Arid supplies Everglades Boats. A conversation aboard the 395 puts that relationship in practical terms: what happens in the bilge while a boat is being used, and how does that affect the spaces around its equipment?
In the interview published with our 2025 story, David Brown speaks as Everglades’ Vice President of Product Development and Engineering. He describes Arid as standard equipment on the 395 at that time. Captain Sean Hickey, speaking as a regional manager and company captain, brings an extended-trip perspective to the discussion.
A captain’s account from an extended trip
Hickey recalls roughly 2,500 miles over three months and reports finding the bilge dry when the boat came out of the water. He connects the condition of that space with the generators, stabilization equipment and other systems carried below deck.
That is his account of a particular trip. For another owner, it suggests a useful habit: make the condition of accessible bilge spaces part of regular checks, including after a trip. Record where water returns, and have its source investigated instead of assuming the same result on every boat.
The 395 combines fishing equipment with cabin systems
Everglades’ current 395CC description shows why access matters. The builder lists a finished hull liner, oversized rigging troughs and a cabin-floor bilge hatch. Its equipment list also includes conventional bilge pumps and a high-water alarm.
Arid’s contribution is residual-water collection at connected pickup locations. The conventional pumps and alarm retain their jobs. Brown’s interview explains the fitment described then; confirm the equipment specification for a new build or a different model year with Everglades.
A separate Everglades installation in our archive
Our original archive photographs show another Everglades: a blue-hulled center console with four outboards, paired with its installed Series 2 cabinet. They are not presented as photographs of the 395 interview boat. Our original installation feature keeps those two views together.
Plan for coverage and future access
The cabinet photograph shows one part of the installation. Planning also needs to identify the separate areas where residual water collects and the route between those pickups and the unit. Bring photographs of the low points and access hatches to that discussion.
See how Arid collects residual water, then compare the service-access discussion in HCB’s Estrella interview and the attention to finished equipment spaces in our Bahama Boat Works story. The layouts differ; planning around the actual boat is the common starting point.
A shorter cut of the Everglades interview is also available.
See the water-routing animation
This silent animation shows pickups in separate low areas connected by tubing to a central Arid unit, with collected water moving through a discharge line.
The Everglades Boats interview
Alfred: Here to go and talk about the Arid Bilge System on the 395, and how the Arid Bilge System makes the Everglades a better boating dry experience. Here to talk about it with David.
David: Yeah, thanks for being here. You’re on the 395. I’m David Brown, the Vice President of Product Development and Engineering. We partnered with Arid Bilge Systems, and it is now a standard feature on this boat. It really helps keep all of the below deck bilges nice and bone dry.
David: It’s been a huge customer satisfaction item—especially for people who keep their boats in the water. Everglades has been building center consoles for years. We offer a full range of boats from our 245 up to our 455, packed full of technology and patented features. So, we’re really proud to be a partner here with Arid Bilge Systems.
Sean: Hi, I’m Captain Sean Hickey with Everglades Boats. I’m one of their regional managers as well as the captain of the company. At Everglades, our philosophy is using nothing but the best parts we can find on the marketplace.
Sean: The last trip I did was a long trip—over about 2,500 miles over the course of three months. We pulled the boat out of the water at the end of that, and there wasn’t a drop of water in the bilge. And that’s imperative these days with Helm Master systems down there—Seakeepers, generators, you name it.
Sean: The Arid Bilge System delivers as promised. It keeps your bilge dry and keeps your electronics safe.
Why builders choose Arid: explore the benefits for builders and owners, and read our boat-building story.
