That gave us the idea to take a page from the J/27 and use the seat back to widen the port berth. The J/27 seat back fits snuggly next to the berth for sleeping and it turns out that the Santana has just enough room to fit the seat back between the berth and the companion way ladder.

We purchased four stainless steel rail bases, some stainless steel tubing and a latch and after carefully measuring everything three or four times we started cutting and drilling. Here are the instructions for those who would like to try it.

Seat Back Support

Modified Berth

Mount two of the rail bases on the seat back about 1/4 way in from the ends. Remove the set screws from these fittings. They will just slip over the supports.

Cut two pieces of tubing a few inches longer than you need. These will form the supports that fit into the seat back fittings and drop into holes in the flooring. Carefully position the seat back and mark the floor where the supports will go. Check the bilge to make sure you're not drilling into anything important and drill the holes for the supports.

Slip the other two rail bases on the supports and position the seat back on the supports. You can adjust the height with the bottom rail bases and tighten the set screws on these fittings when you have it the way you want.

Finally add a hook-and-eye latch in the center of the seat back to secure it to the berth. It's pretty simple and provides a double berth so you and Honey can sleep together.

Modifications like this always require working around the custom features of your boat so we add the Standard Boiler Makers' Notation, "Cut to suit, pound to fit."