Be careful if you plan to mount a grill on back porch...

[sunedog]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to post pictures and descriptions of adding an inset table base to the back porch of your boat to mount a grill. The hardest part is making the commitment to pull the trigger on the drill to cut a 3 1/2" hole in the deck of your beautiful boat. Once you start, there is no going back.

I just want to give everyone a heads up that when you drill the hole you may hit a hidden structural obstruction. My boat has underskinning in that area so I wasn't able to see what was beneath the floor. I did check it out as best as I could and concluded no wiring or control cables were running under where I planned to drill. But I got VERY VERY lucky when I drilled the 3 1/2" hole in the floor of my 2011 2275 GCW. As you can see below, I discovered some structural component I wasn't expecting to find.

I was able to fit my table base into this hole by using a wood rasp to enlarge the hole very slightly (maybe 1/4") on the side opposite the obstruction. Then I went out and bought a lottery ticket.

 

[Jim Rampello]

I bought the magma leg that bolts to the floor with the tube that screws into it. There is still a lot of stuff under the deck for sure. Look as best you can for a good location.

 

[Michiman]

Nice call with the lottery ticket!

 

[Tim B]

When the post is removed does the insert base retain rain water?

 

[kozzy]

I used the magma base that screws on top of the floor, no large whole to drill

 

[Spoiledrotten]

Bet that gave you a sick feeling in the belly, when you cut down and found that!

 

[sunedog]

When the post is removed does the insert base retain rain water?

Yes. But it's never been an issue. We usually mount the grill and leave it there all summer. Even if we removed it, evaporation would take care of it.

And here's an update to anyone considering this. I initially used No. 14 x 3/4" SS wood screws to mount the table base. (Would have preferred through bolts with some sort of backing, but no access to below.) The connection from the pole to the base is not as tight as I expected and the grill moved around on the pole more than I wanted. The grill weighs enough and the pole is long enough that leverage eventually caused the original screws to pulled out. I replaced those with 1" screws and I added 1" wide cargo straps from either side of the table down to the deck to stabilize it. You don't have to remove the straps to cook. The table is rock solid now and I have no concerns leaving it there while we are underway.