Comfortable Salon Sofa Bed

Like most trawlers we are set up for a cruising couple with occasional guests - meaning two cabins.

We had previously thought about putting a sofa-bed in the salon for the rare times we might have another couple around or the kids, but decided against it. Mainly because of the low occasions that we would use it and the fact that our experience with them is that they are durned uncomfortable to sit on.

We just got a call that we will have two brothers and their wives wanting to spend some time with us when we are in the Chesapeake this summer, and at over lapping times. They are looking at sharing boat time with hotel time. But since we are moving around this entails following by car and booking multiple hotels.

So now we are considering replacing our salon couch with a sofa bed. Not totally decided yet, depending on comfort.

Recommendations please.

American Leather has the best beds.

Following

I put a Jackknife RV sofa on my boat, comfortable up or down, easy to deploy and less weight, only downside is 72” long.

captDJ said:

I put a Jackknife RV sofa on my boat, comfortable up or down, easy to deploy and less weight, only downside is 72” long.

Click to expand...

In the RV world, Jackknife sofas are common, as they save space in the pulling out direction, with a sacrifice of comfort when down. No good for a couple, unless they are very slim and used to sleeping on a very narrow bed.

If you have room for a "hide-a-bed" style, you can get one with an air mattress, that can be the same comfort as your "sleep number" air bed in the Master.

I like this idea

http://deepredmotorhome.com/bed.php

I guess if we were to ever invite more than a couple, the least favorite guests could sleep in the salon recliners because we are not giving up our very comfortable recliners...

Our aft salon has a nice futon. It's very comfortable both for sitting and sleeping. It pulls out and stows easily.

If this is a rare need, I'd look at air mattresses. Some are very comfortable bed replacements. Then easy to store.

Our boat came with a Flexsteel sofa-bed. Comfortable enough for sleeping. Wasn't my favorite for lounging (and we've since replaced with recliners). Wasn't long enough for me to stretch out and snooze in sofa mode, but that was more a function of length that would fit that alcove on the boat, not the sofa itself. The seat wasn't very wide, though, more like a typical jackknife model...

The bed took up most of the saloon when pulled out; didn't care for that, since it meant much of the boat was unreachable until the sofa-bed occupants got out of the way.

And it weighed a gazillion pounds, covering up one of my engine hatches... so when I needed to open that hatch for something more than normal service, I also had to get help moving the couch. And then I had to find someplace to store it (usually, one end, precarious...) for the while.

The electric recliners we got will recline almost completely flat -- once we pull then out from the bulkhead -- so if we're forced to accept boarders, they can take it or leave it.

And I can move the chairs by myself, when I need to open that hatch.

We've used air mattresses before, for camping. The best ones we had were 10-12" thick, IIRC. More comfortable than the Flex-steel pull-out mattress. Even better if set up on top of a folding bed frame or cot, but on the floor (or ground, in our early days) worked too. In a marine environment, they make an acceptable float, too, for lounging or hull work. I used one to get under our swim platform so I could install parts of our dinghy davit...

-Chris