# Jet ski fishing box



## 71 Fish (Dec 21, 2005)

Tried fishing from a Jet Ski and realized I need some easily accessible storage so I will attempt to build a removable saddlebag type box for it. I think I have enough glass from a boat repair I made a while back for it (or it might not be worth the cost). I had purchased a parts ski identical to mine and the hull is trash so I formed it up on that hull with some sheathing that is 1/8" thick to give room for 1/8" insulation (like rubbertex) for cushion. The challenge of this part was dealing with the non symmetrical shape and getting the top squared off. It is not perfect but close enough to be able to tune it with a grinder. I will line the inside with plastic and wax it before laying it up. I will probably make lids out of stainless or aluminum.


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## 71 Fish (Dec 21, 2005)

Lined the mold with plastic (and tape) and waxed it with Turtle Wax. I am not sure how it will release but can wreck most of the mold off from the outside so i figure a little bit of a bond breaker is all I need. Made a template and will try to lay up one solid piece first then use scraps to build it up to the thickness needed for strength.


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## 71 Fish (Dec 21, 2005)

Pieced in one layer of chopped strand matt (from scraps) then layed a solid piece of stitched mat (dont remember the #). This should be good enough to enable me to remove it from the mold and work on the bench from there. Got some air in the matt layer but will deal with it on the next layer of glass.


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## fishinfool (Jun 30, 2004)

great idea, hope it works out good for you.


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## 71 Fish (Dec 21, 2005)

Removed it from the mold and added layers to the inside for the strength needed then sanded the edges even. I had some aluminum shower door edging that will work well for framing the openings and create a raised lip to keep most of the water out. With the box upside down on a flat surface I filled the frames with resin to attach them to the box. I had an old test reagent dropper bottle that worked well for this.


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## daddyhoney (Dec 4, 2006)

Cool idea, keep us posted please, GG


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## 71 Fish (Dec 21, 2005)

The lids came out a little rough but will do. I made them with materials I had laying around (one from an old cooktop griddle cover). I broke them up with a home made brake and one of those vise brakes from Wholesale Tool. As much as I tried, the frames on the openings did not wind up square with each other. To compensate for this I made the lids a little over sized and shimmed the hinges to square them up.


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## SaltwaterAg (Oct 7, 2004)

Very nice!


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## benthook1 (Apr 13, 2010)

*wow*

you are talented !!! -seen some guys jet ski fishing out of port A , we went 12-15 miles out to fish some rigs, and they would race out there catch some macs and race in , come back in a hour or so and do it again..
fast and effecient -bhook


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## Pier Pressure (Aug 30, 2009)

Did you allow room for any padding between the hull and the box??


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## 71 Fish (Dec 21, 2005)

Made the divider with some scrap FRP (Lowes sells it for wet walls). I found you can heat and bend it a little bit, it looses its strength at the bend but its OK for shaping. I wanted it to go into the lid frame. I had to sand for a mechanical bond since it was a week or so since I glassed the main box. I use a right angle drill with a very coarse sand disc at low speed to minimize dust in the air and get more life out of the discs. I dont think the panel alone will be strong enough so I sanded both sides of it and will add a layer of glass on each side for strength.


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## 71 Fish (Dec 21, 2005)

I had planned to tie the lid frames together with a piece of stainless but ran into some issues and decided to use fiberglass. Dry fitted a piece of doubled up stitched matt into the frames. Not sure if the matt would hold its shape once saturated with resin so I wrapped a piece of PVC with wax paper to put under it. Saturated the matt in a pan and got it back in place (tucked into the frames and with the divider on the back frame) but ran out of time before getting the ends layed down good and will have to sand on them to smooth it out.


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## 71 Fish (Dec 21, 2005)

Had to give the latch some thought but came up with a simple one. Built up thickness for a bolt and positioned it (wrapped the bolt with wax paper). Welded a tab on the top lid to line up with the bottom lid and punched some dimples in it for positive latching. Glued padding on where needed. I will hold the box in place with a stiff bungee to go across the box between the lids. Anchor points will have to be installed on the ski but that is simple. It might be a little over the top but if I run across a cheap depth finder I will mount one on the top lid. Made a bracket for the transducer to allow for easy installation and removal without having to screw into the hull every time. Aside from little modifications to make along the way I'm done.


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## cfaas416 (Jun 7, 2011)

Thats just awesome!! great job.... wish i had time to do the same thing!!! again great job!!


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## benthook1 (Apr 13, 2010)

*wow*

very professional looking , you are very talented !!!
i wish i was that good with f'glass.......
:spineyes: -bhook


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