Sleeping in vee berth

What is the preference among owners of older version of 34' Mainship trawler MK1, 2 and 3 owners, sleeping with head towards the bow or feet towards bow?

The human body is built like a trapezoid in plan: narrow at the top (head), broad in the middle (shoulders and hips) and narrower at the bottom: legs and feet. That shape fits in a V berth better with feet towards the bow, particularly for two.


David

We definitely sleep feet fwd.
It’s a little bit awkward getting out .. just a bit.
Overall we like our V berth.

Try different W.

Some v berths slope up towards the bow....to me that's uncomfortable.

Plus I like to open my eyes and see more of the boat when possible in some vee berth's.

Then again some are so small that with 2 people, only feet towards bow really works.

We try to start out one on top of the other. After that, usually acrossways.

It is so much easier to get in and out of the berth with the head toward the bow, but wifey said we will sleep with feet toward the bow so that is how it is!

For me, it depends on the particular boat. I do agree with psneeld about opening your eyes & immediately able to survey things aft...like intruders.
Our boat has cris-crossed bunks forward & not a traditional v-berth so when I do sleep feet pointing aft ,there's a good chance I'll konk my head if I sit up before thinking about where I actually am. Been there done that.
50% of the time I'll opt for the couch in the salon & it's always feet pointing aft in that case.

It seems to me that the bow end of the vee berth on my MK1 slopes upward just a bit. Guess I like having my head higher than my feet. I haven't put a level on it though.

We varied, but more often I preferred head toward bow because that gave me better view aft toward the saloon. It was also slightly easier to scootch out from that direction when we had the insert in.

-Chris

Feet forward. I would rather tickle toes with my wife than bang heads.

More room and more comfortable with feet toward the bow.

We started with feet forward then tried the opposite and even tried sideways. Ultimately we reverted to feet forward. It was just the most comfortable but not necessarily the easiest to get in and out of. Personal choice for each individual or couple. It was a must have on our new (to us) boat to have an island berth with walk up on both sides. What a treat.

When we had a boat with a vee berth we went feet forward. Now we have an island queen and love it.

Many complaints are for certain boats and people, try your own ways as this topic is definitely both boat and people specific.

So no one's opinion applies across the board.

psneeld said:

Many complaints are for certain boats and people, try your own ways as this topic is definitely both boat and people specific.

So no one's opinion applies across the board.

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We've only ever sampled one v-berth and there was no option due to height and the shortness of the berth. Had to go head to bow and hang feet off the other end.

I don't know about power only boats, but I read somewhere in a sailing magazine
that you should always bunk with your feet toward the bow. This is true if the boat
is sailing or under power with crew. Hitting something solid causing a sudden stop
can be more easily absorbed by your legs as apposed to head and neck.

My wife and I were discussing changing our head feet positions over the weekend. It would give us a bit more room. The down side is that our boat sits just a bit bow high, particularly at anchor after we have a couple hundred feet of chain out. That would mean sleeping with our heads slightly lower than our feet.



I could re-stow some gear from the aft under-cockpit lazarette and move it forward under the bunk, but it isn't terribly convenient. We are talking about getting a custom mattress made, I wonder if they could make it with a wedge that would make one end 1" thicker than the other?

dhays said:

I wonder if they could make it with a wedge that would make one end 1" thicker than the other?

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Absolutely can do. There are wedges made for people with GERD and 4 to 6" rise. I'd suggest perhaps a 4" difference and you'll never be aware of it.

BandB said:

Absolutely can do. There are wedges made for people with GERD and 4 to 6" rise. I'd suggest perhaps a 4" difference and you'll never be aware of it.

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Good idea, thanks.

dhays said:

Good idea, thanks.

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A couple of examples:

https://www.refluxguard.com/

https://express.google.com/u/0/prod...RjQifUtIgNVU0QokLH92wU&utm_campaign=118724597

https://www.overstock.com/Bedding-B...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CJCfsc7P2dwCFRNCAQodpSQIFQ

https://www.jcpenney.com/p/incline-...+foam+mattress+support&productGridView=medium

On my former Bluewater Blackwatch 17-foot cutter sailboat, when bed was made the whole cabin was a bed (v-settee had the gap filled). We slept feet-forward. On my current boat, the master's double-bed is to one side, and the person with the weakest bladder sleeps on the outside. Works well!

Fold out couch in the Salon(just getting up from there now). Not ideal but I just don't care for the Berth.

I'm going to upgrade the mattress and try again(its been awhile).

LaBomba said:

We started with feet forward then tried the opposite and even tried sideways. Ultimately we reverted to feet forward. It was just the most comfortable but not necessarily the easiest to get in and out of. Personal choice for each individual or couple. It was a must have on our new (to us) boat to have an island berth with walk up on both sides. What a treat.

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This is funny because I actually tried sleeping sideways and I like it! On my boat it works and Im 6 feet, 190 lbs.