as low as I could and still leave about 1.5 inchs of clearance for the battery access doors.
Richard
 
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