i’m trying to talk a friend into making some racks for his boat ( for the sake of my board’s rails… even with a board bag i get damage) - its a 25ft panga. i’ve seen somewhere some simple brackets that are usually mounted back aft, just ahead of the outboard. i seen them on those skiffs the cali guys use a lot.
this guy is grumpy as hell, and says it’s gonna interfere with his fishing – i feel like a lawyer, in that i gotta make a case… and a picture is worth a thousand words.
i need a pic of a boat surf rack – even betta if it shows boards stowed on them.
Off the back might get in the way when fishing for sure. Does he have any type of cabin/bimini, or is the boat totally open. If he had a cabin and you could put boards on top of that it would probably be best. But a good padded board bag should work. I skippered the Vessel Assist boats (like an auto towing service on the water) for about eleven years (still do sometimes) out of Dana Point, CA and took my board(s) with me all the time in quite a few thousand miles of often pounding conditions (fast boat and short chop) and never got dings except for when they were out of the boardbags. But I had good boardbags. You gotta respect that it is his boat and he obviously is taking you surfing? If he is grumpy you don’t want to lose your ride to the surf.
this is a 25ft panga - what some call a yamaha hull – you see em all up and down latAm pacific coastline – it’s config’d center console with flush decks up forward for kill box, cooler, dry box. abaft the console you have baitwell, and alla way back aft you have battery compartments just ahead of the outboards. This machine is rigged primarily for spearfishing, and fishing. comfort is a minor priority. when we stash our boards, they are along one side in what you could call a well, off one side of the baitwell, kinda tucked in, sitting on the rails – when there’s three of us ( even two of us), there’s little choice. The boat has a t-top (hard) but all aroudn the t are aluminum rod holders, so forget putting em on top. i took my Liddle hull out yest, adn even with a board bag, and a towel tucked underneath – the rails cracked. We’ve bungeed the boards down on the flush foredeck, but that’s where the pounding is pronounced when we’re flying along.
i’ve seen somewhere a pic of some skiff types with what look like a handle bar/bracket mounts abreast, on the gunwales, so that the boards are stowed athwartship and bungeed down. i’ve explained and explained, but there’s nothing like a pic, yknow.
The racks on my friend’s boat hold several boards but to be fair, it can be a hassle launching, docking and getting to the outboard if there is a problem. Space permitting, an overhead rack allowing boards to be placed lengthwise might be a better option.
On your grumpy friend’s boat, I don’t see many options aside from sucking it up and padding your board better. Custom stainless racks are expensive and permanent.
Stainless steel rails about 18" above the aft deck with boards racked sideways. Standard rack straps hold everything down…
2 sets of ali tube bent to fit into the launchers, all the way through and 3" out the other side, 3 pods wide, padded, with Ring Pins holding it all down…
Removable, adjustable, maybe Grumpy proof as well…
yeah john. it’s something like that i’ve seen. i can’t really see the bars but thats the kinda pic i’m looking for. and hicksy’s idea might be the way to go - using the rod holders.
2 sets of ali tube bent to fit into the launchers, all the way through and 3" out the other side, 3 pods wide, padded, with Ring Pins holding it all down…
Removable, adjustable, maybe Grumpy proof as well…
