Hi all. After several seasons of small boat sailing, my wife and I [plan] to add a power boat to the fleet. Mostly this is a result of many happy trips through the Georgia tidal creeks on a friend's well-worn but admirable Whaler 13-foot classic. It lost the original woodwork years ago but they use drop in boards as thwart seats and we often have four good sized adults and two dogs on the run out to the sandbar.
We're looking for something a little bigger than a 13-footer, mainly because I'd like to run some of the larger lakes in our inland area, some rivers, and further out in the coastal bays than I'm comfortable in a 13. To this end I've been looking at the Montauk because they have a little more size and they're commonly available in my price range (around $10,000.)
Has anyone tried dropping in a couple boards for temporary seating on their Montauk? The center console design doesn't allow for easily seating, say, five adults, but I think it should be possible to temporarily add a bench seat directly in front of the console (assuming there's not a cooler seat there), and maybe one behind. Although fishing isn't a huge priority for me I could easily pull the boards out when we weren't cruising and keep the walk-around ease of the CC.
What do you guys think?
Montauk Thwart Seats
Re: Montauk Thwart Seats
The Boston Whaler 16/17-foot hull was set-up with thwart seats in the CURRITUCK model. See
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... #currituck
Boston Whaler usually made their thwart seats from 5/4-inch ("five quarter") planks of mahogany. Finding that type of wood today might be difficult and expensive. Note that on the 16/17-foot hull there is a support riser for the thwart seat.
Jack Granier (aka WhalerNut) in his CURRITUCK.
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... #currituck
Boston Whaler usually made their thwart seats from 5/4-inch ("five quarter") planks of mahogany. Finding that type of wood today might be difficult and expensive. Note that on the 16/17-foot hull there is a support riser for the thwart seat.
Jack Granier (aka WhalerNut) in his CURRITUCK.
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ultraclyde
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Re: Montauk Thwart Seats
I've seen the Currituck design and noted that the molded in support ridge seemed to be there in all the 16/17 hulls. Mostly I was interested in opinions on whether or not the spacing would work around the center console. I suspect the rear thwart would be approximately where Jack's cooler is in the rear of his Currituck, so it looks like it would be okay.
As for the lumber, I have a fairly local source of exotic lumber. I've used Sapele on the sailboat for some repairs and it works well. It's about the same density and durability as teak but MUCH less expensive. Honestly though, for limited occasional use I might just use dimensional cedar from the local big-box hardware store and run some reinforcements underneath. The boat will be trailer kept and covered, and the seats would be stored out of the boat most of the time anyway.
As for the lumber, I have a fairly local source of exotic lumber. I've used Sapele on the sailboat for some repairs and it works well. It's about the same density and durability as teak but MUCH less expensive. Honestly though, for limited occasional use I might just use dimensional cedar from the local big-box hardware store and run some reinforcements underneath. The boat will be trailer kept and covered, and the seats would be stored out of the boat most of the time anyway.