25 Seafari Project

[Blue_Heron]

Hey, all. I thought I would start my restoration thread and kick around some ideas.

First, I'm removing the add-ins that were installed at the helm and on the foward port side of the cockpit during the last restore. (Look at the pics I posted in the Photos forum and you'll know what I'm talking about) Then I'm going to take some measurements and figure out how I want to build it back.

There is a modification I'm thinking of that I want to run by the forum in general and the Seafari 25 owners in particular. I'm not sure I like the aft portion of the cockpit sides in relation to the gunwales. The rodholders are presently outboard of the cockpit sides and it looks like it will be a pain to grab a rod out of a rod holder or to crank the handle while the rod is in the holder. Also, the sloped cockpit side doesn't look particularly inviting if you're stepping off a dock onto the boat. As it's set up now, it looks like this:



What I have in mind is cutting down the cockpit sides to a flat gunwale that runs roughly level back to the transom. This would be more like the transition to a flat gunwale behind the windshield in the Sceptre/Tsunami. I've doctored up the side and top view drawings from the specs section and this is roughly what I have in mind:



I'm interested in opinions, especially about possible unintended consequences. I've never had this boat in the water and I don't want to do something that's going to create a bigger problem than I'm solving.

Dave