T-H Marine LCH-1-DP Large Boat Cup Holder, Black

Every boat needs somewhere to set a drink down. The T-H Marine LCH-1-DP gives you a large, no-nonsense cup holder that mounts right to the side of the boat, keeping a cold one or a coffee within easy reach of the helm, the cockpit, or a fishing station. It's one of those small pieces of gear you don't think about until you're juggling a sweating can with both hands already full of rod and net.

This is a side-mount holder. It's made to sit against the vertical surfaces of the boat, a gunwale liner, a console cheek, or a cabin bulkhead, anywhere you've got a flat panel and want a drink close by. Pick your spot, mark it, and fasten it down with marine-grade stainless hardware. Because it hangs off a vertical surface instead of dropping into a flat deck, you don't have to cut a large recess into good fiberglass just to add drink storage.

Here's the part that actually matters on an open boat. The LCH-1-DP accepts a 3/8 inch ID hose at the bottom for drainage. That means melted ice, rainwater, and the last inch of backwash in a can all drain down and out instead of sitting in the bottom of the holder growing something funky. Run a short length of 3/8 inch hose from the fitting to a scupper or straight over the side and the holder stays dry and clean between trips. Skip the hose and it'll still hold a drink just fine, you'll just be tipping it out by hand at the end of the day.

T-H Marine molds this holder from black UV-resistant polymer, and that's the right material for something that lives out in the sun all season. Cheap plastic holders chalk up, fade, and turn brittle after a summer or two of direct sunlight. The UV-stabilized polymer here is built to hold its color and its strength, so it still looks right a few seasons down the line. The black finish hides scuffs and blends in with most deck hardware and rigging.

The opening measures 3.77 inches across, so this is a genuinely large holder, not a dinky one. It takes big insulated tumblers, travel mugs, tall cans wrapped in a koozie, and the oversized water bottles that fall straight through the skinny holders the boat came with from the factory. If your crew runs big drinkware, that extra diameter is the whole reason to pick this one.

It's a natural fit on center consoles, bay boats, pontoons, aluminum fishing rigs, and runabouts, anywhere you want to add a drink spot without turning it into a weekend project. Anglers like putting one at each fishing station so a drink isn't rolling around the deck. Pontoon owners run a few of them along the rails. It works just as well on the edge of a bass boat deck as it does right next to the helm.

One holder covers one spot, so if you want a drink station on both sides of the cockpit or spread down a pontoon rail, order a few. They're inexpensive enough that most boaters add two or three at a time and never give it another thought. Because each one drains on its own, you're not tied to a single plumbing run either, so you can put them where the crew actually sits rather than where the hose happens to reach.

Installation is straightforward. Hold the holder where you want it, mark the holes, drill, and fasten it with stainless screws sized for your hull. If you're plumbing the drain, connect a 3/8 inch hose and route it to a scupper or overboard. Keep in mind the drain hose and the mounting fasteners aren't included, so add those to your order if you don't have them on hand. After that, a quick fresh-water rinse now and then is all it asks, and it'll shrug off salt, sun, and spilled drinks for years.