Best Seat in the House

Cheri has always wanted a seat up on the bow pulpit where she could dangle her feet over the water as we sailed along.  I've been mulling over how best to go about this for a while now and have seen some pretty good ideas but never found anything that struck me as being the best way to go.  I've finally settled on my own design now and I'll explain a few of the features here.

This project started this past Spring when we found a teak companionway hatch board (also known as weather boards, splash boards, drop boards and batter boards) floating in the creek.  It was in pretty poor condition but we figured someone had probably lost it in the last big blow so we set it beside the parking lot up by the pool hoping it's rightful owner would find it.  After two weeks went by I got to thinking this was a pretty good chunk of teak just going to waste so I snagged it and brought it home.  The original plan was to sand it down and slice it up for another project.  Before I got started on that Cheri mentioned the bow seat again and the light finally went on in my head.  This board would be perfect for that!

I was thinking on the best way to attach the seat to the bow pulpit.  The pulpit is made out of 1" stainless steel tubing and supports the lifelines going down the sides of the boat.  I didn't want to be drilling any holes in the tubing for fear of weakening it so I was trying to come up with some other ideas.  I saw one that looked pretty slick where the seat is just notched out where it meets the uprights and this is all that holds it in place.  I showed it to Cheri and she liked it but felt it kept the seat too far back.  She wants to be as far forward as possible.

The idea I settled on was a clip that slips over the tubing and screws into the bottom of the seat.  I had it pictured in my mind but after searching on-line was unable to find what I wanted.  I finally came across some insulated pipe clamps from McMaster-Carr that would fit the bill perfectly.

When Cheri got back from her latest visit with her family in Florida I told her about my plans for the bow seat.  She was excited to hear it was finally in the works but felt that the teak board I had was too narrow for a comfortable seat.  I really didn't think her butt was that big!

The next time I visited West Marine I took a look at their raw teak lumber, trying to generate ideas for this and some other projects.  While I was rummaging through the teak I caught site of a stack of starboard.  There was a piece in there that looked perfect, roughly 36" x 14" x 3/4".  Starboard is a marine grade polymer that's environmentally stabilized.  I think that's supposed to mean that it's a wood substitute made out of plastic that'll hold up well in a marine environment.  It's also machinable just like wood so it can be drilled, cut and routered to give us a nicely finished bow seat that'll fit in well with the quality of the Island Packet.  That is, as long as I do a decent job.  The only drawback to starboard is that it's expensive.  This piece that I'm talking about using for the seat is about $65.  Still, that's not too bad considering that once it's put together there'll be little to no maintenance.  That alone makes it worth the extra bucks.

 

OK, so I'm starting out with a piece of Starboard 36" x 14" x 3/4".  I laid it on the lower rail of the bow pulpit and traced the location of the railing on the bottom of the Starboard.  I then measured out 1.5" from each side and drew a line to show me where to cut.  I used my handy dandy saber saw and cut the seat out with a nice radius at each corner.  I had wanted to bull-nose the upper and lower edges with a router but I had no access to one so I simply rounded it over with a hand file.  Perfect!  On each side I added 10" stainless steel hand rails to give it a little pizazz.  Underneath are four stainless steel clamps with rubber inserts to hold the seat to the railing.  I also added 1" x 1" stainless steel "L" supports underneath that run the full width of the seat, front and back, inset 2", to prevent the seat from bowing with weight on it.  Uhm, that would be for when I sit on it.  When I assembled it I put a blob of silicone sealer on the top and bottom where the studs for the handles penetrate the Starboard.  This is to keep salt water from getting in there and causing corrosion problems.

Once installed, the seat looked like it belonged there.  It doesn't interfere with the anchors and gives Cheri a great spot to enjoy the ride.  It's a cool feeling sitting at the bow while the boat is sailing along, your feet hanging just above the water while the sharks are nipping at your toes.  I don't know why these aren't standard equipment on every boat.