Hello and welcome Dawgsled,
I'm rather new here too. My cooler is secured by hardware mid pt each end of cooler, half screwed into the cooler, other half on the swim step. Holes line up in each half for a pin and cotter (sp) pin holds it in place. Works well. Igloo sells the plastic corners and bungies for hold down ability. I have the corners permenantly on the swim step and the bungies hold the wood handles from flopping. It's easy if you're careful the bracket lines up well when installing. Nice looking boat BTW.