A25 - some revolutionary thoughts?

[Sunsetrider]

So . . . after 6 years living with my 76er I have a complaint. (!) I want to spend more laid-back time on my boat - but how? the cockpit benches are not "laid back." The V-berth is anything but, compared to my adjustable recliner at home. I have not been able to "lounge around" in my dotage on Manatee as I would wish.
I need to mix things up! Ideas include:
- moving primary sleeping to the aft cabin, transversely? Then how to maximize the use of the former leg-room space?
- free up the V-berth and re-purpose that area? Note that the area beneath the V-berth- aside from the fresh water tank - is wasted space. You could dis-assemble the V-berth carpentry to open up that area for a proper lounging area?
- replace the helm seat with a swivel reclining pedestal helm chair to enhance the cockpit/pilothouse area?
I am looking for ideas that do not involve significant bucks, and do not require more than very basic carpentry skills ("skills" being an overstatement).
IOW - how to make my A25 into a make-believe MT34 with a tiny scrunchy head and no shower other that a top deck Kahuna sprayer. I have the necessities of solar, fridge, etc. and ipad nav.

Has anyone done or contemplated anything along these lines. Or am I nuts, brain addled due to corona-virus isolation?

[Sunsetrider]

I received a notification that Willie C had replied, but no replies are visible to me. Seems odd.

[Mainer]

Trade it for an A27?

[nebulatech]

Replacing the helm seating is an easy solution with minimal impact to the boat overall. There's plenty of swivel helm chairs out there, including reclining types. A soft, fancy new helm seat adds value and curb appeal.

It sounds like your basic desire is to create lounge-type seating. Forgive me if I misunderstand. Apart from not having much recline, one problem with the cockpit seats is they aren't very deep. You can lean against the rear cabin, but it's not all that comfortable. So I had a thought...

I'm thinking of a cross between Adirondack chairs and portable "stadium seats." Adirondack chairs are prized for their comfort. It's also easy to find outdoor cushions for them. Imagine if you had an two Adirondack chairs with no legs. Imagine placing them, one on either side of the cockpit, facing forward, with their backs up against the rear cabin. Perhaps the tops of the backs need to be trimmed to make them fit flush against the rear wall. Maybe they don't face exactly forward, but are angled inboard to make it easier to get in and out. Adirondack chairs are wider than the cockpit seating, so you would need to add some wooden legs to provide stability to the overhanging portion.

There are many DIY plans online for making Adirondacks using lumber easily obtainable at the local big box hardware store. You would likely want to modify the plans to fit the size constraints of the cockpit and access to the rear cabin, but this is highly doable with minimal carpentry tools and skills. A little honey colored stain and some polyurethane and it could look pretty decent.

Forgive my ignorance; what is a MT34?

[Bob Noodat]

There must be some cultural element here.... to me an Adirondack chair is an instrument of slow and crescent torture. You don't realise how uncomfortable you are for at least 20 minutes, and by then it's too late and your back is crippled for the day. But then you probably don't like steak and kidney pudding, so there's a certain symmetry in it.

[WillieC]

Sunsetrider, i posted, then deleted, some ideas that definitely were not budget minded, one of your stated requirements. I didn't want to derail your search for affordable modifications. I try to keep on topic and often fail miserably.

I will say, I like the idea of the bare palette. But one needs good skills, deep pockets and plenty of time and the result may not be much better than Brohall's.

I will also add, good for you for realizing the A25 is not one to trifle with. I know of at least 2 other regular posters on Trawler Forum and sometimes here at AOG who lament selling their A25s and moving to the Big Time. As in Big Time initial expense, moorage, maintenance, haulout, fuel, and quality of life fees. We are coming to the same conclusion with the WillieC. After my third, count 'em, THREE, teardown of the MD17C this winter, all due to my inexperience, inflated sense of skill and smarts, and inability to say uncle I may yet end up repowering. Just not yet. So what? We love das Boot and don't get out near enough and had to scrap our summer plans for Jervis and many delightful points in between. I need to put hours on this engine to see if she still has any dependability left in her. I have treated her badly and she should take the children and moved back in with her parents for the way I have treated her. But she's a bit old fashioned and chooses to overlook my character flaws knowing she gets it all when I kick off.

See? I get a bit off topic. Go for it, Steve. And loosen up the wallet. This may be your last boat!

