REPLACING ORIGINAL HELM SEAT ?

Sea Wolf · Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 7:58 pm Post subject: REPLACING ORIGINAL HELM SEAT ?

The factory seat is fine and comfortable for short trips, but if one were to spend a lot of hours in it, like a trip up to Alaska and back, I'm thinkng (for me at least) it would begin to get a little hard and unaccomodating. I wonder how many people have replaced it with a more ergonomical model?

If so, what did you use?

Joe.

SEA3PO · Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:20 pm Post subject:

Hi Joe... Both Fishtales and I changed our seats....they are just plain uncomfortable... we ordered our seats through West Marine...they have a lower back brace that makes them very comfortable....I think they are Garelick brand...but not shown in the West Marine catalog...we special ordered them...they are really nice....Roger hard mounted his, I used a
Garelick Active Seat Suspension Unit on mine...supposed to absorb up to 75% of the shock.... it does help...kinda like sitting on springs...it also lifted the seat up about 2" so I can see over the bow much easier...

Joel
SEA3PO

B~C · Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:31 pm Post subject:

it aint for everyone but, as I mention in that other thread I yarded out the original seat, built a draw in that spot to elevate things a bit and threw a cushion on top of the whole mess. I then took a head rest from a car seat and had it covered with sunbrella material. I built a mount that the head rest posts slip into and use it as a backrest. The new backrest is adjusted so that it is over the galley counter so I can sit farther back from the helm.
Now that I'm sitting farther back and higher it's a bit better, but, I wasn't quite to the comfort zone yet. I swapped steering wheel, I now run a 13" wheel (don't know the pitch) and reworked that storage compartment below the helm making it much lower and wider, moved that front wall (the one that supports the seat and encloses the icebox) back about three inches and cut down the front edge of the seat mount board by about the same 3". I can now stand at the helm if need be (gots to have my head cocked though). I installed a grab handle as an extra foot rest.....
After all the rootin and tearin, it's comfy for me but I ended up with a seat cushion that is not overly big.
If you wnat me to modify yours for you let me know and I'll bring along the chainsaw if we ever make it to Shasta Smile

C-Hawk · Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:33 pm Post subject:

Hi Joe,

The seats that Joel and I have are Garelick. I hard mounted mine because the suspension system that Joel used raised the seat too high and close to the steering wheel.
Joel devised a way to tilt the steering wheel on his boat. This gave more room between the seat and the wheel.
The new seats are a lot more comfortable than the stock seats. Mine tilted back more than I liked, so I added some positioning screws at the hinge. This keeps the back a little straighter for my bad back.

ffheap · Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 11:03 pm Post subject:

Hi Folks,

I have the Classic Angler, and have been wanting to do something with the seat. I now put a boat cushion on the seat to get me higher up so I can see better. The seat I have folds flat which gives me counter space for my galley. What I would like to do is move the present seat higher, creating storage space for charts, or put it on a swivel. I will also have to raise the foot rest because, when I use the cushion, my feet hang, and do not touch the foot rest. I have thought of adding a hinged foot rest so that the feet are more comfortable. On long trips, I often stand up in the middle, and steer the boat with one hand.

I won't be solving this problem this year, but I love to hear how others are handling the situation.

Fred Heap

C-Hawk · Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 1:18 am Post subject:

Fred,

The back of the Garelick seat is curved. I installed a flat surface to be used as a counter when the seat is down.
It would be kind of hard to swivel the seat with the engine controls where they are on my 22' cruiser.

ffheap · Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 7:04 pm Post subject:

Thank you Roger. I shall look at it more. I did not know the seat folded down like mine, which is a cheap seat the came with the boat.

Thank You Again,

Fred

B~C · Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 8:44 pm Post subject:

I've had my boat up at Rochester at a custom boat shop for some seceret work. maybe a photto will appear Smile

oldgrowth · Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 9:35 pm Post subject:

Ken asked that I post this for him. We made some modification to his boat, then I followed him to the Columbia River and got this shot of him cruising by in the Blue~C.

Got to get a picture of him sitting up there.

B~C · Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 9:53 am Post subject:

YAY, that's what I'm talking about, some real comfort, soon to be a factory option...the Lazy Boy roof.
I just some some pic of my re-worked helm staion in the B~C album

thataway · Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 2:50 pm Post subject:

Some nice additions and thoughts! Have you thought about hinging the foreward part of the seat, so it will lift out of the way, and give more galley flat surface? Is the "head rest" enough back support to brace against in heavy seas?

Thanks,

B~C · Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 3:11 pm Post subject:

Thanks, all those changes are the result of just sitting in the boat and pondering (spousal unit just thinks I'm hiding though)
That seat cushion is just held on with two snaps. I can peel the cushion and back rest off there in a snap and have me a Deluxe, gourmet kitchen area. That back rest is hell fer stout, mind you, it's not much of a back rest but it offers some support, it does keep my surgically altered back happy.

Like I said, the stuff I did isn't for everybody but , maybe, it will spark some ideas that a person can improve on and modify to suit themselves Smile

jimandlaurie · Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 9:52 am Post subject:

The B-C Lazy-Folks Flying Bridge.. Almost as hot as the BarberChair.

C-Worthy · Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 6:58 pm Post subject: Seat replacement

I replaced the factory seat with a West Marine model.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/73234/10001/10951/37/18

It's really comfortable, and you sit higher to see over the bow. I had to pull out the icebox and drill some holes in the cabinet to accept the screws. Also the supplied screws weren't long enough and I had to hit the hardware store for some 3-inch long ones. All-in-all it was about an hour job.

The only odd thing is that when sitting for a long time, it gets a bit, well, how can I say it, humid. The old fabric seat breathed, but vinyl doesn't. This might be something to think about in a hotter climate. In Alaska, it's just a little different.

I also had to re-position the snap to hold the new seat down so it's flat like the old one did. It's nice to still have the room for cooking.

Good luck.