Arcadia 30 cockpit

[sidw]

I am thinking of buying an 1984 Arcadia 30, and have a few questions about the cockpit seating.

The seat behind the helm is very soft. The PO has reinforced the bottom with fiberglass, but it doesn't seem to help. Is there some core issue there, or could a board be glassed in on the bottom, or what?

The general cockpit seating seems to be problematical also, since the seats are are very low, and unless you perch up on the coming it is difficult to see over the coachroof. I also notice that the seats are sort of rounded rather than flat. Is this normal, or should I suspect some structural problem there as well, or do you normally just sit on the coming if you want to see out, or maybe use cushions?

Has anyone dealt with these issues?

[MartyB]

Are you referring to the removable rear seat, to get to the LP tank etc? If so, that seat does have a balsa core. It could be rotted. Assuming the top sitting area still looks good, you could cut an area on the bottom, remove the balsa, put in new marine ply, or build up layers of fiberglass cloth and resin of some sort.

I use a cushion motoring to help see over cabin. Sailing I'm usually on Lee side, or on the deck above the seat. This is very comfortable to sit. Tony Castro designed the side decks very nicely for sitting sailing. This is easier to sit when you have a tiller vs the tiny wheel that came with some.

Marty

[MartyB]

Assuming you have a place at home, tools etc, should take 4-8 hrs over a week. Initial 2-3 hrs citing, preping etc. Then an hr a day over 2-3 more days doing individual layers of glas or plywood, epoxy board reinforcing plus a finish coat of paint on the bottom. I would use a typical white bildge paint, as it's not visible.

[sidw]

There are a few cracks on the top of that seat, so it makes sense that the core is completely shot.  I think a board underneath would help.  Though it would still be low to sit behind the wheel.

I can see that you would not worry about that seat if you have a tiller.  Yeah, this boat has that tiny wheel, and sitting on the coaming is a bit of a reach.  The seats are so low that I had thought that they may have collapsed.  The seating is unfortunate, because otherwise it is a nice boat.

[MartyB]

You would need a cushion or equal to see over the cabin wheel.

The seat I believe as me too ed an easy repair in the scheme of things going after the rotted core from the bottom. Doing so would or should also seal the cracks from below. So no more leaking into that core area.

I'm not sure if a larger diam wheel could be added or not.

There is an equal FB page for this same site. Along with a somewhat active Arcadia site, the sundream 28 FB page is more active. The SD28 is the same basic boat, with a few tweaks, after an ownership change.

Marty

[sidw]

Thanks