[DesertAlbin736]

My Admiral has it figured out.

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These are lounger seat cushions with adjustable backs we picked up from West Marine some time ago. A Taylor Made (TM) version is available on Amazon for $85US

ReclinerCushion.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/Taylor-Made-Prod ... B000MUTEDM

These cushions can be used anywhere on the boat, on the main cabin settees, the cockpit bench seats, the aft cabin top, and the forward cabin top if you didn't have those solar panels. Sleeping in the aft cabin would be the last thing I'd do. Our PO did that, but too cramped for me & not really wide enough to lay cross ways. We've spent up to 46 consecutive days on the boat, plus using it as a camper for a week at a time while transporting over the road & doesn't bother us. Besides the pair of lounger seats we also keep some extra decorative pillows on board.

[DesertAlbin736]

I will also add, good for you for realizing the A25 is not one to trifle with. I know of at least 2 other regular posters on Trawler Forum and sometimes here at AOG who lament selling their A25s and moving to the Big Time. As in Big Time initial expense, moorage, maintenance, haulout, fuel, and quality of life fees. We are coming to the same conclusion with the WillieC.

We toyed with that idea too, going so far as to look at a number of '70s & '80s vintage 34 & 36 foot Taiwan built trawlers up in the Seattle area two years ago. And if we lived closer to where WillieC lives we might have went for it. But it's like having a summer cabin somewhere. When you're there you spend much of your time working on it. When you're not there you're kept up at night worrying about it. Not to mention all those expenses WillicC enumerated. It's very tempting, but in our case being tied to the 1,600 mile trip, whether driving or flying to get there was a bridge too far for us. At least with our A25 if we don't use it it's on a trailer 2 miles from our house & costs $50 a month to store. Otherwise we can take it anywhere we like, hopefully up to Gananoque next year!

But this baby, a well maintained Universal 36, coincidentally a boat that had been recently imported across the border from BC to Blaine, was SO tempting. But $53K was a bit more than we wanted to spend besides all the other costs.

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These kinds of accommodations would be "livin' large".

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[Sunsetrider]

MT=Marine Trader.
I'm enjoying and appreciating the colourful input. I get the sense that my comfort concerns are not mine alone. I want to be able to (when warranted) laze around all day or evening - and some of these ideas are well worth considering. In essence, a zero-gravity chair with some sort of place to raise the feet, if I could fit such a thing in the cockpit, or even in the fore cabin, would give me that respite. Desert Albin seems to have achieved that with those reclining seat cushions.

[WillieC]

I rigged my bench seat to spin around at the helm. Well, not while under way...
I also added a short board the width of the seat bottom that extends to the port side, giving me a full length spot to stretch out on in the pilot house. (I snag a pad from the vee-berth that fits it close enough.) It mildly impedes passage to the galley/vee berth where the Starfleet Commander reposes so I make sure she has a full pile of books and I have plenty of snacks. Cold beverages are always close at hand. If, for whatever reason, I am passed out on the chaise, she can duck under the set-up and escape the boat. I can take some pics if you'd like.

[Sunsetrider]

I also added a short board the width of the seat bottom that extends to the port side, giving me a full length spot to stretch out on in the pilot house. . . . I can take some pics if you'd like.

I'm having trouble picturing this. Pics would be good, when you can get around to it.

[Bob Noodat]

Any boat, like any other RV, is a compromise. You will never have it all. Be careful that in trying, you don't lose what you already have, and maybe what you bought the A25 for in the first place.

[nebulatech]

What Bob is secretly trying to suggest is that you sell your boat to him and buy a bigger one!

[Sunsetrider]

Luckily I do not possess the skills to do serious damage.

[ssrig]

We have some chair pads like DA showed to lean onto the aft cabin wall and that works well for us. When the weather is good we take our low rider backpack chairs and put them on the forward cabin top with non slip stuff so we don’t slide off. Those chairs recline almost flat and also work well.
Also our boat came with all the stuff to span the cockpit from port to starboard with 2”x6” to make a large platform where a helm chair was mounted in the middle. This set up was for fishing but the idea makes for a good size space one good lay a foam down or the recline chair. Obviously access to the aft cabin is not possible while deployed. The 2”x6” sat on a small wood ledge at the edge of the existing cockpit seats. I think this is similar to what willieC alluded to?