45C any ideas on a bait well?????????

[Gina Marie]

The 45C is a great model for fishing but where is the bait well. Would love to hear suggestions. I have tried the cooler looking for something more stationary. Has anyone converted the cockpit storage area? Has anyone plumbed this area? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Paul45c]

The baitwell on my 45c SerII is in-deck just fwd of the fighting chair mount and just aft of the opening for the battery/fuel manifold hatch. It's a cylindrical well that goes right to the bottom of the boat and it's molded in. Good luck.

-- Paul

 

[OldHatt45]

Gina Marie,

The baitwell on my 45c is in the same place as it is on Paul45c's . In the sole just forward of the fighting chair.

I was contemplating changing mine as well in the future. Was thinking about building something on the Port side along the bulkhead to the left of the door to the salon. Or possibly putting in one of the "Under the Chair" variety. Haven't quite figured everything out yet though. On a lot of the newer boats they have bait wells built in to the transom, directly behind the fighting chair but for us (with 45c's), the distance between the foot rest and the transom is not wide enough (according to the pros you need a minimum of 22 to 24 inches between foot rest and transom) to accomodate the bait well, unless you move the chair stanchion toward the bow. If you come up with something I'd love to hear about it.

OldHatt45

 

[rtrafford]

certainly don't need 22 to 24 inches if you're willing to do some glass work. cut into the transom coaming and recess a fish box 12 inches wide, 2 to 3 feet long into the transom and add only 5-8 inches of additional centerline depth. of course not just anyone on the street can do this and have a favorable outcome...

 

[OldHatt45]

To rtrafford,

The 22 to 24 inches of clearance I mentioned is to let people get between the chair and the transom. In several articles I've read and from personal experience in using a chair, this seems like a good "ideal" minimum clearance. Especially if the distance between the footrest and the transom doesn't allow "crew" to move from one side of the cockpit to the other when Clearing lines on a hookup. From personal experience, the cockpit gets real busy when a hooking up and limiting the travel paths in the cockpit can make things interesting.

OldHatt45

 

[rtrafford]

no, i understood what you meant, but reducing, say, 24 inches to 18 inches isn't so significant as to "not do it". it's merely a new dimension requiring some adjustment.

here's hoping that your transom area remains "a busy place"...

 

[OldHatt45]

Point taken

I guess it's a matter of personal preference. The only point I was trying to make was that you need to get around the chair. And I would say that between us, we've made that clear.

Anyhow, I hope your cockpit (and it is a very nice cockpit from your picture) stays busy as well.

PS: On the 45c, the distance is really limited, and even with the suggestion, it's a bit tight, at least for my taste. I even tried using a cardboard mock up to try it, and I'd have to rep-position my chair to get the space I would feel comfortable with. (Some members of my normal crew are a little on the large side )

OldHatt45

 

[Paul45c]

An above-deck livewell built into the transom would sure be nice, no question, and I, too, love that aerial view picture (all the teak's nice, too!). Just being able to get rid of one more pump (the drain pump) would be a pleasure. Who wouldn't want to simplify life a little? Plus not having to grope on your knees for frisky blue runners and gogs that really don't want to go into that little net sounds like pure heaven!

I guess if you were game to do that kind of project fitting it into the transom PLUS a little extra work, you could relocate the chair backing plate closer to where you'd cover over the old in-deck livewell. That would give you clearance. There's no prob on a 45c Ser II with room fwd of the chair, at least the kind of inches we're talking about, anyway.

I wouldn't recommend removing my type of livewell completely, btw. It probably was engineered in as an integral cockpit sole reinforcement, seeing as how it goes all the way to the bottom; you'd at least prudently want to rig some kind of bracket supports, I'd think.

-- Paul

 

[Captned]

My buddies that fish a lot (the ones that don’t have built in bait wells) just set a plastic one in the cockpit on a mat (that rubbery stuff) to prevent it from sliding around. They take it out when not fishing and keeps the cockpit nice and clean looking. I do the same thing nowadays.

Captned
78 46 SF

 

[hattitude]

I've got a 46C, so I know the dimensions aren't the same as a 45C... however....

