Has anyone here succesfully removed the middle bench on an aluminium boat? I've read alot about it here http://pagebiz.com/bds/aluminum/repair.html
These guys seem to be split on the idea. Thier two main concerns are that it'll weaken the sides and that you'll remove the floatation contained within the bench. My center bench cotains my livewell so there's not alot of floatation there anyway. Floatation is there only for when the boat gets swamped and I could probably replace it in other areas of the boat.

The other reason is that it'll weaken the sides. Has anyone here done this and turned thier boat into a noodle? I have my casting deck up front which would have to be modified as it is supported by the bench right now. Whatever I use to support the new deck would also aid in strengthening the sides. Sound like a plan?

This is the model I have
http://www.lowe.com/fishboats/jon-boats/L1448.html

This my boat all decked out. What I want to do is remove that bench and make the deck a little smaller so I can have more room for a big cooler. I also want to make it so the deck is completely open underneath. I don't like having to lift up hatches to get my stuff.
http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/883.jpg