New Flybridge Seats

The original flybridge seats were back to back with a lot of padding.

They folded flat for sunbathing or snoozing.  As soon as I used them, the vinyl cracked beyond repair.

I bought one set of new back to back seats to experiment with as replacements.

I'm not a big fan of cushy upholstery out in the open. The foam gets wet and even when you think it's dry it squishes water out when you sit on it. Also, there's no room to get your knees/feet under the wheel on the upper helm especially with the height of the foam seat.

I needed something that would allow more room at the upper helm, not get soggy and still provide a place to stretch out. Also, I found that when there's three or four people on the flybridge, they don't sit back to back, they sit facing in so they can see each other.

So I got some plywood, Sunbrella and 1/2" closed cell camping mats. I'd put the mat on the plywood and staple the Sunbrella over it. I had some blue fabric left over from a previous project so I experimented with the best way to do the corners - I tried a small round radius and a large round radius, but eventually found the best way was to just cut the corners at 45°.

Then I got some stainless hinges from http://marinepartdepot.com/stststhi5.html and I was in business, providing I could locate stainless or monel staples.

So here's what I ended up with:

 Not exceptionally pretty, but very functional and long enough to lie down on without needing to 'unfold' them. Eventually I'll rig the rear seats to be backs for the forward ones.

Also in the wings is a plan to make a smaller 'back' which can be placed at a tilt between the front and rear seats to be used as a back for either, and when removed can be placed on the outside of the seats to be used as a back when sitting facing in.

And for boney butt folks, there will be plenty of type III cushions available.