While on board our pontoon boat I keep hearing a voice asking me, “Where are we going to put all this stuff?” Despite rumors to the contrary, I do listen to that voice and those subtle comments. To start with, even I admit that a cup holder isn’t the best place to put a cell phone when under way. Besides, it’s needed as, well, a cup holder.

I installed a charger with twin USB connectors on the face of the instrument panel a couple years ago so my wife and I can both charge our phones. That’s handy because we use Bluetooth for SXM tunes for the sound system (Yacht Rock Radio channel, of course).

There had to be a simple, low-cost solution to keep the phone from obstructing the cup holder’s purpose in life and keep the phone from flopping around the boat.

Our friends at ObeCo sent me some samples of their various storage solution products. They’re located in Elkhart, Ind., and have been providing products to the RV industry, and others, for decades. They sent a few boxes of samples so I’m starting slow and keeping things simple… for now.

As you’ve seen in some of my previous articles; I prefer to use my 18-foot, “vintage” pontoon boat as a test bed. That way, if I drill too many holes or any holes in the wrong place, there are fewer people making loud suggestions about my behavior.

One of their 4 1/2- by 9-inch plastic framed nets and four stainless steel screws makes for a handy phone pocket on the side of the boat’s helm station.

Although the net comes with the necessary screws to mount it, they weren’t long enough to go through the padded vinyl on the helm station and, I prefer using stainless hardware on the boat. That size of net will hold both our iPhones and I mounted it to match the vinyl trim color on the helm station. It’s not level, but it looks right.

Except for the captain’s chair, all other seating is bench style with the base of all that seating creating tons of storage areas and even a livewell. The seating bases are plastic, so when I mounted two 8- by 12-inch nets on the sides of the seat I needed to use stainless bolts, washers and nyloc nuts. The plastic and stainless construction is great for storing wet stuff too, such as our Springer’s wet tennis balls.

The ObeCo plastic framed nets are well made; they’re not just plastic with stretched netting. The framing is supported with a stainless steel “wire” for strength and durability, but that wire isn’t strong enough to overcome the elastic bungee cord that loops through the top of the netting. So when you drill or screw the net in place, you need to do some stretching of the top of the frame. That makes it look better and keeps that bungee cord taut.

Let’s not stop there though. The front of the helm station looked a bit naked, so seven stainless screws later we have another spot for securing more “stuff.” This helm station is all plywood so it’s easy to use the stainless screws to attach the 8- by16-inch net there. Putting the net on the front, above two of the sound system’s speakers, also hid part of the tear in the vinyl that I made when I installed the speakers last year.

So much for drilling and making holes today. I’ll be doing more of that soon because there are other great items in those boxes from ObeCo. But as the saying goes, that’s another story. The ObeCo items are available through online retailers such as www.recpro.com or www.organizedobie.com.