Comfiest V-Berth?

Not sure what forum would be best for this question?

Regardless, any leads on boats with the comfiest v-berths? A lot of the boats on the smaller end of the scale (or sedans) that I'm coming across have v-berths instead of doubles/queens. What boats would you think had the comfiest for living aboard? What things should one look out for?

cool beans said:

Not sure what forum would be best for this question?

Regardless, any leads on boats with the comfiest v-berths? A lot of the boats on the smaller end of the scale (or sedans) that I'm coming across have v-berths instead of doubles/queens. What boats would you think had the comfiest for living aboard? What things should one look out for?

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I have had 3 boats with roomy comfortable V berths. You can also have a custom made mattress for them. I had these folks make a custom shaped mattress for my island queen. It is more comfortable than my bed at home.

Custom Mattress, Boat Mattress, Yacht Mattress, RV Mattress, Short Queen Mattress, Trailer Mattress, Marine Mattress, Round Mattress, Foam Mattress, Latex Mattress - Comfort Custom Mattresses & Marine Bedding Inc.

I did the individual pocketed coil springs similar to Beauty Rest.

Custom is great our dock neighbors bought a great one from this place

HMC Designer Boatbeds Additional Pop-Up-Buckles

the hinge is real help

this is his boat (sistership) Nordhaven

so if we are talking best or most comfortable we can talk even better then his

mine is very basic but nice but my boat is worth 1/10th of his

his matress folds about 18 inches from the head

vee beths can be just as comfy...the question is of convenience for getting in and out and ease of making it up like a real bed.


My 37 Silverton Convertible had a huge comfy, vee berth. I lived aboard for over 2 years and loved it. A PIA to make up...but comfy and easy to get in and out of.


I would say the same for my Albin...but the queen in the master is where the captains quarters are.

V Berth's suck, Aft Cabins are the best!

V berths access is great. They are like twin beds. When we used the V Berths, we put on fitted sheets and slept under down comforters. Fold the comforter, and the bed was made. I have slept as well on V berths as a queen.

It depends on the size of the boat. Don's V berth looks very comfortable as twins. Many V berths are small with no center access and require one to climb over the 'head' of the bed to enter. Not my idea of comfort.

I'd prefer an island bed in the forward stateroom that allows access to each side of the bed and no need to climb over the pillows or the other person to gain entry.

My boat has neither. I have twin bunks on the fwd stateroom and tight double bed in the midship stateroom that requires a climb-over maneuver to enter/exit. I have been told that our next boat (if there ever is one) will have an island bed. Aye, aye, Admiral!!

Nice! I've always loved the woodwork on a Sabre. I think the mattress is more important than the shape. I have owned boats with v berths and now own a boat with an island queen. I always slept well in either one.

Investing in custom fitted sheets makes for a more pleasant night. I hate waking up in the middle of the night with the sheets pulled off of the mattress.

The forward cabin of our GB36 with its vee-berth arrangement and its own head has been very well remarked on by all our guests who have used it, some for two weeks straight. The boat was built with a queen berth in the aft cabin and it's terrific, particularly with the memory foam pad my wife installed on top of the mattress.

But we've had guests who said their nights in the vee-berths were the best night's sleep the've had. In fact, each berth in the forward cabin is longer than the queen berth in the aft cabin. I've not measured them but I figure they are at least seven and a half feet long if not a full eight feet.

FlyWright said:

It depends on the size of the boat. Don's V berth looks very comfortable as twins. Many V berths are small with no center access and require one to climb over the 'head' of the bed to enter. Not my idea of comfort.

I'd prefer an island bed in the forward stateroom that allows access to each side of the bed and no need to climb over the pillows or the other person to gain entry.

My boat has neither. I have twin bunks on the fwd stateroom and tight double bed in the midship stateroom that requires a climb-over maneuver to enter/exit. I have been told that our next boat (if there ever is one) will have an island bed. Aye, aye, Admiral!!

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Al, that V berth was in my trawler. The island queen is in the bow of the Sabre. It's up two steps. Lot's of pressure being up on that bed.

You must have felt like you were on a stage. I can see why you sold the boat.

