Has anyone ever removed a mariah bow cooler?

[mjdean]

Hey all. I have been considering removing the bow cooler from my 88 mariah and retrofitting it to be a storage hold. I wondered if anyone has tried it? Seems to me if I reinforce under the foremost part of the cooler, I could remove the plywood that separates it from the storage beneath the front seats. Any ideas? Thanks

[flipz96]

I removed my built in cooler and the cross bulkheads on my mariah. I glassed in foam core and trivera where the bulkhead supports were and it seems to hold up nicely. I'm thought about tossing the cooler because it looked pretty nasty, but I am gel coating it with the extra gel coat that I got color matched to my boat and put a new drain in and its looks good as new.

[flipz96]

Just to follow up. Here is what my bow storage looks like when I removed the bulkheads and stiffened up the bow cushion supports. I took it out for the picture, but I keep a ballast bag in there for surfing.

[cadunkle]

I had considered it, but I have a soft cooler with insert that fits perfectly in the factory cooler so convenient enough for me. Mine is a Saltare so maybe cooler is a little bigger and less of an issue? I do wonder about teh factory cooler drain, looks like it drains behind the bulkhead in teh bilge and would just saturate any foam and wood in the bow.

[lmnelson86]

I got rid of mine, my cooler was very brittle. I could have glassed ove the backside and reapired it, but it wasn't worth it to me. I don't stay on my boat for prolonged periods of time so I have no need for it. When I am on my boat, I am out at my cottage. Besides....when Im hanging out in the bay I don't want to constantly climb in and out of the boat for drinks. I keep a soft cooler on the swim deck when parked.

I also did not want to cut a hole in my new floor and give any reason to accumulate any water. I now use it for storage...just a few life jackets and my lights so far.