How do you boat, what are your favorite mods and why?

Bruce · Apr 27, 2015

We have lots of threads asking what mods members would recommend for a specific boat. I thought it would be nice to have a library of mods and how they are used.

I will get the thread started.

We use our SX230 as a family boat. During the summer we take her out several times a week to swim, visit sand bars, grill, pick up friends, etc. Occasionally we tube, ski, surf or fish. Our kids are young, I expect that we will spend more time involved in water sports and find a need for a tower as the kids get older. We often have 8 to 10 people on the boat. @Rana is a teacher so she is off for the summer and I work from home. So we often have last minute boating trips worked around my work schedule. We live on 7,460 acre Lake Hamilton or can launch on the 41,000 acre Lake Ouachita after a 15 minute drive. We keep our boat on the trailer in our garage. We plan to have a dock in the future. We have made annual trips to the ocean visiting the gulf coast in 2012 and 2013 and Bimini in 2014.

1. Having a refrigerator on board. Gathering ice, drinks, etc added extra prep time to our outings. At minimum it took 15 minutes to pick up a bag of ice. I considered adding an ice maker at our house. But installing a refrigerator in the boat was the best solution. We try to refill the fridge after every outing so that it is stocked with cold drinks for the next trip. Worst case we spend a few minutes filling the fridge before we head out.

2. Having a grill on board. This allows us to cook our own meals while we are at our favorite hangouts. On weekdays we often visit restaurants but they are too busy on the weekends. Sometimes we take sandwiches for lunch. But the kids are big fans of shish kabobs, edamame and hot dogs. @Rana enjoys a nice steak for dinner and we often grill fresh caught fish. We often take the grill ashore to islands and even used it at a friends birthday party that we had boated to.

3. Adding a chart plotter. I grew up on Lake Hamilton and can navigate it day or night without assistance. I installed the chart plotter for our ocean outings. It is a huge help when you can not see land. I also find it to be the the only way to navigate Lake Ouachita at night. The lake has hundreds of islands and the shoreline is not illuminated.

4. Installing flooring through the entire boat. This made a big difference in the look and feel of the boat. But the biggest difference is that we are no longer choosing whether to walk on slippery wet fiberglass or dry and clean the carpets.

5. Installing trim tabs. I installed the trim tabs after a bad experience in 3'+ chop in the Gulf. Other members on the 2014 Bimini trip commented that our boat crossed the waves more smoothly than their boats. On our local lakes they give us a smooth ride on the busy weekends.

Jim Robeson · Apr 27, 2015

We mostly go out and tie up somewhere or I will take my nephew, and family friends out tubing. Table Rock is the only lake that I have had our boat on so far...hoping to make the Shelbyville trek one day soon!! I have been known to just go for a joy ride or two in the early mornings or late evenings when hardly anyone else is on the lake. I still need to teach my wife how to drive since she really doesn't have a clue about how to even start her.

Added 2 cupholders on the swim deck which has come in very handy while lounging around.

The addition of the LED's was something we really enjoy in the evenings while sipping on a glass of wine in a nice, quiet cove.

Adding two speakers behind the swim deck seat backs have turned out to be really a nice feature for us. We can now enjoy music in the rear of the boat while in the water or on the swim deck without having to turn up the radio so loud that you can't talk while in the boat.

txav8r · Apr 27, 2015

There are just a ton of things that you can do that are low cost to improve your life with your boat. I have owned two Yamahas, a 2008 SX 230, and now a 2012 SX 240. I am not done upgrading. I don't think you can ever finish it seems. Not because it needs anything, but because one day you think, "wouldn't it be nice if..." or, you read on here about something that someone else has done, and decide to give that a go. I have did the following to the Nauti Dawg, now owned by @Suchawittygal and @DawgDaze ...
Upgraded the stereo cockpit and bow speakers to JL Audio MX 650
Added two MX 650's to the transom wing walls
Added a JL Audio IB subwoofer
Added a JL M700/5 channel amp
Added a Garmin 431S chartplotter/fishfinder
Added an Abyss S1515 underwater light
Added acrylic speaker rings behind all coaxials and RGB LED lighting to them
Added RGB LED INSIDE the cupholders
Built two shelves of waterproof material in the head compartment as well as storage pouches left and right with LED lighting inside
Built a paper towel holder in the head compartment that feeds through door
Built a table top storage holder
Built a box anchor that fit the anchor locker.
Padded the anchor locker
Added battery compartment accessory and ground bus bars, helm ground bus, and blue sea battery switch and ACR
Added AGM batteries and moved the batteries as far aft as possible to open up the storage for storage
Added hydroturf to slip points as well as to walk thru areas and top of dash
Added throttle sync
Added TVXL and also used to have Original Cobra Fins and EZ locks always
Noodled the windshield for towing, aft and cockpit table mounts, and table legs.
Modified the transom drain plug to not need a wrench

MFI Trailer mods...
Boat Buckles
Ultimate bunk boards
Welded and braced bow stop
C.E. Smith trailer guidepost with LED lights

There must be more...I have forgotten.

