PartsVu Xchange editor, Tonia Becker, talks with Charles Bondy.
I had the good fortune to catch up with Charles Bondy, a member of the PartsVu community who lives in Cypress, Texas. Charles has a 24-foot Pathfinder—a center console bay boat with a Yamaha VF250 SHO outboard. His boat is seven years old, and he has done a great job making thoughtful customizations to make it his own. What really intrigued me is that his customizations were manageable—nothing wildly fancy or out of reach for everyday boaters.
For boaters looking to make a series of modifications to their boat, where would you recommend that they start?
Charles: This is probably obvious, but first, think about how you want to use your boat and the conditions you will be boating in. I live in southeast Texas, do a lot of fishing in saltwater lakes and back bays. I like to fish with my brother and friends, and I enjoy going out with the family and letting the kids play on the water. I also live about fifty miles from the water, so I frequently trailer my boat. All the modifications I have made over the years were with these factors in mind.
If you’re buying a new boat, think about the customizations you want the factory and/or dealer to make. These decisions are mainly going to be based on what the factory and/or dealer will do and affordability. If you have a used boat, or even with a new boat because there will always be things that the factory won’t do or are too expensive, prioritize your wish list.
Could you walk me through some of the projects you have done?
Charles: Sometimes, I make customizations because I want the boat to be just a little bit nicer. Other times, there are modifications for safety purposes or to make boating life a bit easier.
Navigation light - Not long after buying the boat, I was fishing with my brother before daybreak. He was ahead of me, it was completely dark, and said he couldn’t see me. My T-top navigation light was too short. I took care of that right away—just bought a little bit longer light that folds over so you can put it down when you’re trailering.
Keeper Strip, phone holder, drink holders, and SeaDek for the console - Boat Outfitters does a great job with custom-made parts and components and will manufacture to match your boat’s material and gelcoat. I’ve bought a Keeper Strip, phone holder, and drink holders for the console, but they can supply basically anything you need to replace or supplement parts of your boat.
T-top rod grommets—My boat has four vertical rod holders on each side of the console for a total of eight. My seven-foot trout or redfish rods wouldn’t fit under the T-top. So, they customized the canvas T-top with grommets for the rod tips at the dealership. I still get the shade from the T-top, but the grommets allow the rods to go through.
Drink holders – you can never have enough drink holders. However, I recommend that people be careful about what they are buying and buy a good alloy of stainless steel, like 316. A lot of cheap products are not stainless steel and will corrode quickly.
Rod holders – I added a couple of rod holders on the bow bulkhead since you can never have too many rod holders either.
Midship cleats – I added pop-up cleats midship (identical to factory installed cleats) midship to provide a tie-off for my drift sock.
SeaDek under gunnels – SeaDek under gunnel pads protect my rods and reels while I’m running the boat, and I also like the way they look.
Compass - We occasionally go out on the Gulf of Mexico. If I ever had a problem with my electronic navigation, there was no compass, so I added one.
You have also made some adjustments to your trailer, haven’t you?
Charles: Yes, I have a McClain aluminum trailer manufactured in Houston. They make fantastic trailers, but there were a couple of areas I felt needed improving.
Fenders—The aluminum fenders weren’t as sturdy as I wanted them to be. I wanted to step up on the fenders when the boat is sitting on the trailer without damaging them. So, I fabricated braces for each side out of quarter-inch aluminum bar and reinforced the fender mounts. Now, a 250-pound guy can jump up there without worrying about the fenders caving.
Stern tie-downs – The trailer frame was a bit too short to properly use tie-down straps on the stern eyes, so I purchased some aluminum channel and fabricated extensions to provide a sturdy location to hook the straps in place.
Bow tie-down – I added a simple device to add extra security while trailering. The turnbuckle provides a way to cinch down the bow while trailering which eliminates bouncing on rough roads.
Trailer bunks, trailer carpet, and bunk slicks—The carpet was getting a bit worn, so I replaced both the trailer bunks and the carpet. Also, because I was having a bit of trouble getting my boat off the trailer, I installed trailer bunk slicks. Bunk slicks are strips of ripped plastics, and I’m telling you, with them on, you had better not unhook your boat from the trailer winch until it is in the water. The boat slides right off, and the bunk slick also makes it much easier to pull the boat out of the water.
You boat mostly in saltwater. Have you had any concerns more specific to saltwater?
Charles: Because I do all my own routine maintenance, I've only had the boat back to the dealer once in seven years, and that was to change out the water pump proactively. I had enough hours on the water pump, and because I use my boat almost exclusively in saltwater, the rubber on the impellers stiffens with age. Impellers need to flex inside the housing and or they aren’t going to pump as much water as they should.
Corrosion is always something to watch out for, especially for saltwater boaters. I have a Power Pole shallow water anchor, and the bracket is powder-coated aluminum. It started getting a bunch of corrosion under the powder coating. When I looked more closely, I discovered that they didn’t use insulator washers under the bolts bolted through the transom when it was installed at the dealer.
The bolts are stainless steel, and the bracket is aluminum—those two metals are dissimilar, so you're going to get galvanic corrosion. They needed to use a nylon washer under the bolts' heads to insulate it from the aluminum bracket. Problem solved.
The guys at Power Pole are fantastic, and they sent me a whole new bracket, a new hardware kit, everything at no charge. They have helped me at no cost with other issues even though my Power Pole is more than seven years old. Recently, the fluid reservoir was leaking and they sent me a new reservoir, gasket and fluid, again at no charge.
Have you done any customizations given the kind of fishing you do?
Charles: Because I fish mostly in shallow water, I've never had my anchor in the water—it's never been wet. I love my Power Pole shallow water anchor and had it installed at the dealer when I ordered my boat.
We primarily fish for speckled trout and redfish, and as I said earlier, we're mostly fishing back bays and saltwater lakes. In addition to fishing from the boat, we wade fish a lot. We'll run the boat to where we're fishing and get out and walk.
Your boots can get a bit muddy when wade fishing, so when I ordered the boat, I had the dealer mount a custom fabricated anodized aluminum ladder on the stern. It makes it easy to get in and out. It also has a saltwater washdown pump (factory option). After you are done wading, you sit on the ladder, grab the hose and rinse the mud off.
Also, at the dealer, I had them install a Minn Kota 36-volt trolling motor with a quick-release mount. When I want to tow the kids on the water toys they love, I can pull off the trolling motor in about 30 seconds, so it’s not in anyone’s way.
I really enjoyed connecting with Charles and learning a bit about how he approaches boating and tailoring his boat to his needs. If you have boating, fishing, or boat maintenance experiences you would like to share with us, email me at tbecker@partsvu.com.
