2003 270 OUTRAGE Add Rod Holder on Foredeck

[TexCoast]

Q1: can rod holders be safely added to a [2003--ALWAYS USE FOUR DIGITS FOR YEAR] 270 OUTRAGE at the location indicated below in Figure 1?

Q2: can a second rod holder be added on the other side from where indicated below in Figure 1?

Q3: would water in those added rod holders drain into the sump area?

Q4: if I add the two rod holder (as described in Q1, Q2, and Q3 above) will water become captive somewhere?

Fig. 1. The red dot indicates where a rod holder is to be added to the Port bow of a 2003 270 OUTRAGE.

redDot.jpg (15.89 KiB) Viewed 183 times

[Phil T]

You do NOT want to puncture the skin and expose the foamed cavity to penetrations.

Water ingress into the foamed cavity is the Achilles heel of a Boston Whaler.

Modern large whalers that include rodholders in the cap have been engineered and are part of the mold at the factory. This is not practical on a boat that was not engineered to have them.

Add rod holders to the rail.

[TexCoast]

PHIL--thank you for the information.

[jimh]

Without knowing the details of the 2003 270 OUTRAGE construction, to add a holder at the indicated location may be possible if that area is not part of the Unibond molded hull and liner structure. Elements of the boat like the foredeck cap may be laid atop of the Unibond hull. If there is an open space that you can clearly see and access that would be deep enough to accommodate the length of the rod holder below the deck surface, you could put a rod holder there.

But if that deck is actually part of the liner of the Unibond hull, you will not want to make a deep cut into the foam, nor would you want water to drain into the foam from the rod holder open bottom. That would be a disaster.

Boston Whaler typically adds a separate molded assembly to create the deck on many models. For example, in a classic REVENGE the entire foredeck is NOT part of the Unibond hull, and is an entirely separate laminated, gel coated, reinforced structure that is just lower onto the hull and attached with a combination of adhesives and mechanical fasteners.