R21-EC seat issues... in case it helps someone else

[sheral]

Yet another issue with the seat on our new R21-EC. Just in case this happens to someone else, this post will hopefully save you several hours of work.

The metal post that fits into the bottom of the seat, was fit into a metal receiver that had three screws into the bottom of the seat. The round metal receiver was loose and two of the three bolts were loose and had enlarged the holes into the plywood seat bottom.

So today I took the seat out - wow, tons of room in the cabin without a seat! Ha! I read on one of the posts here that someone was considering not putting in a seat and now I see why. I told the wife about maybe leaving the seat out next season but that was nixed in about two seconds....

Anyway...

My plan was to put some threaded inserts into the back of the plywood and use some threaded bolts in place of the wood screws. So I removed the upholstery and found that there were in fact threaded inserts in the plywood seat bottom. The problem was that two of the three screws used, (all of them were wood screws!) were too short to reach the inserts. I am starting to think our boat was built on a Friday.

So I used some one inch s.s. threaded bolts into the threaded inserts, and all is good. Scratching my head here why someone would use wood screws -especially when two of the wood screws were too short to even touch the inserts- when you've gone to the trouble of sinking threaded inserts into the plywood backing... haha.

Tomorrow I will put the upholstery back on... and spend another four hours of my life that I will never get back 😉

 

[Pilotnavigator]

I ordered my 21EC without the seat installed, they did ship the parts in case I change my mind. I am 6'3" and have a long reach. I find that I stand when in close navigation situations and when entering or exiting anchorages and marinas. The rest of the time I sit on a cushion on the fridge. I can reach the wheel and give it an adjustment from time to time while on a cruise. We find that for two the room in the cabin is needed. Also access to the electrical locker is much easier. Everyone who drives my boat finds standing by the wheel easier with the seat out when maneuvering in tight situations. We spent five weeks on the boat this summer in the North channel, pictures in my album, spending all but 6 nights at anchor. We did not miss the seat. We covered almost 300 nautical miles and have 62 hours on the boat. Typically we are 7 to 10 days away from port at a time. We have three AGM house batteries to power the fridge. We can get 3 days before the batteries are at 50%. Then it is time to move on.

 

[Andrew Custis]

Thanks for that information. Please be sure and share that information directly with us and your dealer so we can indeed save the hassle of another potential issue in the field. Im quite sure you have my direct email as well as Dave Turner and Brad at Port Boathouse. One thing that would really help determine the time frame your boat was built would be to provide a hull identification number so we can see actual build dates and make sure we implement any changes right away. Look at it this way, every boat out there was "worked on" a Friday. You are not unique.

Thanks for the feedback.

Andrew Custis

 

[baz]

A wobbly seat is a no-no for sure. Glad you resolved it.

Yes, having the seat out makes access to the electrical locker much easier, that's for sure.

Did you remove the seat by disconnecting the two hinges from the side locker ? If so, on my R-21EC at least, they are bolted through so getting a wrench onto the backside nuts would be a bit of a struggle as I found out the other day when wanting to remove the seat for better access to the electrical locker.

Kenny Marrs gave me the tip on delivery day to try placing half my bum on the seat when it was folded down to allow more room in the pilot house. For short periods this was not a problem and quite comfortable. It also allows for me to stand when docking and any other cases where standing is required, just like the other poster here has stated.

BTW... I have the sliding helm seat which has a good 5.5" of back and forth positioning capability. I'm not a big person and am 5'-11" tall, but I needed the extra seat movement because I have the Raymarine AP SmartPilot SPX5-R unit installed that moves the wheel out some 3".

 

[sheral]

I just removed the screws that hold the seat to the hinges. Made removal of the seat quite easy.

I will have to figure out some type of 'bumper' to stop the seat, when in the folded down position, from rattling against the heater. I like folding it down for periods, but the rattling that is produced from the seat bracket against the face of the heater makes me tend to not do it much. I have some stainless steel brackets with rubber bumpers that I will maybe try to mount, or maybe simply a rubber bumper on the bottom of the seat somewhere will do the trick, as long as it doesn't touch the heater grate.

Our boat didn't come with the sliding seat. Wish I had known there was such an animal. I may look around at after market stuff to see what can be done to improve the 'seating arrangement.' I really like the bicycle seat idea, where you part stand, part sit. It provides good support and great stability. It would also be a smaller seat which would make getting around the cabin a lot easier.

 

[sheral]

I ordered my 21EC without the seat installed, they did ship the parts in case I change my mind. I am 6'3" and have a long reach. I find that I stand when in close navigation situations and when entering or exiting anchorages and marinas. The rest of the time I sit on a cushion on the fridge. I can reach the wheel and give it an adjustment from time to time while on a cruise. We find that for two the room in the cabin is needed. Also access to the electrical locker is much easier. Everyone who drives my boat finds standing by the wheel easier with the seat out when maneuvering in tight situations. We spent five weeks on the boat this summer in the North channel, pictures in my album, spending all but 6 nights at anchor. We did not miss the seat. We covered almost 300 nautical miles and have 62 hours on the boat. Typically we are 7 to 10 days away from port at a time. We have three AGM house batteries to power the fridge. We can get 3 days before the batteries are at 50%. Then it is time to move on.

Great idea to have taken ownership without the seat, that way you won't miss it. Sounds like you have it figured out nicely! 🙂

 

[sheral]

Today I made an aluminum bracket. I attached a white 'non-marring' rubber bumper to it and attached it to the bottom of the seat with two stainless bolts/threaded inserts. Now when the seat is down, the rubber bumper comes into contact with the cabin wall just before the seat post insert contacts the heater grate. On to the next project... 😉