Converting Sport 15 to Center Console

[Deewazz]

Much as I love my 1978 15 Sport, at my age of 74, I'm finding my back (military disability) often cannot take the posture at the helm. (Raising the existing thwart seat is not near enough) It's an unmodified standard model, with the wraparound rail at the helm seat, and no front rails. I've owned 2 other 15's, and the one I really felt comfortable in was the 15 CC center console. I'm considering marketing the standard original mahogany interior and configuring my Whaler as a center console version. I have very limited finances, so I am wondering if anyone has tried (and accomplished) this type of conversion, and what advice on locating parts, etc. may be forthcoming. I'm definitely not a newbie - having owned 10 Whalers from 17 Montauk, to a small fleet of 13-footers, and have replaced entire mahogany interiors on several of them. I'm looking for some economical source info for a suitable console (either used OEM or suitable similar console). I don't plan to cut up the floor to run the controls and electronics; I've seen some good alternative solutions for that. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Oldslowandugly]

I was in the same situation. I hated the regular Whaler seating so I whipped this up. My 15 footer came as a bare hull. I located a small Todd console from a boat supply place in California for about $100. Even though it is small, all my stuff fit nicely. Plenty of room to go past it. The flip-back cooler seat came with the boat and they are available, but not cheap, around $500 new. That added much needed dry storage. I ran the cables and wires on the floor centerline and covered them with extruded aluminum door saddle. The little seat stand in front of the console holds the battery box and flare canister. The swivel seat is great for drift fishing and casting. I added all the railings for stability. My old military/postal abused body finds them indispensable. I made a flip-up mahogany bench to hide the twin gas tanks and provide seating at the stern. So you can see that with some ingenuity you can have any configuration you wish.

[Deewazz]

That's a really nice solution! If I can find a reasonably priced console, I would also run the controls and electrical down the center like you did. Todd does make some nice consoles. Is the darker assembly holding the steering, etc. part of the Todd console, or an addition?

[Oldslowandugly]

The black part is just a vinyl applique Todd used on the front. I think this model console was a discontinued version because all of the other ones I found were slightly different. Since I was going for smallness, this one was perfect. But being small made the wiring a challenge.

[El Rollo]

My Dad and I built a really cool one. Very small but extremely useful.
It doesn't have to be that big of a project . . . although we went excessive on a few things.
One of the nice features was to use hydraulic steering . . . routing the hoses was much easier and cleaner than had we used cable steering.

[BlueSmoke]

would love to hear your alternative solutions for running the rigging without a tunnel. The only thing I can think of to keep them hidden would be a front thwart seat and mount the rigging in a tube under the seat.

[Oldslowandugly]

I also was against opening the deck for a tunnel. Mostly it was because on every boat I looked at with one, it was full of grease and crud. Not exactly somewhere I wanted my control cables and wiring. So my idea was to run them down the middle and cover them with extruded aluminum door saddle. I find that I don't step on it much at all, and when I do, it is so low it is not obtrusive. I ran the loose wiring inside clear plastic hose and the remote control wiring cable inside PVC pipe. The battery, steering, and control cables I bundled together with tie wraps. I bought a long section of the door saddle and cut it in half so part went in front of the seat and part went in back. The two platforms the exposed wiring is running between is plywood I secured to the deck. I bolted the cooler seat to that rather than the bare deck. The console is similarly attached to a mahogany frame so that the attaching bolts don't go into the deck. All the wood is screwed to the deck with stainless screws and lots of sealer and then epoxied over. Here is a pic of the boat under construction showing where all the stuff ended up and how the saddle covered it all nicely.

[jimh]

OLD'--that is very nice work with the handling of the cables on the deck. I think that is a good solution and is preferable to trying to cut a long circular hole under the deck. That process was described in some detail 16-years ago in a thread from the OLD FORUM by Steve (BACKLASH), who had actually done the work. See

http://www.continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000135.html

[Fisher18]

I [added a center console] to [a Boston Whaler SPORT 15] a few years ago. I bought the console [from an on-line auction several years ago for] $150.

[Seems to misunderstand how to include images in a post. Please see the INTRODUCTION forum for advice on posting images in-line at viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5&p=8#p8]

[Oldslowandugly]

Thanks Jim. When I first began work I had always planned to run the cables above deck. As you can see here I laid out the wood supporting the console and seat so that the cables could pass down the middle. The seat already had a tunnel that was perfect. Finding a suitable cable covering was difficult. I chanced upon the extruded aluminum door saddle during another project and I felt it was perfect for my needs. Here is a very early pic showing the mahogany base for the console with an opening to route the cables rearward.

