Hello all,
After mounting the barber hauler clamps and hooks that hogman provided the idea for, I stood there looking back and forth at the empty space in the seat well and the new skipper seat I bought from BCF on Thursday (on special $55)
http://www.bcf.com.au/online-store/products/Blueline-Tinnie-Pro-Seat-Grey-White-Padded.aspx?pid=168250&menuFrom=571482#RecommendationsI wanted to mount the seat so it was easy to install and remove and without any permanent hardware attachment. Putting it simply, Trial and error with drilling holes etc was not an option. Then I remembered the bungee chord I got from work. Looking at the fittings in the cockpit I soon realised I could make a triangle out of the bungee chord.
Had to pull it nice and tight.
Then I thought, what if I use the bungee to pull tight around some bolts attached to the seat?
In that configuration, I was able to put the seat on the bungee so that the forward bolts pulled on the forward part of the bungee, then I pulled the seat back and pulled the remaining two sides of the triangle of bungee forward around the back two bolts, forming a coat hangar shape under the seat. And hey presto, a suspension skipper seat. Just gave it a wiggle to centralise it and good to go.
Feeling brave I climbed into the seat. It settled into a nice comfortable position and sat solidly without sliding around as I tested its limitations. It slid forward as much as I let it to get comfortable, and no more. Then I took weight off the seat and it sprung up back to its original position allowing easy access to the hatch in front of the seat.
I then thought about redundancy, what happens if I snap the bungee when I'm out in it? Simple, I will make a second bungee to stow in my hatch with the other back up parts such as the rudder pin and aka shear bolts. What about a capsize, surely the seat will come off, I thought. Nope, I lifted the seat vertically as hard as I could and nothing. No separation. Excellent.
Also when in transit the bungee will be removed from the rear hook, preventing it from stretching too much.
So, tomorrow the prototype will go into production with the following improvements:
Bushes over the bolts to prevent abrasion of the bungee
Structural adhesive for the bolts to keep them stuck permanently
Heat shrink the joint on the bungee chord for added security and neatness
Make a back up bungee for the stow kit
If you'd like to try it all you'll need is:
A seat with holes in the plastic base for four bolts in a square pattern (standard 7" probably)
Bolts to fit the holes
Bungee, zip ties and heat shrink to make a few suspension bungees
Structural adhesive
Note: I haven't tested this on the water yet, but will report as soon as I have. I anticipate it will go smoothly and be exactly as good as it is with the boat on the trailer.
It is a really nice way to mount a skipper seat to your AI without any holes, and is a breeze to install/disassemble at the water (quicker than the normal seat
)
Heres a link to the Youtube vid for anyone interested. Couldn't embed...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO0E5O_KzRU Try it if you're stuck for ideas like I was. You wont be disappointed.
Dan