Recently Added Modifications & Accessories

[prairie tuber]

Here are a few additions and modifications I recently made for the SIB. Perhaps the ideas might be useful for someone. Questions & critiques are welcome.

The first item is adding a manual bilge pump. The bottoms of the stock scuppers/elephant trunks sit about 4” above the floorboards, so having the manual bilge pump to pump out the remaining 4” of water is very handy. This pump will easily pump 100L/min.

I also keep a couple of extra hoses with Banjo type fittings so I can pump water into and out of a polyethylene storage box for use as a live well.

[prairie tuber]

The storage box/live well has a battery operated aerator clipped to it’s side and a couple kid’s seats mouted on the lid.

I also made a number of modifications to the trapezoid shaped polyethylene bow box that I had posted about in a previous thread;

http://www.rib.net/forum/showpost.ph...62&postcount=8

[prairie tuber]

One modification I recently made to this box was to add a one way bilge valve so that if any water were to seep inside, it would drain right out (see 1st picture). Some water is able to seep in through the 4 holes in the floor to allow the box to be bolted to the floorboards with the knobhead bolts (see pics 2-5).

[prairie tuber]

The other modification I made to the wall of the polyethlene box is to install a circular (~5" diameter), screw on deck cover into the side wall. The purpose of this is to allow access to the inflation valve for the bow tube compartment, which would be otherwise inaccessible with the storage box installed.


The green circular thing in the upper right of the box is the bottom of an old military PVC duffle bag. It's purpose is to located the circular nylon bag that contains the bruce anchor, chain & rope. The nylon bag can simply be lifted out of the PVC bag when the anchor is needed and placed back in the PVC bag when done with the anchor. The PVC bag will keep the anchor& rope from rattling around in the box.

[prairie tuber]

The smaller circular storage compartment is to accomodate 2 spare propellors, which are kept in place by a center spindle and a screw on cap. A spare fuel line and the air bump hose sit on top of the propellors.

At the very bottom of the box, near the base, the cylinder air pump clips into a holder. Above the pump are two more holders for 2 watertight welding rod cases. One case is for tube repair materials, the other is a tool kit. Another welding rod case clips upright into the bottom left corner to contain a first aid kid. You can see holders for the LED navigation lights. Attached to it is a holster for a multitool. There is a hinged holding compartment beneath the nav light holder for a spare liter of 2 stroke oil - it hinges forward to allow the oil bottle to be removed & replaced without having to move other items in the box.

There is space along the bottom of the aft wall of the box beside the air pup & welding rod cases) for a pelican case large enough for a SLR sized camera & 8x42 binoculars. There is also a small clear waterproof case to hold small spare fittings, such as prop castle nuts, slit pins, bushings, fuel line fittings etc. The long cylindrical item at the very top of the back wall is a small tubular manual bilge. It has nowhere near the capacity of the bilge pump at the transom, but it is extremely handy for drawing water out of cramped areas.

[jyasaki]

Pic #3 in the first post: Are the yellow rods flat rollers on the trailer? Or am I mis-seeing things?

jky

[m chappelow]

Having every thing stowed well / in or having dedicated place as yours is p/t makes life much easier on any size boat ,more often than not the vast majority of small boat users pile everything in one bag or box which is ok until it all gets mixed up and tangled with rope /line/ buckles ect and your needing to find something in a very quick time ,you can also see if somethings missing at a glance too the way you have things put .
when i have done boat equipment inspections for day launchers on the slip its great when you ask for the flares and they are buried in the bottom of a damp salt encrusted holdall underneath a tangle of anchor line that was not stowed proper which inturn then pulls out the the rest of the equipment usually the foot pump caught up on a jubiliee clip .

[MikeP]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

when i have done boat equipment inspections for day launchers on the slip its great when you ask for the flares and they are buried in the bottom of a damp salt encrusted holdall underneath a tangle of anchor line that was not stowed proper which inturn then pulls out the the rest of the equipment usually the foot pump caught up on a jubiliee clip .

I think this is an inherent hazard for those of us that have to deflate/inflate our SIBs between launches. Looking at Prairie Tubers pics (thanks for those, very interesting), this looks like something that is probably towed rather than rolled up in the boot of a car. Which makes being tidy that much easier.

I'll confess to a muddled hold-all, but not quite sure how you get around that if you are deflating/inflating all the time - my experience has been that you have a lot of odds and ends that you need to keep tidy. However, if we ever get out on the sea, I'll be very anal about making sure the safety items are both accessible but also clearly visible.

Mrs MikeP reckons I'm a big chicken; I squawk otherwise.

However, have any of you guys come across a great hold-all for SIBbing ?

[m chappelow]

Originally Posted by MikeP

I think this is an inherent hazard for those of us that have to deflate/inflate our SIBs between launches. Looking at Prairie Tubers pics (thanks for those, very interesting), this looks like something that is probably towed rather than rolled up in the boot of a car. Which makes being tidy that much easier.

I'll confess to a muddled hold-all, but not quite sure how you get around that if you are deflating/inflating all the time - my experience has been that you have a lot of odds and ends that you need to keep tidy. However, if we ever get out on the sea, I'll be very anal about making sure the safety items are both accessible but also clearly visible.

Mrs MikeP reckons I'm a big chicken; I squawk otherwise.

However, have any of you guys come across a great hold-all for SIBbing ?

Hi mike ,yes it is a problem if you have to in/deflate ,,suppose you could put some plastic or wood dividers in a holdall that will keep stuff from getting mixed up or tangled though usually its ok if they are all seperated into smaller packages or bags within a large bag .
i once saw a medium size bag in a baby shop once that would have been ok and was tempted to buy it for the boat,though bit expensive , once opened ,it had deep open elasticated pockets for holding feeding bottles and the like ,just right size for hand held vhf,s flasks ,flares ,engine spares ,,,suppose something like one of those paramedic type bags would be ok ,
mart

[prairie tuber]

Thanks for the comments/questions.

John,
Yes, those are aluminum roller tracks on the trailer. The aluminum pins are surrounded by 'pool noodles' to give them a little more diameter and to pad the boat fabric. I cleaned 3 local Wal-Marts out of their pool noodle stock (fortunately they were being clearanced at 75% off the regular price at the time).

Mart,
You are absolutely right about the importance of compartmentalizing all gear and accessories on boats. If you are in a 1-2m chop on a large lake, or running large river rapids, it is absolutely essential for your safety. Having the items that you would most likely need quickly in an emergency in the most readily accessible locations is also essential. The initial setup of this was very time consuming, but should save me a lot of time down the road.

Mike,
I do trailer this boat all of the time, however I also take it completely apart for cleaning/inspection a couple of times per season. With the exception of the motor which has a bolt through the transom, all of other gear & accessories are readily removable without needing any tools (including the bilge pump).

For a SIB that would be assembled & disassembled with each use, I would carry much less gear, but I would still store the essentials in a removable bow bag that would have enough internal compartments to keep things somewhat organized. I know Zodiac sells PVC bow bags. You could also get a local tent & awning outfit to make a customized version for your boat. Carrying your essential gear in such a bag would actually speed up the assembly/loading & unloading/diassembly of a SIB and enhance safety.

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by prairie tuber

Yes, those are aluminum roller tracks on the trailer. The aluminum pins are surrounded by 'pool noodles' to give them a little more diameter and to pad the boat fabric.

Pretty clever. Hope the noodles hold up. They do seem pretty tough, but then again, they are just foam...

jky