Argie 15 Seat Fronts

The seat fronts have now been fitted to the framing in our Argie 15. This is a fairly simple stage of the build, the groundwork having been done in constructing the framing and pre-bending the seat front panels, described in my previous posts. Builder Kevin Agee says that pre-bending the panels helped a lot in making this stage easy.

The side seat fronts are set vertically. Start by using a carpenter's square to draw a line on each seat riser, perpendicular to the top edge and at the position where the side seat front will intersect. Use those lines as a guide while fitting the side seat fronts.

Dry-fit each seat front to check for correct shape of the ends. You may have to trim a bit to allow it to fit in the vertical position rather than sloping in or out a few degrees. This can vary for each boat, depending on how accurately the transverse risers were installed.You also may have to trim the bottom edge to fit neatly against the hull. The neater, the fit the easier it will be to get a nice overall finish on your boat.

I have noticed that many builders don't install the side seats in the bow, possibly to give more space in the forward cockpit area. I have chosen to have the side seats full length of the boat for multiple reasons. 1) It makes the boat more suitable for rough water use by reducing the volume of water that can land in the forward cockpit to weigh it down if we take a big wave over the bow. 2) It will float the boat higher if capsized, so it will hold less water when brought back upright, less water to bail out and the boat will be safer immediately after being righted. 3) Spray that comes over the bow and lands on the leeward side seat will run aft along the leeward side of the seat to where I will have drain holes to take it out through the sides of the boat. 4) There are comfortable seats in the bow for when the boat is used for fishing or when children are aboard.

Side seat front being glued in place.  The bottom edge has been trimmed to give a neat fit against the hull and minor trimming was done to fit the ends to the transverse seat risers. 

Joints of seat front against hull and transverse seat risers bonded with epoxy fillets. The top edge is a bit high and will be planed flush after the glue has all cured.

All seat risers glued in place.

Same stage, bow view.

Our Argie 15 is now developing into a really neat dinghy. I look forward to getting it onto the water.

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