SS,

Of course I don't mind you asking, the more people know about my injury, the more they can feel comfortable talking to me and not feeling sorry for me. I feel very blessed to have the life I do. Don't get me wrong, I'd give up about anything not to be confined to this chair, but I try to make the most of it and that is why I bought my boat. I am a C4-C5 quadriplegic. Basically, that means I have no use of my lower extremities and limited use of my arms. I have been riding in my boat for 3 years and I think I'm ready to make an adjustment one way or another that will allow me to throttle, drive, or maybe both.

MPally,

I did use Advanced Canvas for my most recent upholstery and they did a fantastic job. I just wasn't sure if they'd want to tackle a project like this or if it was even doable. Also, I was hoping someone had already tried this and could give me some good insight as to what direction to go. I think I just need someone to say "OK, here's what we're going to do..........!!!"

I appreciate all the help and comments and hope to keep this conversation going.

Fountain525sc,
I was asking because I was wondering how much mobility you had. Based on what you said, I'd stay away from a cat unless you have some big $ to buy/maintain a large cat. If so, go for it... the large ones are roomy in the cockpit. I don't think you'll find the smaller cats much fun to get in and out of w/o a crane... and I'm not joking about that. Even having full mobility, I have a hard time getting in/out of most cats.

So how much use do you have with your arms? Limited to the point were you'd require arm rests with some upper arm restraints, or can you support your arms enough to control the boat in offshore conditions w/o support?

I'm just trying to figure out what needs to be done for you to accomplish your goals.

I only wish I had the money for a 32, 36, or 40 cat, but I'm most all of us do. Interesting about the smaller cats, I never knew they were that cramped.

As far as my mobility in my arms, I have full control of everything but my hands. I can use my arms to do a lot of things, but I just cannot grasp things with my hands. I'd say I'd do fine in most conditions if I were in tight enough.

Thanks so much for your help!!!!!!!

There has to be someone on this site that can help you out. Personally I don't think it would be a big problem to design a seat to fit your needs. I would try places near your home so they could get measuments and custom build the seat to your size. Come on OSO members lets help him out here!!!!

I would agree impulsive, it shouldn't be too difficult. I just worry about having a good line of sight with the fairing on and how deep the bolsters currently sit.

I think you would have to figure out where your line of sight would have to safely be. Then find a seat that your comfortable with and build a base into the floor to achieve the required height. Attach the seat to the base and then re-rig the controls into the seat so you could reach them comfortably.

My uncle suffers from paralysis after a stroke so I understand how difficult it can be some times to make changes in order to do the things you love.

Okay, here's what I had in mind...see picture below (picture taken of another members boat and I hope he doesn't mind me posting this ).

These seats are used mostly for auto racing, but they can be used for marine use. I have the same seats in my Porsche street car. Despite how they may look, they are actually very comfortable. What's nice about them is that they have the slots in them for a four or five point racing harness. The seats are sold w/o bracket so you could have someone fab the base/seat brackets for you. They even sell adjustable (slider rails) bases for them (although probably not corrosion resistant). Racing harnesses could be at attached to the seat bases. The down side is the seats have very little padding under them, but remember... they are very suportive around your entire torso. The seats are made by many companies and typicaly run $250-$700 per seat. Cloth, vinyle, leather / fiberglass, kevlar, Carbon Fiber... whatever you want. Although you don't ever see anything like this in a Fountain, I think they would look bad azz and be very functional for not only you, but for anyone else that wanted to use the boat.

And I HOPE you'd do BOTH front seats.

What do you think?

That sounds like a great plan, now I just need the pro's to give me the direction to go.

I'm sorry to hear about your uncle. It is tough, but you can't let it beat you!

SS,

Those look very interesting and I would definitely do both front bolsters. I am sure I could add padding to make it work. My only other concern is mounting them b/c of the way the current bolsters are molded into the sides. How high do yolu think we'd have to be for good line of sight and would it ruin the view for the people in backk?

Here are a couple of places that look promising

http://www.ppi-fl.com/begin.html

http://www.offshoreperf.com/