Well I finally got around to building the dinette bench storage compartment. It worked out great! The Admiral finds the seat height to be much better for her solitaire card game, and it makes a great place to keep a lot of junk that used to lay around by the helm console.
I know I'm not the first to do this but no one has sent me pictures of their project to post. My is not been finished but it is functional, and I can sand and varnish in the off season. The nice feature on this bench is the double hinge that lets the seat move aft to clear the backrest before swinging up. A freind was able to locate and get the hinges from Silverton. The use the same hinge on his flybridge seats on his 35 silverton.
I used cherry lumber to match the rest of the boat. After it is varnished, it should look fine. The 3" riser puts the you in a more comfortable position relative to the table and back rest.
Here you can see the double hinge working as the seat moves up and away from the back rest.
Now with the hinge fully extended, the back rest is cleared for the seat to be lifted to gain access to the chart and small tool storage.
And there you have it! More great storage for your 400. Oh, and there is the charging base I was looking for last week. Too many hiding places on this boat!