fish boxes on 2520 pilothouse?

[newguy]

So I just bought the 1990 diesel 2520 pilothouse that was for sale on the Jacksonville FL craigslist. I was really surprised to find that this purpose built fishing boat had no fish boxes built in standard.

Has anyone here added any? Fiberglass work is not a problem for me, just un-aware if there is enough room under deck for any. I belive the fuel tank runs all the way across? Where could I set one/ some up?

 

[Scott-MD]

I looked at a 1991 that had built-in fish boxes in the deck. Pretty big too. The surveyor told me that back then Parker would do pretty much whatever you wanted, and that there is room down there if you are willing to sacrifice some of the reinforcement and foam -- i.e., structural rigidity and flotation. Also, part of why these boats last so long is that Parker seals them up very well. Any big holes you cut in the deck are inevitably going to introduce opportunities for water to infiltrate, threatening rot, tank corrosion, etc.. And I believe that back in 1990 they were not glassing the underside of the deck so you have to be even more careful about those issues.

Here's the boat I looked at. Of course your diesel engine may occupy some of the space these are in. But I think the tank is pretty far forward so you may still have some room.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/thre ... 1#M2242209

 

[Megabyte]

Write down the Hull Identification Number (HIN) for your boat, then call the factory at 252-728-5621.
The engineers there should be able to tell you if putting fish boxes in the deck is possible. If it is not possible, they might be able to offer an alternate solution.

Good luck!

 

[Sleigher]

Did you buy the one with the bad turbo?
I just bought one in the keys. I'm still trying to arrange shipping.
I have the same issue however I think what I will do when I get money again is install a swim step and then use a "kill bag". Keeps the fish cooler and is a lot easier to keep clean. Plus the fish boxes can be a mess.
With a kill bag you keep the mess in the ocean.
Congratulations on your new boat.

Peter

 

[newguy]

Looks like there's alot of room in there based on the pics. I think the motor occupies the space in between those boxes so it may work.

when I was checking out the hull I felt up under the deck from a tank inlet access port and it was smooth and hard like the underside had been glassed over?

I'll give the factory a call. Ive herd nothing but good reviews of the support they provide.

Yes its the boat with the bad turbo. I found a guy using uship.com to move it for me. I am on the west coast (below San Francisco) and it was in Arlington Fl. The move ran me $3750 OTD. I had cheaper bids (as low as $3100) but after reading posts on other sites about scammers using uship aswell as bad expiriences with other users, I opted to go with a bid from a guy with overwhellmingly good feedback and much large boat moving exp. The risk was not worth the 6 or 700 dollar savings to me.


So Whats this about flotation? I've heard that they have it and others say not. Does it have flotation? And to what purpose? Like a whaler? If it's not enough to keep it from sinking, I'm not sure ho it would help.

 

[Scott-MD]

My understanding is they have some foam in them but not enough to be "unsinkable" in the Whaler sense. But I think it still improves the safety margins in not-quite catastrophic situations, even if in truly dire circumstances the boat can still sink.

Congrats on the new boat. I was just out in Monterey for the weekend and was thinking how great my 2520 would be out there.