Moonstruck said:

I have had 3 boats with roomy comfortable V berths. You can also have a custom made mattress for them. I had these folks make a custom shaped mattress for my island queen. It is more comfortable than my bed at home.

Custom Mattress, Boat Mattress, Yacht Mattress, RV Mattress, Short Queen Mattress, Trailer Mattress, Marine Mattress, Round Mattress, Foam Mattress, Latex Mattress - Comfort Custom Mattresses & Marine Bedding Inc.

I did the individual pocketed coil springs similar to Beauty Rest.

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We bought one custom mattress for our home from selectabed.com, a similar company to the one you mention. We immediately wanted all our mattresses from them and that's all we have now, home or boat. They aren't as expensive as I thought they would be. Probably every area of the country has someone who makes custom mattresses.

Single bunks in a V berth work fine , as you can get in & out with ease,

When a double is attempted pushed in the bow , to get in or out one must climb over the pillows.

Much ungood!

So here's an added question about V berth comfort: what about bow wave slap noise?


In our current boat, a Silverton 31C, there is a hard 3" -4" horizontal jog in the topside running from the bow to below the water line, to deflect bow wave spray. The problem is that even the smallest waves compress in this "slot" as they move aft and at the waterline they slap, loudly. I'm not to bad with it, but my wife simply cannot sleep at all. This occurs at anchor, not at the dock, so we are currently restricted to dock side mooring only. IF we decide to keep this boat then I'm going to have to partially fill these in with an inverted quarter found filler to eliminate this noise, because we love anchoring out...


What about others... is this a V berth comfort problem for anyone else? And a consideration under cool beans original question?


Dale.

We are "remodeling" the front cabin and had new mattresses made locally by a small shop and they did a decent job. We replaced poorly fitting vinyl cushions. I removed the foam from the covers on the originals- then trimmed it to the correct size for a templet. It sure made for a good fit. I suspect they will be much more comfortable than the originals.
If it rains- I like to sleep on the top bunk in the front cabin.



1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

windled said:

So here's an added question about V berth comfort: what about bow wave slap noise?


In our current boat, a Silverton 31C, there is a hard 3" -4" horizontal jog in the topside running from the bow to below the water line, to deflect bow wave spray. The problem is that even the smallest waves compress in this "slot" as they move aft and at the waterline they slap, loudly. I'm not to bad with it, but my wife simply cannot sleep at all. This occurs at anchor, not at the dock, so we are currently restricted to dock side mooring only. IF we decide to keep this boat then I'm going to have to partially fill these in with an inverted quarter found filler to eliminate this noise, because we love anchoring out...


What about others... is this a V berth comfort problem for anyone else? And a consideration under cool beans original question?


Dale.

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It is a problem for many style boats and some of the occupants.

I think someone here a couple years ago did a similar mod like you are proposing.

Can't remember who but had pics to show the end result and said it worked well..a few others added what they had done. One guy used fenders but others doubted his ability to keep them in place IIRC.

Do a search for wave slap and you may turn up something.

We have a v-berth. We rebuilt this one because it was a mess . It has good stand up room in the center and good head room while lying down. It's better than what we had on sailboat but not perfect . Joy makes up the bed and it's a real PITA . It sounds like a wrestling match going on . I offer to help but she say's I'd probably wind up with a black eye .
"Just have me a drink ready when I'm done"

Sorry for two posts .i shrunk the pics but still cant't get them in one post .

Filled the steps in on my hull during the refit. Pictures aren't very good and the fairing compound color makes it appear poorly faired, but it's absolutely smooth and slick. The void was filled with Coosa board, then glassed over with 3 layers of biaxial cloth, and then faired and gel coated smooth. If the next owner wanted to remove it, it woold be a simple matter of grinding the glass off and redoing the gel coat as none of the hull glass was disturbed and there were no screws used.











Ted

The original mattresses in the v-berth of our 34 Mainship III was very comfortable.


The insert was required for some specific operations and access sucked. But it was easy, when the insert was stowed.


We never had to, but I'd guess a replacement mattress could be anything you like.


I suspect the easiest way to do bedding is the "bed roll" or "sleeping bag" approach, made up of linens appropriate to the season.


-Chris

windled said:

So here's an added question about V berth comfort: what about bow wave slap noise?


