Seatbox on 2006 cruiser 16

Z

zuunami

New member
Newbie - don't understand the design of the seatboxes on our 2006 16' cruiser - toward the bow is open, so if a lot of water goes toward the bow between the seats while fishing, or whatever, it will then enter under the box, and the little weep hole toward the aft is well above the bottom of the deck inside the box, so any water will just sit there. Is there any reason not to seal off the box completely toward the bow?

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Looks like your seat box is glassed to the floor? On our 16 they're riveted down, and water could run right out the back onto the floor if some got in the front space. Ours is an "02, maybe they changed things by "06?
 
Mine is an '04 and "had" rivets. Check out my photo album under "Balsa Core Issues" and see how I fixed that. Removal of the seat boxes and integral cockpit liners allowed for some extra storage (and a diesel heater in my case).
 
yes, the front and sides are glassed in, but not the end toward the bow. Thinking about a fix using a siliconed in garage door seal, or someone pm'd a fix with pipe insulation that was pretty handy. Right now, I want just a temp fix that I can take out later easily, since there is at least a foot of 3" tall space that could easily get very moldy in our weather, so I want to keep an eye on that before a permanent closure. But will definitely be closing up the weep holes toward the aft, they're pretty useless I think :) The whole thing seems pretty sloppily put together to me, the edges are rough, etc.. But we still love the boat :)

this photo is the starboard box from the bow

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btw, Marco, looked at your album, what a lot of work!!! We knew going in to look for balsa core intrusion issues, but not sure you can ever be sure. Looks like it all turned out alright for you, tho?
 
My seat boxes don't hold water as it can still leak out under the cockpit coaming. If I had your situation I would be tempted to leave the front open and drill a weep hole (after seeing where the water sits). Might need to be hand finished in order to ensure not penetrating the top fiberglass layer of the cockpit sole. Probably not that important to get every drop out. And if you did penetrate the cockpit sole to the point where you see balsa, some thickened epoxy would fix that.

Water can get in under my seats, but I have some Azek shelving that keeps canned goods out of any water. Other items are in Seal-a-Meal type packages. Of course, most people don't have 10 days of food aboard.

I actually have some use for the front of the seat boxes being open. I keep two canoe paddles on board (even when solo) and slide them up under the V berth. The handles then slip back under the front seat box opening to keep them under control in rough seas. Never had to use the paddles and they probably would be best used waving them in the air to signal for help.
 
We don't really want it open in the back, but that's why we're doing a semi temporary closure until we know for sure. We always have heavy condensation around here, so water builds up anywhere possiible :)
 
So did a try in of a dam for the front of the box seats out of a piece of vinyl garage door seal that has about a one inch flexible piece on the bottom that can be sealed to the deck, then I think we'll just keep the space between the top of that and the bottom of the seatbox top for airflow. And of course fit it in better and caulk around the side edges, etc.

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And then, I checked the inside of the boxes again, and there's about a 1/4 inch of water on both sides, toward the mid-aft corner of each, just drainage from all of our condensation here, but still. I put a small screwdriver under the box on each side, and it slides in over an inch toward the center, that's a lot of space for water to collect. Thinking about caulking that in, but the water will just back up further. Hmmmm :) am I being too picky?

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