Hi,
I bought my first boat a few weeks ago, partly as a placeholder to maintain a space on the dock when it goes back in the water this spring (long story). Anyhow, it's a 1988 Mirrocraft, 14ft and I paid very little for it. As I started reading about replacing the missing front bench, it occurred me that none of the benches have any flotation under them. The benches (pictured) are wood with outdoor carpet stapled to them and they are not held in by anything but gravity -- though they're quite heavy. Am I dealing with a major safety issue (probably) and if so, is there an off-the-shelf fix or something I can build with B/B- carpentry skills? I'll move to repairs and restorations if we need to confine all answers to safety, but please let me know if using this boat as it is would be a terrible idea.
I bought my first boat a few weeks ago, partly as a placeholder to maintain a space on the dock when it goes back in the water this spring (long story). Anyhow, it's a 1988 Mirrocraft, 14ft and I paid very little for it. As I started reading about replacing the missing front bench, it occurred me that none of the benches have any flotation under them. The benches (pictured) are wood with outdoor carpet stapled to them and they are not held in by anything but gravity -- though they're quite heavy. Am I dealing with a major safety issue (probably) and if so, is there an off-the-shelf fix or something I can build with B/B- carpentry skills? I'll move to repairs and restorations if we need to confine all answers to safety, but please let me know if using this boat as it is would be a terrible idea.