Making the V berth a better ZZZZ berth

[Stuart Cooperrider]

I know these boats aren't supposed to be luxurious but I need to address the cushions in the v berth. Would love to hear from anyone about what you've done to make it more comfortable for an overnight or two. I came home from the Newport Boat Show with a half dozen brochures and talked to several custom mattress builders. Not sure I want to spend for an innerspring but want more than the 5" of foam that came with boat when I bought it 15 years ago. (I know)...
Currently, I'm getting by with a 2" memory foam mattress topper that I cut into shape with an electric carving knife (try finding one of those these days) and laid on top of the foam mattress. BTW, the knife was avocado. It's very comfy but is shredding along the edges and not a long term solution. If you have a recommendation or a supplier or a McGuyver fix, I'm all ears. I'm on Cape Cod.
Thanks in advance.
Stu

[Yannis]

Stuart,

The current configuration of my 28 is the known v berth, plus an almost double (120X200cm) bed, where the dinette was.
I spend 2-3 months on the boat every year, which means I sleep up to 80 or so nights on either bed, depending on what the people combination is.
When I did my redo, I changed the original foam mattresses in the v berth with similar new foam ones, not the very soft type, with new zippered covers of my preference. The result is fine for me, I like harder beds and I sleep comfortably on them.

For the dinette, however, I decided to go yet more "comfort" so I went to Ikea and bought a double latex matress (which is the latex matress per se, plus its white ikea zippered fluffy cover) which latex I then trimmed into shape with a pair of common scissors, then took the ikea cover to a lady to trim the excess material and move the zipper to fit the mattress snugly, and then covered the whole thing up with the same material as in the v berth.
Result? Perfect! Comfortable, suitable for a good night sleep but also very appropriate to just sit on, when the bed is turned into a sofa (day time). I feared it might have been too warm for the hot greek summer, but it is not, I'm very pleased with my choice.







This is a friend taking a siesta... the lower part of the back rest (the long and thin brown pillow) rests on a 2 cm board which is inturn secured on a T shape metal bar. The vertical part of the T will slide into the rectangular teak pockets (one of which you see on the hanging locker's side) so as to give the bed its final sleeping dimensions.





I recently went back to ikea to buy another latex mattress for my home, apparently they do not carry those normal latex mattressses anymore (12-14cm), they only carry those thin (2-5cm) overmattresses but I' m sure that if you look around you'll find latex matresses; consider though that they are at least twice the weight of ordinary foam.

[Tony Meola]

Excellent idea especially if someone can make their own covers. Even if someone just cut it to shape and then took the final product to a seamstress to make the cover.

[Yannis]

Yes, Tony, my mother who was doing all these things in the past,is now getting a bit too old for this....therefore the seamstress or yet better, he who sells the foam mattresses, can easily do the covers, plus, the latter will offer you a great variety of colors and qualities to choose from.

[Dug]

Hi Stuart,

I had my v-berth cushions done over when I first got the boat 16-17 years ago or so. I had them made with open cell foam, and they have been very comfortable for me. I like soft cushions, but they have worked for me. I had them covered with Ultra suede which I LOVE but I won't ever use again as it is not UV stable and has turned to dust. Literally.

My cushion and canvas guy in Noank has told me he can do all kinds of stuff to enhance if I ever want, from building on a topper, etc. We had this discussion because I have to re-cover my v-berth cushions.

I kinda feel like this may or may not be the answer you are looking for. But in Newport I used Kevin Corrado to do my enclosure etc and he did a great job. My cushions were made by Custom Marine Canvas in Noank, who also do very good work!

Hope that helps.

Dug

[Stuart Cooperrider]

Thanks everyone and Dug being that your source is in Newport I'll explore. Now if someone could direct me to how to install Vibrating Fingers under the mattress, I'll be fully obliged.

[Tony Meola]

Thanks everyone and Dug being that your source is in Newport I'll explore. Now if someone could direct me to how to install Vibrating Fingers under the mattress, I'll be fully obliged.

I had a comment but thought better of it.

[Stuart Cooperrider]

Hah! I think I appreciate your restraint. Perhaps the Bertram MF V Berth edition would have allowed Bertram to raise the price and maybe extend production. I'll suggest it as an option on the new 35.

[Navatech]

Hah! I think I appreciate your restraint. Perhaps the Bertram MF V Berth edition would have allowed Bertram to raise the price and maybe extend production. I'll suggest it as an option on the new 35.

Funny that you should make THAT as your 69th post on the board...