The Rack

The Rack, version 1

Design concepts for “The Rack”:

• The Rack would have rails to keep things from sliding off the shelves, and also allow for tie-down straps
• It would be positioned above the existing seat in front of the console
• We wanted to continue using the vertical rod holders on the sides of the console, which meant keeping the rack fairly narrow
• It would have multiple horizontal shelves, so that we could access gear bags without having to constantly un-stack things
• Smart vertical spacing between the shelves would still allow us to access the storage under the console seat
• The Rack had to be removable, because it would block the tilt console on the Edgewater 175CC

To keep weight down, we decided not to try to make it splash-proof or water-tight. That meant we had to shift our tackle and gear into splash-resistant tackle bags.

Initial Design:

• Based on the dimensions of our tackle bags, we came up with vertical shelf spacing of around 14″. This would give us enough room for two shelves without exceeding the height of the console
• The seat on the front of the console dictated the front-to-back depth of The Rack.
• The distance between the vertical rod holders on the console set the maximum width
• To make it easy to build and repair, we would make things straight with right-angle corners. No fancy curves or bends.

We decided to use PVC pipe for the first build because it’s inexpensive, readily available, pretty strong, and easy to work with. We figured that if we needed a stronger version later, we could use the PVC version as a prototype for a stainless steel or aluminum model.