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I recently bought a 1988 Whaler 17' Super Sport that has a bench seat completely across the front of the helm that you have to step over to access the bow. Crazy arrangement I know and I'm think about opening the space between the twin consoles by removing the middle portion of the bench seat, glassing each open side up, putting a brace on the end of the sectioned pieces and making a two seater out of what is now a 3 seater thus opening the space so one can go from the helm bench seat to the bow without having to jump over the bench seat in front the helm.
Any thoughts??