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| In many cases, beanies are the winner. |
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What type of add-on boat seats are best?
The most important part of your body may be your butt. On a boat it seems like each and every place you park it offers little comfort, as soon as you start hitting waves. What can you do about it? Plenty. Check out these seating options, which will bring pleasure to your posterior.
FOLDING DECK CHAIRS – Canvass folding chairs are the standard in add-on seating, and they are plenty comfy. Cushioned folders are even better. Unfortunately, they don’t come cheap. Cushioned chairs go for between $100 and $200, and canvass models cost $60 to $80. Both are also tough to stow, and require a large open stowage area. Stability is pretty good—make sure they have rubber crutch-tips—but in relatively small boats on rough days, they can tip over. Warning: watch your fingers when folding these up; pinches can be painful!
COOLER SEATS – These are a great way to add inexpensive seating on fishing boats. You almost certainly have a cooler on-deck anyway, so you might as well make the most of it. Plan on spending $40 or $50 to get an add-on cushion for an Igloo or a similar mass-produced cooler. Stability is excellent, but these don’t have any back support. And expect a limited lifetime. The straps that snap down on the cooler are cheap and flimsy, and usually only last a season or two before ripping out of the cushion.
JUMP SEATS – Add-on jump seats can be mounted in the cockpit of most fishboats, but these also lack back support and they’re expensive, at $150 to $200. Better versions have drop-in mounts you bolt onto the inwales, so the seat can either be removed or folded out of the way when you don’t need it. Since they’re firmly secured to the boat stability if 100-percent. Before buying a pair also consider the fact that you’ll have to drill holes in the boat, to mount them.
BEAN BAGS – In many ways these are the ultimate add-on seats, and marine versions which are waterproof are available. At $50 to $70 they’re relatively inexpensive, they offer complete comfort and back support (and absorb the shock of slamming waves far better then any hard-mounted seat,) and they are portable. In fact, bean bags have one lone drawback: after you get where you’re going you need a fairly large area to stow them in. Some savvy center console guys carry a set of bungees, and after the cruise is over they bungee the beanies on top of the T-top. For many fishboat anglers, myself included, these are the top pick.
If your butt is sick and tired of being beat up, try one of these options. None are perfect, but all will go a long way, in keeping your cheeks cheery.
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