Help Widgeon need new seats

[Ann M]

My late husband restored a 12 ft widgeon I have no idea on the year (full open boat) it needed new seats and he made them from hardwood (don't know what kind) we used the boat while the kids were little for 3 yrs before he died. I took it out with my son when he was a teen and in boy scouts and now my son is 23 and has taken the boat that has been sitting for close to 10 years. I am ashamed to say that I didn't wrap it and the seats are now cracked and the wood is not safe. I am trying to find info on replacement seats. Also info on the stern it appears that there is a piece of wood inside the outer fiberglass. I am not sure if that was there original or it was a fix my husband made.

Any info on seats would be amazing. My son plans to restore it and is going to refiberglass /epoxy it. Any other help for parts that could be needing change is welcome.

I also have a Javelin that he had purchased to also restore. It doesn't have a mast, rigging or sails. So if anyone has pointers or a direction to look for those I would appreciate it.

 

[sail sfbay]

Welcome to the forum!!

A photo / sketch of the seats you want to replace would be helpful. Might consider using King H-Pact or King Starboard HDPE Plastic Sheets - Cut-to-Size and Custom Fabricated (tapplastics.com) or if you want to build the seats out of wood refer to this link for glassing over wood: How to Fiberglass a plywood boat - Glen-L Boat Plans. Let the forum know what materials you used and how the project turned out with photos.

 

[Sunbird22358]

OK, the wood on inside of transom should be factory.
Here is the info on the seats, I won't promise that the dimensions are perfect since I made this sketch from memory, and I no longer have my Widgeon (I MIGHT be able to get the current owner to measure though?)

Written description page from my Manual:
O’DAY Widgeon seats (1963-70)
The original version of the WIDGEON had wooden seats along the sides of the cockpit; the boat was essentially open from bow to stern with two molded seats/flotation tanks located one in the bow and one in the stern. There was a seat molded as part of the deck that the mast was stepped though, this seat (AKA mast partner) was at about the same level as the shelf on the newer Widgeons that the mast steps through. The wooden side seats bridged the space between the aft flotation tank seat and this mast partner/seat. The wooden seats fit in recesses in the aft seat/flotation tank and were secured by a bolt with wing nut underneath the wooden seat that fit through a stainless-steel angle bracket attached to the forward surface of the stern seat/tank. The forward ends of the seats fit into slots in a fiberglass flange bonded to the underside of the mast partner/seat. The bolts that secured the seats were welded to stainless-steel bars (approximately 1/8” thick and about 5/8” x 12”) that were fastened to the undersides of the seats by wood-screws. To re-create those bars one could use brass or bronze instead (easier to work with) or maybe even aluminum. A stainless-steel stove bolt (round heads with a square section just below the head to prevent it from turning) could be substituted for the welded-in bolt?
The seats were solid Mahogany (Teak was optional some years) approximately ¾” to 1” thick (I unfortunately never measured mine!) and the seats were stained and varnished from the factory. The seats were shaped to a gentle curve that mostly followed the curve of the sides of the boat fore & aft, but became wider aft than the forward ends. The seats were stiffened by a vertical “cleat” that ran fore & aft under each seat, this was about 3” high at the middle of the seat span tapering as I recall to about 2” at the fore and aft ends. These cleats (or “joists”? Deck beams?) were more or less centered side to side under the seats and were straight fore and aft, rather than curving like the seats.