Storage Idea for Old School 206 & 216 Nautiques

[Skidave]

My storage is tight and the kids are getting bigger with more gear. I'll take any small amount I can get.

While doing my steering cable, I recognized some availability between ballast tanks.

It took one hour and one trip to Walmart. See pics. I did some minor reinforcement on the access panel bottom to keep the structure intact. I didn't take a picture of the underside.

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[Chris Parsons]

Really great idea! Good job

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[Skidave]

Thanks. It's not much, but enough to hold gloves, water shoes and other small stuff.

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[MN Ryan]

Creative. I like it.

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[SilentSeven]

That's neat. Is that a 216? I have a 206 with the 200 lb 'trick tank' and it's a single tank with no split. Wouldn't work on my setup. :/

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[Skidave]

It is a 206. I have dual tanks with the space in the middle.

I guess if you have to service your steering cable, that trick tank has to come out.

[SilentSeven]

Interesting. Looking at the picture, you may have the larger trunk tank. On our boat, the trunk is about half consumed with the aft tank. From what I see in your pictures, looks like your trunk is almost completely filled. I seem to recall there was also a 400lb tank option? Maybe that's the difference?

[Skidave]

I have almost no trunk space because the 2 tanks take up all the height. We keep a few extra towels, some rash guards and a pair of gloves.

When I close the doors, I have a few inches of storage.

I'm very envious of the newer boats and their storage!

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[SilentSeven]

I think i have about 12 inches of vertical space. I can fit in some ropes, gloves and vests.

How much do you use your tank? I've seen other threads where people have replaced the hard tank with a sack to regain space. I think that's a pretty good idea if you're not using it much.... We use ours a bit...but mostly ski primarily run empty. I've toyed with the idea of swapping to a sack....

[Skidave]

We use the tanks here and there. I ride a Sky Ski and speed is more of a factor than weight / wake. I realize to move up to a very big wake, I need more sacks on the side, etc. Space is already tight and I hate having sacks on the floor next to the engine. No way I'm taking tanks out to fab stuff for sacks. It just isn't worth the work for a few more pounds of weight in an already confined space. Therefore, we live with what we have.

We have friends that have a nice surf setup and we surf with them.

Back when I had my '79, I used to keep three 5-gallon buckets in the boat. If it was just my wife and I would fill them and use them to balance not having an observer. It was so easy to fill and empty. I hate sacks, pumps, hoses, etc.

[SilentSeven]

If I was going to remove the tank and replace, it would be for the following reason a) don't use it very much b) want more trunk space c) OK with a sack in the trunk for the times I do want it. My approach would be to pull the tank, re-line the trunk to look factory and then place a sack in the bottom. For when I needed the weight, I'd loose the storage but would have it most of the time.

Plan looks good on paper...but I've never been motivated enough to pull the trigger.