Tube takes too much room in boat

[nightvision]

Hi all,<br />We have a 17.5 foot bow rider. We usually take along a tube for one child and a kneeboard for another. The boat seats 7, but we usually nust have about 5 people (two adults/three kids). The tube seems to get in the way, when we are kneeboarding because we put it either in the bow or behind the driver seat. How do you solve this problem? Do you put the tube on shore with some towels and hope no one steal it? Can you tie the tube to the cleats on the side of the boat and travel with planning speed? Can you put the tube on top of the bimmini top and tie it down good? I don't think the last two option will work, but the kids kind of threw that out and want to see what people say. We are new to boating so we would appreciate some suggestion.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

I usually se them SECURELY tied to the tow eye, but that eliminates the use of your back seats. Also, that's only when people are out riding around.<br />There is not true solution that I know of, short of getting a bigger boat, getting a cuddy cabin(great place to throw "stuff"), leaving the tube, or buying an air compressor, and blowing it up in the boat every time you want to use it.

 

[ramster]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

I hook my tube on the ski ring and tow it along, I even do this when I'm skiing, just lay the rope over the tube and it works fine. I have stern drive so my ring is about a 16 inches above the water line. If you have an outboard you may have to use a ski rope harness to get it back behind the motor.

 

[gewf631]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

I picked-up a 12V shop-vac (if you can call it that), that also operates as a blower - it's about the size of a 2 gallon bucket. I can have our tube inflated in less than 2 minutes.<br /><br />Never been a big fan of towing the empty tube. So, when we're going to be out for awhile, or if the boat is a long way from the launch, I'll pack both and inflate the tube if necessary. <br /><br />If you've got an I/O, I've seen tubes strapped over the motor cover/transom.

 

[Booner]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

I use a rechargeable air pump, blower made by Colman. Works real slick will inflate a tube in two or three minutes. They are not very big. You can get them at Wally World.

 

[sergioy]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

Get a portable inflator. I picked one up for $9 at wally world and it has worked great for two seasons. It plugs right into the lighter outlet. We inflate the tubes right before we use them and then just deflate them once we are done. I had purchased several differnt ones but found that the one that uses the lighter outlet is the best, as we dont worry about recharging it, getting batteries for it...<br />The one I have is the MVP brand and only takes a coupe of minutes to inflate a tube.

 

[cliffslocal]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

we used to tie it off on swim step and it worked well.

 

[RatFish]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

When I'm doing watersports in a particular area I usually... <br /><br />Option 1) Use the boat anchor to anchor the tube out of the way while we switch between activities. <br /><br />Option 2) Use a 12V Inflator/Deflator. You can inflate or deflate a tube in a couple of minutes<br /><br />Option 3) A combination of Option 1 and Option 2

 

[KCSteve]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

I use a Tube Handler and strap tube to sun pad ( can buy walmart) or deflate with 12 volt pump like others have said

 

[MrBill]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

KCSteve has the best option...tubehandler straps with suction cups that attach to gunwhale, top or sides works great. About $6-8 at Wally World, $20 at West Marine.

 

[WSUDERMAN]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

We strap ours to the bottom of the tower, just above the bimini. Only problem is right after a tube run & put away the people in the back seat get a bit of a shower on take off from the water left in the tube...

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

I used to have an inflatable in the shape of a jet ski. It was pretty good size and could easily sit two people. It was a real pain when it came time to move to a new location so I'd just leave it tethered to it's line.<br /><br />Well needless to say it didn't last too long out there at 30+ mph. After a few trips it just self destructed. I've stuck to smaller tubes since that time.

 

[Linc33]

Re: Tube takes too much room in boat

I took the advice of someone here to inflate/deflate the tube as needed. Installed a 12 volt plug in my boat for just that purpose. It works great! Really makes a difference when space is at a premium (Which it usually is on a boat).<br /><br />This is the one I use:<br />

<br /><br />Coleman Web page with Description <br /><br />-Linc33