[BKS72]

I have an old 16' fiberglass semi-v boat with a closed bow. There is a bench seat about 3/4 of the way to the stern that is basically a hollow box. I am thinking about cutting the top off off it, dividing it in half (or 70/30) and glassing the inside of it. I'd make a new top for it (also using fiberglass coated wood) with a waterproof hatch for each side. Half would be styrofoam lined to make a cooler and the other side for a live bait well. The drain for the cooler side would just be tubing with a small ball valve to the bilge and bait well side would drain to bilge and fill with tubing over the side or a long piece of tubing below the deck to the transom and over. I know filling from over the side is cheesy, but a badly done hole below the water line would be worse.


Neither space would be huge, but they would be enough to save the floor space taken up by a cooler for cut bait and a live bait bucket.

Does this sound like something I could do without compromisinig the structure of the boat?

 

[crmule]

I got rid of a boat in 89 that had a well like you described and it had a feature you mite like. Side by side in the deepest part of the well were two tubes .One was 1/2 inch the other was 7inch on the bottom of the boat was a scoop made of sheet metal on the tall tube it faced backward and the short one faced front as the boat moved the water in well changed it came in the shoth and when the levle got to the top of the long tube it overflowed out and it stayed at the waterline level when the boat was still.and drained when pulled out of the water.
the tubes were glassed in and about 3/8 inch ID
I use rubber stoppers to plug the holes when I didn't use the well
-be well mule

 

[BKS72]

That's cool. So was there a pump, or the motion of the boat alone pulled fresh water in until it got high enough to go out the overflow?

 

[crmule]

The motion of the boat keeps the water flowing and it fills to the level of the long tube the scoops were only 2in in dia and looked like they had been made with a piece of galv. sheet metal and tap out over a 3/8 in rod to make a scoop they had three small holes for screws and were sealed with RTV and bolted through the hull I put a screen that was made for a kitchen sink drain over the short tube to keep out trash.
be well mule

 

[Mutt]

i dont see where it would effect the structual integrity of the boat so id say do it. also like was said a bit ago the overflow tubes are great. on my bassboat on both live wells it has the overflow tubes you just pull them out when done and the boat is out of the water and they drain out the sides of the boat. you can get scuppers for filling the tank when you mount it put a stainless steel mesh in the scupper to keep trash out you can buy a livewell pump/areator for around 13 bucks at walmart. go to radioshack or anyother electronics store and buy a good waterproof switch to mount on the dash to fill the tank and to run the aerator. very simple setup if you want i can open the panels on my bas boat and tak pics of the way its setup.

 

[jtrew]

I've got a big jonboat that has a livewell in the center seat, with a hole in the bottom to let in water in and out. The problem is that the boat doesn't sit deep enough in the water to be of much use in the live well. I have plans to someday attach a bilge pump to that hole to pump in water, with another hole higher up on the side of the boat for a drain hole. That way, I can have water in the live well almost up to the top. Having water constantly circulating through the live well will also eliminate the problem of overheating, since the livewell doesn't have any insulation, except on the ends.