At the Seattle Boat Show, I met Gregg Casagrande of SeaSucker. He was demonstrating various boating accessories that mounted temporarily with a sort of fancy-looking suction cup; everything from cup holders to fishing rod holders to electronics mounts. I mentioned these products in my “final days” reminder. Today I’ll explain what impressed me.
We’ve all seen various suction-cup goodies over the years. If you’re like me, you regard suction cups as occasionally and temporarily useful, but not to be relied upon. Certainly not for anything fragile—wine glasses and electronics, for instance.
The SeaSucker products belong in a different category, though. Clear your mind, take a deep breath, and let the SeaSucker website explain why:
Make no mistake – these are vacuum cups, not suction cups. There’s a big difference between the two. The vast superiority of SeaSucker vacuum cups comes from their integrated pumps. Once mounted, these babies really hold – a 4.5″ SeaSucker can support more than 100 pounds; a 6″ SeaSucker can support more than 200 pounds. For even more holding power, multiple SeaSuckers can be attached to an aluminum track mount.
These are heavy-duty temporary mounts, and the integral pump really works, removing air from the gap between the diaphragm and the mounting surface. Once the unit sucks itself down against the mounting surface, it feels firm and solid. It doesn’t wobble, it won’t slide around, and you can pull as hard as you like without it showing any signs of movement.
I was sold, and I took a cup holder unit home to use aboard Two Lucky Fish. In my opinion, these are really effective mounts, and will be ideal in lots of applications. On my boat, for instance, I only need fishing-rod holders some of the time—the rest of the time, they’re in the way. I might want a portable VHF mount out in the cockpit, but I probably wouldn’t want it there all the time. I’ve already identified at least three places to mount my new cup holder—all spots where a firm, dependable cup holder is a genuine assett, and all spots where you wouldn’t want a cup holder mounted permanently.
Even with the variety of accessories available, the SeaSucker crew has only scratched the surface, in my opinion. I’ll bet customers will come up with lots of unique and specialize applications to meet their own individual needs. SeaSucker should consider adding a customer community feature to the website, allowing customers to share their inventions and solutions.
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I saw these at the boat show and was also impressed. Strong and versatile. I encouraged Gregg to connect with the buyers at Fisheries Supply. His product line belongs in their catalog.
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