For most of my guiding career I rowed 18’ Avon Spirits with slant board frames. We would pile coolers and rocket boxes on the front deck and then cover them with a myriad of dry bags containing everything from cast iron fry pans to black bags full of melons. In the rowers compartment we would hang water jugs and propane tanks. The rear was loaded with so many black bags I could not see over my shoulder. Everything was tied down with 1⁄2” hoopie and once loaded resembled the family truck heading out of the dust bowl in the Grapes of Wrath.
When I came to Clavey 15 years ago, I learned of a whole new way to rig a raft (blog coming soon) that kept the load low, out of the way and did not rely on a spool of webbing to tie it down. My favorite piece of the “Clavey Rig” is the Half Box, dry box. Instead of hanging items from my frame like fuzzy dice from a rear view mirror I now have a Drop Deck with two of these sweet, watertight dry boxes – one on either side of my legs. These are rigged to the deck from the handles on the ends so I have quick and easy access while on the river.
If you boat with kids you know how often you have to be handing out food and the Half Box is the perfect place to stash your on-river snacks. It makes for a really clean set-up and they’re are worth every penny. Oh yeah – they also make great liquor cabinets (did I mention easy access?).
Our stock size is 20” L x 8” W x 14” D, but we can modify to your measurements.
By Tom Meckfessel
