Mini Tower-28 T/E

[Mike Loper]

I commissioned Bluefin in November, 2005 an began fishing here in Southern California waters shortly thereafter. One of the shortcomings of the T/E for fishing was that I had to sit on top of the wheelhouse to see kelp paddies 1/2 mile away. It's vital to find them here as they hold many of the game fish we catch. In January of 2008 I designed and installed a mini-tower so we could sit comfortably and safely on top the wheelhouse for hours at a time. This tower has worked well for us, and may for you. A couple of details about the tower. It is made of polished stainless steel and has a seat bottom and back, as well as mounts for 2 deck lights and a new location for an anchor light. It was expensive, but when you consider the cost to go out 50 miles and poke holes in the ocean all day and not find any kelp paddies, I think it's paid for itself in game fish catchability. It cost about $5,000 in 2008 dollars. I have had the tower mounted on the wheelhouse for over 6 years and no problems have occurred with the wheelhouse structure to date. Because of this I thought you might want to consider this for your boat, or might be interested in seeing a photo or two of the completed project. I have additional photos and sketches available.

[Carl]

Nice! How do you get up and down? Center rigger off of that would be awesome. Love to see a couple more pics.

[Mike Loper]

Really, the easiest way I've found so far is to walk up to the front of the wheelhouse near the bow section, sit on the wheelhouse top next to the Radome, scoot over to the tower and climb in. I've tried to figure out how to install a couple of steps without getting in the way of the side decks, or marring the view straight ahead, but haven't come up with a good solution. For now, I plan on leaving it as it. It's worked well for 6+ years and I'm happy with it.

[slimjim]

Mike, I have the same one without the padded seat (mine is a bench seat) works very well and we love it. People love sitting up there when we are running or coming home. Ours was put on in So Cal as well. I wonder if it was the same company?

[Mike Loper]

It may be. I used Chingon Custom Metal Fabrication here in San Diego. We also enjoy using the tower when we're taking a group of friends on a harbor excursion. They love it, especially the young ones.

When we're out fishing, my son will usually sit up there with the remote autopilot. I swear he can spot a single strand of kelp nearly a mile away. To communicate with anyone that's in the tower, we have a waterproof hand held VHF that the tower inhabitant uses. We set both the ranges to low and find a channel that isn't being used and can communicate with each other very well. As you know, the wheelhouse can be quite noisy when under way, so I always seem to have the volume up high enough on the helm station VHF so I can at least tell if someone is trying to contact me.

[slimjim]

Mine I think was done in LA. It's a little different as it has the double rail. I think the person paid over $5k just for this add on as well. Its great and I have 6 rod holders welded on it as well. Very strong and never a problem with it. I like it. Attached is a picture of it.

[camone]

hello slimjim how does your radar work with the tower ? does it has any interference? i am trying to built one this year but i have the radar in the arch i want to know if i have to move it forward.
thanks