[TomMaine]

Nice, hadn't considered modeling it. That could be quite useful. Might go with a CAD tool, though, as I'm probably better at pushing pixels than making cardboard models. More accurate too.

I did a redesign of my last boat a 28'er that included converting a settee into a small dinette. A friend asked for some help to do a similar project to his narrow 30'er.

You mentioned CAD which reminded me, I did an article for GOB on designing my friends dinette. I know you're not asking for a dinette, but the first step in any re-design, is to define the existing space. I'm a design builder(homes) and needed to get a cross section of the area my friend planned his settee.

This is how we did it using CAD;

First, I temporarily fixed in a center post. It gave me a perfect center line to take measurements from with various framing/building squares.

Then as you know, with CAD, it's easy to drag these measurements out, draw fair hull and cabin lines, and get an accurate cross section.

And that's what Jack needed to set his dinette at the proper seat/sole height, get the clearance for headroom etc. His boats beam is only 8' so it was a game of inches. CAD is the tool for stuff like this. Our daughters wore the cushions off Jacks dinette in the last decade.

 

[TomMaine]

:laugher

.... and I'd like a place to sit and eat a meal or plot a course.

Too many boats, especially 30' and under, don't have one, good, seat. Designed to sleep 4 to 6, the settees are often poor seating. Too low to feel comfortable, too wide to allow a back rest and no chance for any easy fix and few feel comfortable 'working' at the table.

I can recall more than one person telling me, "There's not one good seat on my boat".

 

[TomMaine]

Looking at your boats cabin plan and photos again, I think you'd like a dinette below. We coastal sailed for 13 years with a dinette for two on starboard, and settee to port, on a Cape Dory 28.

We didn't cross oceans, but we sailed that boat from Canada to the Bahamas, twice. As a couple, we lived on those two dinette seats. We ate there, navigated there, I used it as a work bench.

It was the perfect standing height for working from the sole, cooking etc, and best of all, sitting, comfortably.

I loved that it was permanent-no tear down/set up of a sketchy table that blocks foot traffic. Good dry storage below the cushions. Well fasten and with a high fiddle outboard, it was the main grab rail below.

In use, on a Port tack, it's was like a cradle seat, starboard, prop a pillow under you. But the truth is, we spent most of our 13 years at anchor, and few days on starboard tack.

Then we added two babies to that boat, and still used the dinette. It was the best part of that boats lay out below. You'll read and hear negatives to a dinette on a boat this small, but we had 13 years excellent use. We loved it.

As projects go, it's an easy one, believe it or not. If you do the design work(making sure you can do this structurally-I think you can), it's little more than cutting out the well area in the settee and close off the ends of the cuts. Then you'll likely build a raised 6-+" box for the two seats. These can then be extended inboard-if you have the centerline space. Then mount a raised sole(it can angle slightly). Finally, build and mount a table, done.

Make it as fancy or as spartan as you like.

Your head, I can't see for sure, but why not just install a better head-holding tank system, and put a door on it? It could be bi-fold, lot's of fixes there. You do need a door. Those are main bulkheads around it and probably can't be moved.

 

[TomMaine]

I found a grainy scan of that dinette. This is our son in one of those clamp on high chairs. He's 22 now.

This table could have been longer, but we added needed dry storage forward. The sole to seat top and then to table height are the most important. Then shoulder height to under deck. Other than that, you can see we didn't change much. You can just see the diagonal fixed brace under the table. That kept the foot area open.

If I had it to do over, I would have extended each raised seat 'box' 4 inches or so toward the centerline. We had plenty of space there and that would have improved it.

Each cushion, velcroed to plywood, lifted out for new needed storage. That was very handy for tools and spares.

Our head looks no bigger than yours. There was a door starboard that closed it and the vee berth off.