forward facing dinette seat mod

D

DuckDogTitus

New member
I know a few of you have done this, but I can't remember who. Can you guys post pics or links to your album if you have? i've been talking to EQ about it a bit and the rough pricing sounds reasonable and like a good winter project. I'm not a woodworker myself so am thinking about having this done before next season... It would be nice to have my boat buddy be able to sit forward with me. :cigar
 
I know I have seen quite a few in the albums, but... do I remember which ones? NoOOoo. I guess because that's one project that is not on my list, at least for now. I do have one link, because I remembered this one, done by Anna Leigh:

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?...ame=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

I was thinking "Too bad we can't search the photo albums," but then if we could I would probably never get away from the computer (or I would have to add another 75 cool mods to my to-do list :D).

Speaking of search: If you have not already done so, you might find some posts/threads by searching "Barber chair," and those might lead to names you could find in the albums. Tyboo (whose last name must be Barber) is the one who first designed and built the reversing seat, hence the name. Then, I think Les from EQ got requests for them and suggested it to the builders, but they weren't then interested. So EQ did some for their customers who wanted them when they were rigging the boats. Then of course the builder started putting them in as options, and now I think they are standard.

Edited to add: Oh, I remembered another one, on Grace:

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?...ame=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php
 
Thank you for the links guys! I forgot about the Barber Chair term!

here's the first one I saw in person too:

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _album.php

Sunbeam,
we got out a lot this year and had a number of cruises in the 100mile range. after an hour or so of cruising you start to wonder why nobody wants to sit by you at the helm (do I smell?? :mrgreen: ) and then you realize nobody wants to sit with their back to the bow. For me, having that forward facing dinette seat is a plus in the social aspect, but I think it would also be more convenient for my wife and I both as she typically co-pilots and having her right next to me seeing the same stuff as we're cruising along could help with navigational stuff. Dodging logs, watching electronics, etc.

I took at least 6 other guests out with me this year (just them and I) that I can think of, and each of them took to the rear seat when under way.... human nature to want to face forward I guess. And even though I'm not so crafty with wood myself (and I'm timid to cut my boat), the prices I'm hearing for this mod are less than taking my wife on a good guided fishing trip, so it seems worth it :)
 
Oh, I could totally see how it would be worth it to do the Barber Chair mod. No question that it could be a great addition for some (most?) folks.

So far I like the simplicity/stowage on mine as-is, but that could change. And I've only had one friend aboard so far. He either sat facing forward with the big table ahead of him (looking at maps (heh, it was Powell), using tablet, reading, or whatever); or sat "side saddle" in the forward seat.

If I change my mind, I could see either doing the Barber chair mod, or perhaps instead opening up the port side of the V-berth bulkhead and then making the seat back reversible (so one would sit in the same place, but facing forward with one's feet on the edge of the V-berth flat). The Marinaut is a bit like that (albeit with a footwell), and it was nice to have the V-berth cushion right there for things like camera, guide books, etc.

I clearly need to spend some more time "testing," don't I? :D
 
Sunbeam":mfe8qeik said:
.

I clearly need to spend some more time "testing," don't I? :D
Click to expand...

we all do :)
when I first bought this boat I immediately wanted to make it "mine" with some customizing, but the boat fit the bill so well that I couldn't think of anything, so I essentially just used it as is all season. Almost 30 days on the water and all I could come up with this winter is the forward facing seat, and shorepower (for those fridays that I hope to telecommute from a marina, hehe).

Your point about browsing the maps on the dinette bring up a good idea too though, perhaps in addition to the forward facing seat a nice ram mount setup for tablets or a clipboard type function would be nice for the co-pilot.
 
are there any issues with the split table? such as rigidity when upright, etc? That's the only thing I could see maybe being a nuisance when going back to dinette position.
 
DuckDogTitus":23xq4n1r said:
are there any issues with the split table? such as rigidity when upright, etc? That's the only thing I could see maybe being a nuisance when going back to dinette position.
Click to expand...

No problem with ours....In fact now that you mention it, I don't ever remember thinking about the fact that it is split when it is in the dinette position. We keep a thin non slip pad on the table which makes the split invisible. (We don't keep the pad there to hide it, but to keep items resting on the table secure while cruising).
(Our modification was one of the first mods done by Les at EQ Marine.)
 
thats good feedback, thanks Dave. Ive been talking to Kathy at EQ for a few days about it, pretty sure we will have it done. pretty affordable mod and pretty nice too.
 
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