More seating in the pilothouse?

[gerygarcia]

Has anyone modified their "older" 28TE to have a bench seat on the port side?

I know some of the newer 28s with the flushdeck and extended pilothouse have bench seating built in, but I'm not in the market for newer 28
I would like to modify our seating arrangement so four people can be protected from the elements underway. (My wife and I and two kids)

I have attached a diagram of what I am thinking of doing. (Port side) Removing the port helm seat would probably be a mandatory to get a whole "bench" arrangement.
I will be meeting with a custom fabricator this winter and hope to be done with this project before next spring.
Goal would be to make something that looks great, not so pricey, but most importantly be able to revert back to a two helm seat arrangement if necessary.
I would love to hear any suggestions of how you might think would be the best design/way of going about it.

If anyone has done this, I would love to hear how you did it and see pictures if possible.



Thanks in advance!

Gery

[gerygarcia]

Just wanted to ad a picture of our current port setup. The car seat has worked out great for one little one and my wife, but with another one coming, we need to do the "upgrade" for cruising longer distances.

[StonePony]

Take a look at the bench seat mod on this TE listed in Yachtworld.

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1996/Al ... ted-States

Looks cozy for 3 would, but would probably work. A swing down foot rest would be nice.

[gerygarcia]

Take a look at the bench seat mod on this TE listed in Yachtworld.

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1996/Al ... ted-States

Looks cozy for 3 would, but would probably work. A swing down foot rest would be nice.

Thanks for the links





Its a good reference to start with. I was thinking of going all the way across extending to the top of the map table and squaring off the sides with backrests. Might be able to seat three people easy if utilizing the whole area. I can see the advantages of a swing down foot rest. I will ask the fabricator about that as a possibility. I also like that it looks foldable to some extent.

[Russell]

I went out on a friend's boat with a sideways seat like that and it was the worst accommodations ever. Unless the sea is very calm you are thrown back and forth as the boat rolls. I had my feet on the deck but it was still so much effort to stay in the seat that I just stood behind the helmsman for most of the trip. The one in the picture looks unusable as you have no way to use your legs to stay in place and when you rock the other way you will hit the back of your head. I would think carefully about it before making big renovations.

[gerygarcia]

The design I'm thinking would have have a "U" shape.
I've seen a few boats that have side facing seating.
Might have to incorporate some kind of grab rails.

Thanks for the insight. I don't want to do anything drastic as I would like it to be a temporary setup if possible.
What's nice about the 28 is that it has a remarkably stable and soft ride (although a little on the wet side)

I'm going to do a little research on side facing seating on other boats and see if there are better designs to emulate.

[RobS]

I have to agree with Russell here, not only is it quite uncomfortable when the boat rocks side to side but when she's up on plane the bench seat folks all end up squished sliding aft. And we know our 28's down ride high in the bow.

Do what I do and lock the kids in the cabin with some form of entertainment (no permanent markers!) and enjoy the pilothouse for two!

[Hai]

I wanted more seating options, not that i would be needing them. Considering that most would prefer to be topside when underway. It did occur to me that the rocking motion and bow up ride might be a point of contention... but... a huge percentage of layouts on boats have got side facing seating. I mean, how wrong can that many boats be? So I went ahead. I'm quite happy with the additional seat space. Given the size of the boat, there really aren't much options. so it's the lesser of the evils.

Albin28TEBoatyCall110121 2245.JPG

Albin28TEBoatyCall110121 2238_1.JPG

Albin28TEBoatyCall110121 2300.JPG

And to go a tad off tangent, the inside... did away with the folding of the back rest. Now it's just a matter of jumping in and start rolling.

Albin28TEBoatyCall110121 2215.JPG

[joe.baar]

Hai,
The photos are really grrrreat. Your idea of doing away with the back rests is one I need to try. Also, what is that centerline cockpit light? Very nice.

[Hai]

actually, the backrest of the bench seat in the pilot house is removable as well. makes for a nice place to lie down with your feet dangling.

all lights on the boat, including navigation, anchor, transom, courtesy, cabin, spots and floods are all LEDs.... EXCEPT... the nice centerline cockpit light... it's a twin tube, plastic cased, flourescent light fixture. bright, but no mood. not particularly romantic.

[Yummy]

Thank god I found you here!
Can someone tell me the exact distance between the top of the 2 drawers' bin and the cockpit floor? Is this whole bin (the one with the 2 drawers) a structural unit? Can it be completely cut away so that the settee be lowered and the legs be comfortably on the deck? The hole could then become a new hatch for the quarter bed cabin (under the new settee)!! Wow.

[whwells]

It looks really great. So now that you have done it how does it ride?
whwellls "Howard"

[sweetwater]

As another idea, I am having snap in cushions made for the small chart table in front of the passenger seat, the kids sit there all the time anyway... might as well be comfy.

[electricsteel]

Hey new to the 28 TE
Not even in the brand yet but like the design but am looking for passenger seating options
I’ve looked at some of the pictures here and am not impressed
Agree sideways seating is not exactly comfortable at sea
So it’s gotta be L shaped somehow high enough to reach to chart table with backing but as not to cover port side window and high enough to sit back on for at least one person on the forward facing side
I’ve seen it done on a Carolina Classic 28,
Came out sweet
Don’t know if these boats both have same beam width but I don’t think Carolina is any bigger
So here the task is using 21st century technology build an add on L bench for these boats
Must be lightweight as not to add to much displacement to the port side
And comfortable cushioning preferably permanent fit and finish

[Sisu22]

Snap-in cushions on the chart table are by far the path of least resistance. I'm just not sure I would have room to do anything L-shaped in my '94 with engine box. We're really happy with the chart table cushions.