[dburton]

[A modification to a 13-foot Boston WHaler boat] was recently shown on the "Everything Boston Whaler" facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209596758168076&set=pcb.1097971873573434&type=3&theater

[jimh]

DBURTON: what aspect of the modified 13-footer seen on Jeff's facebook page is important to this discussion of modification of a SPORT 15? Please explain. Thanks.

[dburton]

The [modified Boston Whaler] 13 [boat that was seen on another website and does not appear in this thread] showed the cables coming out the bow side of the center console instead of coming out the stern side. The cables go under the forward thwart seat to the starboard gunwale and then back to stern. It is a much less of a trip hazard and looks much cleaner.

I have never liked the conversions to a center console where the cables run across the deck to the stern or to the starboard gunwale without being hidden.

[jimh]

DB--I don't agree with your assessment that the modification that is shown in the several images above in which a Boston Whaler 15-footer is modified to have a center console and the control cables run from the center console aft down the center of the cockpit and covered by a low riser must be avoided on the basis that it creates a TRIP HAZARD. That method creates are no more trip hazard than all the other gear already on the deck of a small boat like a Boston Whaler SPORT 15 or all the unusual angles and changes in elevation of the cockpit deck molded into it by Boston Whaler. I think an operator of a 15-foot Boston Whaler boat would soon adjust to the presence of that small riser that hides the cables, just like everyone adjusts to the presence of the fuel tank, the battery, the cooler, and all the other gear on the boat.

Also, to route the cables from the center console to the starboard side causes the cable to also cross the deck, where they are also a trip hazard--at least as much if not more than they would be in the center. In the case of the boat shown (elsewhere), the cables run under a thwart seat. Apparently the thwart seat is not considered a trip hazard. It is actually more likely to interfere with passage to the bow from the center console than the small riser would interfere with passage to the stern. Also, the purpose of a center console is to create a walk-around path from bow to stern. Most people do not walk across the boat behind the center console.

I find the suggested modification to run the cable on the deck in a very low profile rise to be a good one, and, in particular, I think it is a much better approach than trying to drill a long and large diameter hole through the foam under the deck to create a concealed rigging tunnel.

[dburton]

Perhaps "trip hazard" was too strong of a description. How about annoying?

[Oldslowandugly]

Not a trip hazard and not even annoying. See how the lip is rounded? No sharp edge to catch your foot. No matter which direction I sit on the cooler seat, it is between my feet. I can honestly say that after three seasons I don't even know it's there anymore.

[Jeff]

Running the rigging out the front of the console and under the a forward thwart seat has been my recommendation for many years. It is a lot cleaner than running the rigging through a tunnel on top of the deck.

John Quigley (CW member on the old site) happened to be cruising my dock this past weekend and he came over for me to get a better look at his 13' conversion. It was a helluva great set up, and he ran the rigging like I mentioned above. This is the cleanest way to do it in my book.

Here are photos I took of the boat...

14725624_10209596758288079_6553034812324270779_n.jpg (84.51 KiB) Viewed 17064 times

14702280_10209596758168076_3763758923649502818_n-2.jpg (74.44 KiB) Viewed 17064 times

14650057_10209596757768066_2759416966717508183_n.jpg (139.98 KiB) Viewed 17064 times

[jimh]

I agree that the 13-footer modified to a center console has been done extremely well. It is a great little center console boat.

If the gunwale-to-gunwale thwart seat is retained, it does make good place to hide the control cables. But that seat also impedes passage to the bow from the center console. If having passage blocked by the thwart seat is not objectionable, then it can be used to hide the cables.

[Oldslowandugly]

That 13 footer is super well done! I agree also. If you are keeping the thwart seat then that is a natural choice no doubt. I chose not to use anything that would impede my movement. As the OP said, we're too old for climbing over stuff. My way was chosen for freedom of movement and to let me keep traveling easily front to back while fighting a fish. In three seasons I have not tripped or banged my shins even one time.

[RICHM]

akn as Binkster

/http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/022776.html

The above is a thread with pics I posted two years ago on CW on the center console conversion I did to my '86 15 ft Whaler side console Striper.
I always believed that any mods made to your Whaler should look as if it came from the boat builder that way. If it looks homemade even if it works for you it devalues the boat.
(jim, I'm having trouble making that thread live, can you help.?

[Oldslowandugly]

Here is the link http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/022776.html I remember seeing that beautiful boat thread when I was researching for my own. I think the best comment was- it's too nice to put in the water- it belongs in a living room. admirable is the best description I can come up with. But I disagree on one thing- no Whaler ever came from the factory looking that clean and smooth! But to each his own. It would kill me to inflict Fluke puke and Bluefish gore on as nice a boat as that. At the end of the season my boats look like they went through competition on that TV show WIPEOUT!

[Deewazz]

Much Thanks for the great ideas for my Center Console plans. I'll post progress.

[phillnjack]

that boat looks more like a 15 ft than a 13ft. what year is this boat ?