Replacing Seats on a Sanderling  Bill Dolan a.k.a Catboat Willy  I have replaced the seats in several Sanderlings over the years. I am sure you have heard that many of the early  Sanderlings (pre-1964) were kit boats and that they were usually shipped without seats. Some of the earlier boats had  freestanding seats in their cockpits and folks would bring in a folding lawn chairs. A far cry from what is being shipped  today. Let's talk about your seats; they are made of fiberglass covered plywood and the plywood delaminates over the years. Just  getting the old seats out will be a chore as they are fiber-glassed to the side of the hull. It is not a difficult operation. Just a  Milwaukee Sawzall, a Stanley Wonder Bar, heavier than normal claw hammer (20 oz.) and a heavy dose of patience. Allow  yourself several days for this operation as it is not easy. Not complicated but just trying on the nerves. Good leather gloves  and a facemask with eye protection are a must. First, save as much of the finish woodwork as you can, but chances are  that it is old and should be replaced. Save the upright spindles (or seat legs) teak edging strips and anything else you can  find. Start by taking some measurements since your existing seats will be totally destroyed in this process. Have the new ones  ready before removing the old ones. The real truth is that the legs don't do much. Once the legs are removed, cut out as  much as the seat as possible with your Sawzall just to reduce volume. Then, start cutting the seat from the center of the  cockpit outward toward the side of the hull. Do this in 1" strips being careful not to damage the coaming with the saw  blade. The forward edge of the seat is attached to the bulkhead with two - 3" bronze screws. Try and save these if you can.  Inspect the bulkhead for rot and water damage as it is these two bronze screws that are the culprit in most of the  bulkhead rot. Water is admitted around them and the subsequent leak, causes rot destroys the bulkhead. The rear and  sides of the seat are fiber-glassed to the hull with three-inch strips of fiberglass mat. This will be the most difficult to  remove and you will find the ‘Wonder-Bar’ tool to be an asset here as you must separate the old fiber glass strips away  from the inner side of the hull. As people get on and off your boat, you will notice that their foot and subsequent weight always seems to land on the seat  about 12-14” behind the point where the forward portion of the seat meets the bulkhead. This constant wear causes the  seat to flex and eventually breaks the watertight bond between the seat and the bulkhead. For this reason, I recommend  that a support be placed on the seat bottom between the edge of the seat and the hull. A piece of ¾-inch waterproof  plywood does nicely backed with a kick plate epoxied to the cockpit sole. A kick plate of 1 ½” inch oak stock does nicely  here. Be sure you calk (with a quality caulk) the top area seam between the new seat and the bulkhead as this will prevent  water from entering from above. Please see photo below. A note here: If you place the ‘upright support’ back far enough  from the bulkhead, the space nicely accommodates a commercially available Igloo ‘Picnic Model’ Cooler’ (Got mine at CVS) This simple addition will provide support for the seat where people step most frequently and assure that you will not have  to repeat this process. With regard to new seats, I would suggest obtaining them directly from Marshall Marine along with the proper screws and  teak finish pieces. Buy the complete set of needed parts so there is no delay when installing your new seats. When  installing them, insure that there is adequate clearance underneath to accommodate whatever type of storage bin you are  using. I’m using plastic mike crates and the seats are exactly 12” inches off the floor with the milk crates being 11 ½ high. You had mentioned making your new seats out of exotic hardwoods. While these would look outstanding, they may be very  difficult top keep from a maintenance standpoint. An alternative method would be to obtain the seats from the  manufacturer and the place a veneer over the top factory seat with epoxy. 86