[Public-List] Cockpit bench seat covers

Mike Lehman sail_505 at hotmail.com
Thu Feb 28 06:37:35 PST 2013


I have done this job several times on my boat and on several other boats 
too. I start by digging out all of the old plywood. For those that wanted 
wood, I used solid teak that I cut and shaped to fill the place for the 
inlay...it’s expensive but looks great when done. I leave the teak proud by 
1/4” so there is a lifetime of refinishing left. I also overlap the edge of 
the opening so water cannot get under the inlay.

On my boat (I’ve owned my boat for 36 years) my first repair (plan 1) was to 
remove a portion of the plywood with a router then epoxy teak strips and 
that lasted for about 10 years, but eventually water got under and lifted 
the teak.

Plan 2 – remove all of the plywood and epoxy COOSA board which is a high 
density foam board material and then top it off with fake teak/holly made 
from rubber. Looked good at first but after a year was hard to keep clean 
and water started to get under the rubber and lifted it. Plus it started to 
look like crap.

Plan 3 – remove the rubber and glass over the seat so that it is level and 
there is no wood. Because of the foam board the seats are not nearly as 
heavy as the original. Finish the glass, paint the entire seat, the mask out 
and paint a non-skid finish using Kiwi-grip. It looks great, the lockers are 
dry, the hatches are lighter, they are not slippery when wet, they are 
stronger, and there is no maintenance.

I figured out why the seat hatches were always a problem, but the main and 
lazarette hatches are not...it is because we stand on them which put point 
loads on the seats and breaks the seal around the wood.

I wish I had done plan 3 in the beginning, but was trying to hold on to the 
classic look. As it turns out, there is plenty of wood on the boat to keep 
it looking classic.



~~~_/)_/)~~ Mike Lehman ~~_/)~~~


-----Original Message----- 
From: j_l_brown
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 7:59 PM
To: wayfarer3134 at yahoo.com ; public-list at lists.alberg30.org
Subject: Re: [Public-List] Cockpit bench seat covers

I have the same type of seat(fiberglass hatches with inlay) but a pre liner 
boat(1967).
On mine the inlay is very thin, I got a sheet of thin teak plywood, same as 
what came out, vanished both sides and edges, I'll bed it and seal the edges 
with 4000uv(not 5200).
I figure it lasted well enough, and looks good.

Sent from Samsung Mobile

-------- Original message --------
From: Bill Wallace <wayfarer3134 at yahoo.com>
Date:
To: Mike Lehman <sail_505 at hotmail.com>,alberg 30 
<public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
Subject: Re: [Public-List] Cockpit bench seat covers

Hull 626, and yes, I'm talking about the cockpit locker seats.  I wasn't 
going to replace the fibreglass part, just the inlaid plywood.  I've already 
removed it (mostly with a couple of chisels) and repainted the fibreglass 
(with the white 2 part water based LPU).  I could also fill with 1 layer of 
plywood or foam and then cover with fibreglass - that would make it fairly 
resistant to water, and I don't often see the cover anyways since I usually 
leave the seats in place as the cockpit has a permanent cover.  The rain 
still gets in when it blows, so it isn't totally dry.

Bill.


________________________________
From: Mike Lehman <sail_505 at hotmail.com>
To: Bill Wallace <wayfarer3134 at yahoo.com>; Alberg 30 Public List -- open to 
all <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 9:50:10 AM
Subject: Re: [Public-List] Cockpit bench seat covers

Bill

What hull number do you have and are you talking about the cockpit locker 
seats?



~~~_/)_/)~~ Mike Lehman ~~_/)~~~


-----Original Message----- From: Bill Wallace
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 9:34 AM
To: alberg 30
Subject: [Public-List] Cockpit bench seat covers

Has anyone replaced their bench seat wood - on my Alberg 30, they are 
plywood but with the seat cushions, they have delaminated rather badly.  I'd 
like to replace them with something which I can still sit on but will either 
dry out or won't delaminate but will still look nice if the cushions aren't 
down.  I was thinking of two options: adding 3/4" wide by 1/8" thick slats 
spaced at 1/4" (eg 1 slat per inch), probably mahogany unless I can find a 
bit of teak around here.  This would be on top of a new plywood cover which 
is laminated to thickness, but not cut to size yet.  Covered with cetol 
marine.  I figure with only 1/4" between slats it will still be ok to sit on 
but will dry.  I would only put the slats on the opening cover area, not the 
entire seat area.  I figure I can sit on the wood at that spacing in 
reasonable comfort.

Other option is to just replace the plywood, cover with cetol and make seats 
with a mesh bottom and the foam that allows water to run through.  I've 
never tried that foam, but it is supposed to work fairly well - the issue is 
that it still needs somewhere to go.

Anyone fixed this issue on their boat with success?

Bill.
Alberg 30 "Chewan"
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