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Congrats on your new boat.
And I'll make it three votes for using it as is. I probably wouldn't have done it the way they did, but what the previous owners did do looks pretty functional and presentable to me. Moving the helm forward reduces the tendency for the stern to squat. And deleting one bench gives you more open floor space. Which is what you want in a small open boat anyway.
I'd use it exactly as is for a year and then see if I even wanted to return it to original configuration. You may well decide you like it the way it is. And you'll have experience in the boat before making any changes. A good sized cooler can make for additional seating wherever you want it.
If I did decide to refinish it, I would look into having it media blasted. Walnut shells, baking soda, even frozen carbon dioxide blasting is being done now at boatyards. Strip the hull completely of all equipment and hardware and a pro will have all that paint and old gel coat off in a couple hours! Verses a week of sanding. And no mess. No sanding gouges. No fairing to do.
Once blasted, it can go directly to your buddy because it's ready for new gel coat to be sprayed. You can then screw in that new wood kit and you have a like new boat in very short order. Using pros to do those two jobs you could have a new boat in literally a week!
And this is not an easy boat to sand. Lots of curves and broad flat areas and broad curved areas that are hard to get perfect and show defects easily. . And lots of little inside corners you can't get to with a machine. Not to mention the molded non skid pattern.
Don't ask me how I know!
None of your interior is original. And that was good advice to replace/reseal your drain tubes and rebed all those bolts and screws. Water seeping into the foam core is about the only bad thing that happens to these boats. That, and cracked original gel coat.
Originally, the factory put wood in strategic places under the inner liner to screw the wooden interior to. Rain water seeping into those screw holes can rot the wood and soak into the foam.
Where in Florida are you? I'm in Sebastian.

Dan