I just saw a photo of a Bennington pontoon boat that uses the space under the front curved seat as a cooler. We have had our boat for three years and if there is a cooler under our seat, we sure didn’t know it. Does anybody else use this space as a cooler?
I just saw a photo of a Bennington pontoon boat that uses the space under the front curved seat as a cooler. We have had our boat for three years and if there is a cooler under our seat, we sure didn’t know it. Does anybody else use this space as a cooler?
It is an option but not one I’ve heard a lot of positive feedback about. I go with a portable cooler. You still have to bring everything down to the boat and a good cooler has better insulation.
All of ours have had the black plastic liner in the starboard front curved seat with a drain plug in it that they call a cooler. We have never used it as a cooler as it's not insulated and wouldn't do much to slow the ice from melting or keep things cold very long. Though many times to just remove the liner and plug the drilled hole in the floor and just use it for more storage.
Thanks, everyone. I didn’t see the point of lugging a cooler out on the dock and then dumping the contents in a spot less insulated than the cooler. We will continue to use that space for storage of backpacks, etc. We keep our anchor across from that space in the other curved compartment. We’re looking forward to boat season here in Indiana by the first weeks of May!
We do use our for a back up purpose, and may be why I have not removed the liner in it. Really wet items like towels that get blown into the lake by accident or bathing suits we change out of. We will put them in there until we get back to the dock and start unloading. We will not keep wet items in there overnight or anything. We store our anchor rode in the same place but on the port side, and when we come back in we leave that seat open to allow the rode to dry without causing mold under the seat.
That was the first thing I removed, before the Benny even hit the water. I just could not see the insulation as being adequate, I still had to carry the ice and supplies down - and then transfer them into this funny shaped cooler. And, I needed the storage (my playpen cover & bimini covers fits in that space). I did read that a few users that don't bring a lot out will dump their small cooler into this one... but then we also have a filler seat, which means this can't be opened when it is front and center (vs next to the side door).
That was the first thing I removed, before the Benny even hit the water. I just could not see the insulation as being adequate, I still had to carry the ice and supplies down - and then transfer them into this funny shaped cooler. And, I needed the storage (my playpen cover & bimini covers fits in that space). I did read that a few users that don't bring a lot out will dump their small cooler into this one... but then we also have a filler seat, which means this can't be opened when it is front and center (vs next to the side door).