The Blue Yonder upgrades so far...
Replaced Clarion with Fusion IP700i Head Unit
JL Audio MX 650's cockpit and bow speaker upgrade
Mid cabin speakers added JL MX 650's
Transom speakers added JL MX 650's
Custom enclosure and added JL audio M10W5 10" subwoofer
Added JL Audio M600/6 channel amp, M500/3 channel amp
Added Garmin 70S 7" touchscreen chartplotter/fishfinder
Added step and walk thru hydroturf
Added waterproof shelves and storage pouches left and right
Paper towel holder feeds through door
Padded anchor locker
Noodled windshield for towing
Battery compartment ACC and ground bus, helm ground bus, AGM batteries, Blue Sea switch and ACR
Cleanout tray gasket for easy removal
Ultimate Cobra Fins

Shorelandr Trailer mods...
Stolz Bow Roller
Wedge to fix rocking bow stop post
C.E. Smith trailer guidepost with LED lights

Stereo upgrade in these boats is a must, and if you want to actually hear the music at cruise, it must be amplified beyond HU amplification and this is a mod that is money well spent. A chart plotter is also a must. My box anchor in the previous boat was perfect, the Slide box anchor is great, it just doesn't store as easy, but the 240 won't modify the same way. The paper towel holder is so accessible and taken for granted, but it is great. The Fusion head unit solves way more problems than I care to type...get one. There is a noodle mod made for you! Pad your anchor locker and don't let big heavy items bounce, it will crack your hull! Boat buckles a must if you don't have them. Lighted guide posts a light saver! Storage compartment mods a must too.

scokill · Apr 27, 2015

We have upgraded head unit, boat and tower speakers, and sub. Perfect Pass is a must for any type of boarding. We board, tube, anchor. Most of the time in that order. The best thing we have is saddle floats, float rope, and connectable cooler float. We take a small cooler to float and a larger cooler that goes in the head compartment. We use the cooler under the seat sometimes.

txav8r · Apr 27, 2015

Ha ha @scokill , you are responsible for us having saddle floats too! Not really a mod, but they are great! Guess we could add accessories to this thread as well...AO Coolers and JETBOATERS.NET KOOZIES!

scokill · Apr 27, 2015

txav8r said:
Ha ha @scokill , you are responsible for us having saddle floats too! Not really a mod, but they are great! Guess we could add accessories to this thread as well...AO Coolers and JETBOATERS.NET KOOZIES!

Is a pool noodle really a mod???

txav8r · Apr 27, 2015

scokill said:
Is a pool noodle really a mod???

It is a mod if you cut them and install them somewhere! lol

Ronnie · Apr 27, 2015

My crew and I are in are 40s so we spend a lot of time hanging out at anchor. As a result the best mod I have made to the boat is extending the Bimini top. Next would be upgrading to a model with a head compartment and adding a head to it. I can count the number of times it has been used on the fingers of both hands but it was critical in every instance and really helped to extend the boating day more times than not. There are plenty of other mods on my boat but those two are the most liked by us.

I also have to trailer the boat whenever we use it. The closest water is sf bay and I don't boat there often (have never ever seen anyone tube or wakeboard in sf bay itself) so I usually have to tow a minimum of two hours, sometimes four, every time we take the boat out. That said, I've done everything I could to make towing/launching/recovering easier. Starting with an always on rear view camera system (one on the tow vehicle and one on the back of the boat trailer), no guessing at where the tow ball is or what's behind the boat. Also installed a boat buddy ii, veve guides with lights and boat buckles as wells as bolted the bow stop. Trailering still sucks but it's better than it was without all of the gear.

twentiesforever · Apr 27, 2015

This will be an interesting thread to read. I take delivery of my Sx240 May 20th and cannot wait. As for boating, we will be boating in Lake Champlain exclusively. 313,000 acres or about 100 miles long of stuff to explore. We have a slip this year which will be fun to just hang around in as its in a busy part of town and great for people watching.