We use alot of bait for west coast fishing (anchovies & sardines). I removed the bait well at the foot of my chair and turned it into a fish hold (just fiberglassed over the hose areas and extended it to the bilge floor). I added an above deck bait tank (65 gallon) and mounted it in the cabinet to port of the salon door. Gonna go biggger soon (100 gal or so).

This works well during our tuna bites because you can re-bait your hook without interfering with people at the gunnels, and it's opposite my flybridge ladder so there are no issues there....

I used an OffShore Marine tank, http://www.offshoreproducts.com/ , but I am sure there are similar companies on both coasts.. FWIW

Bernie

 

[OldHatt45]

On my 45c (1973 vintage) the Pipe for the chair goes all the way to the Hull.
Bolted and dropped through 2 Cross members. So to relocate My chair would be more than a casual undertaking. Not saying I couldn't do it, but it would involve more then just a few bolts and some putty.

As far as the existing baitwell. Paul45c is Dead Bang Right On. The baitwell is part of the structure of the cockpit sole. So anything you do that affects it also affects the structural integrity of the cockpit sole.

Hatitude got a question for you. 65 Gallons. What are the dimensions of your baitwell? I do like your idea, and was thinking that way myself.

Has anyone ever used one of the "Under the Chair" baitwells? WOndering if that might be another "good" alternative???

OldHatt45

 

[hattitude]

Hatitude got a question for you. 65 Gallons. What are the dimensions of your baitwell? I do like your idea, and was thinking that way myself.


OldHatt45

I used the OffShore Products OS65-S. It measures 32" tall x 24" x 24". I bought it cause I could fit it into the port storage cabinet. I had to mount it on about a 10" base, because it was shorter than the cabinet. I would have repalced the whole cabinet with a bigger bait well, but I wanted to leave the cockpit controls which are built into that cabinet. For our purposes, the 65gal will carry enough bait for a one day trip, but I will eventually need to get more....

Bernie

 

[OldHatt45]

Hatitiude,

Thank You! That's exactly the info I was looking for.

OldHatt45

 

[Genesis]

The in-deck livewell is one of my less-favorite features on the 45. It works - don' t get me wrong - but it can be dangerous. Consider the "Fun" you have if you've got it open and someone gets careless on deck (or the boat takes some kind of big lurch off a wake, etc)

Anyway, we haven't had anyone get hurt, but the possibility is there. I considered glassing in something to the transom, but the amount of work and clearance issue if I add a chair stopped me from doing it.

If I didn't have the cockpit freezer I'd put it there - but I do, so there goes THAT idea as well. The cockpit bait/stores freezer, by the way, is well worth having - on long trips its a deep freeze, and for fishing it works great as a bait freezer....

 

[rtrafford]

i took out my integral well forward of the chair and actually converted that space to a deep freeze with a new, larger hatch in the sole. putting the well in the transom also stiffened the transom and allowed for better strength at the door opening, a spot suited for perpetuating cracks from vibration stress.

all in all a much better overall solution.

 

[solanderi]

Awesome pics from the tower !! Did putting the live well in the transom require you to move the transom door? I think it would in my case, a 1985 45C. I can't see the details in the pic you posted on the site. Thank you,

Greg

 

[Liquid Asset]

how about something like this?

http://www.nauticaldesigninc.com/Fight_Live_sm.htm

 

[rtrafford]

Awesome pics from the tower !! Did putting the live well in the transom require you to move the transom door? I think it would in my case, a 1985 45C. I can't see the details in the pic you posted on the site. Thank you,

Greg

no! size the box according to the space available. the wider the transom the wider the box. i brough mine to within 6 inches of the door and then curved it in and blended it. the curve/blend process allowed me to build solid glass "beams" to use as additional structure to the transom, stiffening it up considerably fromt he original format.

every old hat you see has cracking around that door. to make matters worse i rebuilt the door itself to include the coaming instead of the original "dual action" version. that made the door heavier adding more stress to the hinges.

 

[solanderi]

I know my limitations and this would be outside the acceptable range, especially in regards to time. Did you have professionals help or can you recommend anyone? P.S. Where do you dock your Hatt? Thank you,

Greg