TC24 Convertible Dinette/Berth?

D

djy887

New member
Hmmm, poking around and learning about our boat...looks like I'm missing a few items to make the dinette into a 'convertible' berth. The table does swing up...a bit off fully vertical...but no latching mechanism to hold it in place. Both hinges are fixed so the table isn't removable. The bench seats are built to accept/support a berth insert...but if the table doesn't drop down to that spot, I'm not seeing a cushion/insert designed to fill that role. So some mods need to be made to make it a berth. It looks like a convertible dinette/berth is standard these days...was it just an option on the earlier models?

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?...ame=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php
 
It looks like your boat had the convertible dinette at one time. The wooden rails at the front of each seat (where your legs go) are to support the table when it is in the berth position. My table has those rails and also has a short column for supporting the middle of the table in the lowered position (my boat is newer than yours).

Perhaps a previous owner changed the attachments where the table attaches to the wall. My table has the removable hinges, but they can be quite squeaky when the boat is underway. I had to put rubber O-rings in the hinges to get rid of the noise. I never use the dinette in the berth position so I might have replaced the hinges with fixed ones if the O-ring thing didn't work.

There was originally an extra cushion which in combination with the cushions that make up the back rests for the dinette seats (which are moved to make a flat surface) you cover most of the flat area to make the berth. On my boat, all the cushions do not fill the area completely so the cushions shift and leave a gap when someone sleeps there. Some others have made a small extra cushion that fills in the empty space and makes this berth better.

One thing to note is that there is no edge to this berth and it is a bit narrow (IMO). In the event you get waked when sleeping on the dinette berth you could end up on the floor of the cabin.

My wife tried sleeping on the dinette berth once when we first got the boat. After experiencing all the things mentioned here (except ending up on the floor, although she thought that might happen) we never tried using the dinette berth again.
 
Can those hinge pins be easily removed--or a quick release? Then the table will fill the void--and cushions fromt the back of the seats should be able to fill that space. Our current boat has a second option. That is a bunk cushion and back cushion to leave the table down full time, and make Ito a settee.
 
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