Planned mods include:
Grill
Shelves in the Head compartment
Speaker upgrade throughout.
Flooring - next year

Master-Spud · Apr 27, 2015

I'd have to say my favorite so far is the SeaDek, really changes the look and feel of the boat. As for the rest of the mods well they are pretty much in my signature. One of the easiest and helpful every time you boat is actually boat buckles, pretty much a must have.

KXCam22 · Apr 28, 2015

We live about 2 miles from the Thompson river which leads into Kamloops lake where we boat. The boat lives in the driveway year round. It takes us about 25 minutes from driveway to lake: 5 min drive, launch, then down the river, to the lake where we surf. River gets very shallow at the end of the year but the channel is marked well. We predominantly surf, tube and kneeboard with some wakeboarding. Lot of times the wife and I will just pack a lunch and float for the day. My favorite mods are:
- fins
- perfect pass
- raised seat post
- ballast system
-boat buckles
-built in air pump
-bulawaga anchor
- all the trailer mods: LED, winch, welded bow stop, to make the trailer maintenance free.

Cam.

Julian · Apr 28, 2015

Shameless plug for the FAQ....but if any mods listed here are not in the FAQ, @ me and I'll add them!!!! (if they have a write up)

Here is the mods list from the FAQ. The ones in Red are my favorites:

Popular Modifications:

rkgdmd · Apr 28, 2015

Ronnie said:
My crew and I are in are 40s so we spend a lot of time hanging out at anchor. As a result the best mod I have made to the boat is extending the Bimini top. Next would be upgrading to a model with a head compartment and adding a head to it. I can count the number of times it has been used on the fingers of both hands but it was critical in every instance and really helped to extend the boating day more times than not. There are plenty of other mods on my boat but those two are the most liked by us.

I also have to trailer the boat whenever we use it. The closest water is sf bay and I don't boat there often (have never ever seen anyone tube or wakeboard in sf bay itself) so I usually have to tow a minimum of two hours, sometimes four, every time we take the boat out. That said, I've done everything I could to make towing/launching/recovering easier. Starting with an always on rear view camera system (one on the tow vehicle and one on the back of the boat trailer), no guessing at where the tow ball is or what's behind the boat. Also installed a boat buddy ii, veve guides with lights and boat buckles as wells as bolted the bow stop. Trailering still sucks but it's better than it was without all of the gear.

Hi Ronnie...can you tell me what you did to extend the bimini top? Thanks.

Ronnie · Apr 29, 2015

rkgdmd said:
Hi Ronnie...can you tell me what you did to extend the bimini top? Thanks.

The short story is that I used the Bimini extension hardware from the sx230 I used to own and had a friend custom make a cover out of sunbrella/marine canvas. I also had a custom boot made so that I could stow both the Bimini and extension while they were connected to each other and mounted to the tower. The easy part was sourcing color matched material, the hard part was making the boot.

Here is a link to a yjb post with pics starting at the bottom of page 13.

http://yamahajetboaters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52706&start=180

Here is another link to a jetboaters.net thread with pics but not of the new boot.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/242-ls-bimini-extension-anchor-locker-rails.2762/

I forgot to mention the onboard grill is another favorite of mine. I think I just take it for granted since I had one on my first yamaha jet boat and I don't use it much, my wife does. I put in a filet table as well to give her counter space but she still puts knives on the seat cushions every once in a while. Here is a link to some pics, mine are about half way down the page.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/bar-be-que-mod.1906/

jcyamaharider · Apr 29, 2015

We boat on a river most of the time and end up beaching about 95% of the time so I would have to say my #1 most loved mod is my Keel guard. Protects the boat from beaching and has saved my hull on my last Yamaha boat.

rkgdmd · Apr 29, 2015

Ronnie said:
The short story is that I used the Bimini extension hardware from the sx230 I used to own and had a friend custom make a cover out of sunbrella/marine canvas. I also had a custom boot made so that I could stow both the Bimini and extension while they were connected to each other and mounted to the tower. The easy part was sourcing color matched material, the hard part was making the boot.

