I have a Necky Chatham 18, I believe it’s a 2007 model. I was wondering, if there was any way to adjust the position of the seat forward? I feel the default seating position puts me too far aft. I wanted to know if anyone has successfully tried to do this.
Thanks in advance.
Grey rubber seat?
Does the 2007 use something else? My stock seat was held in place by velcro.
Yes.
It’s a gray rubber seat which looks like it’s held by velcro strips underneath and two plastic rivets connected to the left and right of the seat pan.
Lose the rivets…
… Mine came with a simple line to tether it to the frame. I could move it wherever I wanted it. Lose the rivets, add a string and your life will be sublime.
seat
I have the same Gray seat in my Chatham 17. Anyone had issues with the seat shriveling up? It looks like a dead star fish. WTF?
Heat can cause shrinkage!
I know, the opposite of what is believed. It’s injection molded foam like Crocs clogs. Put your croc in the oven, and…
Shape is good! BUT, the end result is heavier than need be, and shrinkage prone.
Good news: The alloy cradle system will accomodate any number of mods including a hand shaped minicell seat! 1/4 the weight and shaped by you for your ass. Try it.
Cool pics…
Thanks for sharing. I like how made good use of that space just forward of the footpegs.
Did you ever try moving the seat pan by moving the attachments on the coaming?
Seat Pan Position…
…That’s the metal thing? No I didn’t. It never crossed my mind. I guess that since my stock seat was never “attached” by anything other than velcro and string the pan position seemed irrelavant to me. I’ve had such good experiences building foam seats that I sort of look for an excuse to replace whatever came with the boat. It takes an afternoon, a six pack of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Felix Hernandez going 7 innings and performs so-o-o good. Sits so-o-o well.
I paddle a Tempest 170 now. I know that this is heresy to some but I replaced the stock seat with foam. Made it easy to move it where I wanted it and it anchors securely. The only thing I’m missing is such a convenient place to put my pee bottle. Maybe I’ll make another some day with a space for that bottle.
In preparation for a 4 week mile trip next month I did the same mod for securing drybags between the front bulkhead and my feet. Steve got the bulkhead placement correct on the Tempest so I don’t have as much room but I can still cram that 10 liter Dromedary with 8 liters in it and almost a week’s worth of food up there. It’s tight but do-able.
FWIW…Salty probably knows more about Chatham seats, seat pans, or anything else that has to do with those boats and I haven’t found him be wrong until now. I don’t know, maybe it living in the PNW where the water is cold year round but heat / shrinkage has never been a problem. It’s always been that damn cold water. ;o))
Jon
one mile in 4 weeks?!
Yeah…
…one mile in 4 weeks. That’s pretty good, right?
I really have to start reading before I hit send.
Nice
Nice work with the seat. My stock seat was fine until it shrank. I’m going to have to make one after seeing yours…
Salty - When adjusting the seat forward
on the CH18, would you recommend moving the seat pan by moving the screws on the coaming or just adjusting the seat placement through the velcro attachment?
Seat pad only
Unless there is an issue that would arise, which I can’t see. You certainly can move it though. That system was designed to be very flexible to core paddler adjustments / customization.
For the record, I dislike the shelf appeal heavy gray seat. But what this boy likes doesn’t sell to the masses.
Thanks.
for the help! I appreciate it.