In our current boat, a Silverton 31C, there is a hard 3" -4" horizontal jog in the topside running from the bow to below the water line, to deflect bow wave spray. The problem is that even the smallest waves compress in this "slot" as they move aft and at the waterline they slap, loudly. I'm not to bad with it, but my wife simply cannot sleep at all. This occurs at anchor, not at the dock, so we are currently restricted to dock side mooring only. IF we decide to keep this boat then I'm going to have to partially fill these in with an inverted quarter found filler to eliminate this noise, because we love anchoring out...


What about others... is this a V berth comfort problem for anyone else? And a consideration under cool beans original question?


Dale.

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Certainly is one for us, and a definite consideration. It varies depending on hull design and construction. Have been on boats where it is so bad we've retreated to the couch in the salon. It is a particular issue at anchor, because the boat will be pointed into the wind and resulting chop. I slept up there a couple nights on the Hatteras, when we took friends on a honeymoon cruise; wasn't bad , but it was there. It seemed "OK" on the GB's we chartered, according to those sleeping there, other than one very windy night. It seemed to be not bad at all on a Krogen 42 I visited while we were anchored up together.

Some people are more sensitive than others, some even like the noise. We fall into the "way sensitive" category. Also nix on crawl-in or go-up- a step berths crammed in the bow. Ann vetoed the idea of having a Fleming 55 on that point alone.

Wave slap is a definite issue for some and not for others. I know some who end up sleeping in the salon some nights when the slap is worse. The problem is you don't know until you've tried it and then it may be too late.

That's so funny some owners have modified the hull to get rid of wave slap in the v-berth. That's a lullaby to us, ahhhh. Like getting rocked in a cradle. One of the most comforting sounds on earth.

Comfort is going to depend on your personal preferences. I like a very firm mattress, so when I redid my v-berth cushions I used 6" extra-firm foam with ultrasuede covers. I find them very comfortable though others say they feel like planks. Redo the cushions with something you know you will like and you will be comfortable.

O C Diver said:

Filled the steps in on my hull during the refit. Pictures aren't very good and the fairing compound color makes it appear poorly faired, but it's absolutely smooth and slick. The void was filled with Coosa board, then glassed over with 3 layers of biaxial cloth, and then faired and gel coated smooth. If the next owner wanted to remove it, it woold be a simple matter of grinding the glass off and redoing the gel coat as none of the hull glass was disturbed and there were no screws used.

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Ted

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??


Sent from my iPhone using Trawler Forum

No wave slap sound in the forward cabin of our old GB.

I think I might own the world's least comfy v berth. It's high. Way up close to the ceiling. That means it's a bit of an awkward climb to get up there, and then there's very little room once you're in. If you sleep with your head forward, your face is about 6" from the overhead. The cushions are thin and hard, and the damned thing is too short in any direction. I'm not particularly tall, but my feet hang off the end. It's like sleeping in one of those morgue drawers.

The aft cabin is a bit better. Not great, but better.

That's so funny some owners have modified the hull to get rid of wave slap in the v-berth. That's a lullaby to us, ahhhh. Like getting rocked in a cradle. One of the most comforting sounds on earth.

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Yet you have an aft MSR cabin boat? Or do you sleep up front instead?

No wave slap sound in the forward cabin of our old GB.

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Interesting, the GB 46's and 49's we chartered all had it to some degree when anchored.

caltexflanc said:

Interesting, the GB 46's and 49's we chartered all had it to some degree when anchored.

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Newer GBs with more than x-amount of power all have a lifting strake or wave deflector on both sides of the bow. This is a relatively square strip and I can see how waves or ripples hitting the underside of that while moored or at anchor could cause a slap.

The older GBs or newer ones with less than whatever the x-amount of power was for each model that have smooth-sided bows don't have any wave slap against the hull unless waves are actually breaking square against the sides. But ripples and small waves don't have anything to slap up against on the smooth-sided bows. They just slide on by.

caltexflanc said:

It varies depending on hull design and construction.

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That it does! I'm amazed at the size of the V-bunk in our little 28 footer...
Quite comfortable actually!

I did have to put some teak grabrails on either side of the bulkhead so I can lever myself out in the morning.. V-Bunk is great, my flexibility not so much!