Here is a link to a yjb post with pics starting at the bottom of page 13.

http://yamahajetboaters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52706&start=180

Here is another link to a jetboaters.net thread with pics but not of the new boot.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/242-ls-bimini-extension-anchor-locker-rails.2762/

I forgot to mention the onboard grill is another favorite of mine. I think I just take it for granted since I had one on my first yamaha jet boat and I don't use it much, my wife does. I put in a filet table as well to give her counter space but she still puts knives on the seat cushions every once in a while. Here is a link to some pics, mine are about half way down the page.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/bar-be-que-mod.1906/

That is frickin awesome Ronnie! Looks like it came from the factory. Nice work. I just traded my 2013 Limited for a 2015 Limited S. My only concern is the size of the Bimini. Our Limited had a fantastic Bimini, which really came in handy on those hot Florida summer days. As a matter of fact, I went with the Limited over the S for that very reason. They say the 2015 has a slightly larger Bimini than previous models, but I'm still unsure if it's going to be enough. May have to get creative like you! Thanks for the links.

Rob

jetboater4life · Jul 13, 2015

I boat mainly on a dammed up river, Lake Zumbro, which is 15mins from my house. We mainly do watersports and float while the kids swim. There aren't any good beeches on Lake Zumbro so we don't beach much unless we are visiting a lake in Northern MN or Lake Byllesby which is 45mins away. I am planning a trip to the Mississippi in August so I'll probably beach on a sandbar. I store my boat in my garage, and other than it being a tight fit and having to take the tower up/down a lot, I prefer to have it close to me. I've been averaging 30hours of engine run time each season, however this summer is looking to be a lot more.

Mods I have done or may do in the future can be found in the link to my sig.

treeskier · Jul 14, 2015

I'll chime in as someone with an older, far less elaborate Yamaha ... From my perspective I've resisted over modifying what I bought as a stepping stone boat 3 seasons ago and tried to limit my mods to projects that could be done for less than $200. My favorite by far is the shoot thru hull transducer which replaced the transom mounted one the dealer installed with the garmin gps (yeah the gps was more than $200 but I negotiated it with the purchase of the boat so I'm not counting that one). We boat in the assawoman bay which is very shallow in places that may not be obvious ...like the middle... so as a new boater I was very concerned about navigation and water depth. The transom mount never gave me a decent depth reading and most of the time it flashed -- . The shoot thru hull transducer properly installed and calibrated in the bilge has worked wonderfully.

We use our Yamaha several times a week to go to restaurants and bars along the water. We live on the water and work in a resort town and the in season traffic on the roads can be nuts. We also probably do at least half of our boating at night so the led lighting mod is another favorite. Someday soon we will look at a 2010 or newer 23 or 24 foot Yamaha but I have to admit this older boat has been a ton of fun...oh and it's pee your pants fast...no mods required for that it came that way.

MNdrifter · Jul 14, 2015

My newest favorite mod is an integrated airpump. I need to do a write up on the project.
The pump for the tube is very loud and annoying. I wired up an automotive relay, rocker switch and air hose. The pump stays under the seat. The rocker switch is on the swim platform. It is so quiet now that my wife bumped the switch while we were anchored and it took us a couple minutes to figure out what the noise was. It sounded like someone was using a hair dryer on the boat next to us.

zipper · Dec 9, 2017

Instead of starting a new thread, I decided to dust this one off as it has been sitting on the top shelf for a couple years. I was just wondering what you guys/gals consider your most used and best valued modifications to your boats. I know some of you have accumulated quite a list, not to call anyone out, @swatski, but I just did. We have seen some very impressive one off mods by some folks, but I am talking about the "off the shelf" or built to order parts that we find improves our boating experience the most. A lot of new stuff to add in the last couple of years I am sure. I too have accumulated a list of Mods on our 07, and there will be more to come, but here are my favorites.
1. Lectrotab trim tabs - We love this mod! We use it every time we go out. Huge improvement in ride quality and puts an end to porposing in the chop.
2. Cobra Ultimate Fins and mega fangs- Love the enhanced steering the fins provide in forward motion at all speeds. I have, but have not yet installed the mega fangs. Looking forward to their enhanced reverse "power steering" effect.
3. Perfectpass GPS Speedo- Displays speed to 1/10th of mph. IMHO the best replacement for a broken paddle wheel.
4. New canvas to replace 10 y.o. Factory mooring and bimini covers.
5. Grille- Love BBQ at the beach.
I was going to stop at 5, but this last mod turned a 10 y.o. With heavily oxidized gelcoat to a "new" boat to us.
6. Remove the graphics- Peel the old beat up stuff off, wet sand the hull for a couple of days, and then polish to a highly reflective surface using Marine 31 products.
I know...a lot of stuff to buy, but it's just the tip of the iceburg. These are just my most notable favorites. Some of you could write a novel on mods and probably have in different places on this forum.

How do you boat, what are your favorite mods and why?

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