Have 1986 24 offshore with a small v-berth. We like to spend the weekend on the boat what have people used on top of the factory cushions to make it more comfy?
What to use to make v-berth more comfy
- Thread starter lime4x4
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You wont find too many options off the shelf. You could get a mattress foam topper and trim it to fit the layout. You may need to piece it. If your issue is getting a thicker 'mattress' to sleep on, another option is to get 2,3 or 4 inch foam pieces and cut to fit under the existing cushions. You can choose foam to match your needs from quite soft to fairly firm. The advantage to this approach is that you can use smaller pieces and assemble like a puzzle under the cushions when needed. When not needed they are easier to stack and store.
My cushions were ready to be replaced when I bought the boat so I had them made thicker and with slightly denser foam. No 'bottoming out' for me, anymore!
On my previous boat (John - you may remember I had a 28' Sundancer), everything was still in nice shape, but we wanted more cushioning. I bought a memory foam topper, cut it to size and it made a world of difference. That Sundancer's berth was very wide - even though I bought a king size topper, I still had to cut two more, small triangular pieces for the two bottom corners of the berth. The Offshore isn't nearly as a wide - take your widest point and compare that measurement to the width of a queen or king size topper. Truth is, though, you don't really have to cover the extreme bottom/side corners since no body part really touches there, anyways.
Make a template from plastic or paper. Lay the foam out in your house and trace the template. Cut it with... an electric turkey knife! Hands down, the easiest thing to cut it with! Although we kept the bed made pretty much all the time in the Dancer, when I didn't want it all set up, I would roll the foam up kinda like a sleeping bag and run a rope around it. It actually got pretty small and tight.
On my previous boat (John - you may remember I had a 28' Sundancer), everything was still in nice shape, but we wanted more cushioning. I bought a memory foam topper, cut it to size and it made a world of difference. That Sundancer's berth was very wide - even though I bought a king size topper, I still had to cut two more, small triangular pieces for the two bottom corners of the berth. The Offshore isn't nearly as a wide - take your widest point and compare that measurement to the width of a queen or king size topper. Truth is, though, you don't really have to cover the extreme bottom/side corners since no body part really touches there, anyways.
Make a template from plastic or paper. Lay the foam out in your house and trace the template. Cut it with... an electric turkey knife! Hands down, the easiest thing to cut it with! Although we kept the bed made pretty much all the time in the Dancer, when I didn't want it all set up, I would roll the foam up kinda like a sleeping bag and run a rope around it. It actually got pretty small and tight.
Fishtales
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Prob the best thing is a custom mattress if you are staying on it a lot. I think it would be tough to get pieces, so you give up the table option. I'd be inclined to see what you can find for dense foam and a topper as Dennis says to use when you convert the v berth. GWs are fairly spartan probably not the best boat for more than a few days.
I would go with a memory foam topper and cut to fit. I got a kick out of the Grady's are pretty Spartan ...yep they are but I can assure even as spartan as they are, sleeping in Grady is still more comfortable than sleeping on a thermarest mattress pad on the ground in a tent. I still go back packing and sleep on the ground. I could easily sleep a week in my 288, lol.
Uncle Joe
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Take your existing cushions to a fabricator.....he can make thicker ones for you to the exact size you need.....I ran a 1986 Offshore for years....I wouldn't want to be wrestling one piece in and out of that cabin.
The goal is to have new cushions made for the boat. Not really worried about wrestling the topper in and out of the boat cause once it goes in it nots coming out till fall..lol. We don't use any of the storage that's under the exsisting cushions now. And beer only last so long..lol. We basically only do weekend trips now. We had a cabin cruiser that kinda spoiled us. We have slept on this boat many times but now that we are older it's getting rougher esp when u have lower back and knee issues..
John - I used Sabatini in Nazareth to make them for me. With your old ones as templates, it makes it less time consuming for him. Frank Sabatini - tell him I sent you over, if you go that way. I also had him make the covers out of vinyl for easier cleanup - a medium grey with dark blue piping - not that the color really matters.
I just upgraded our v-berth with a Lucid King size 3 inch gel foam mattress topper purchased on Amazon for $90. We have a 282 Sailfish so I pulled the old cushions and used them as a template, traced out the cushions with a sharpie and cut the foam with a six inch, very sharp, boning knife (an electric turkey carving knife works best). I did the same thing with our old boat (Seapro 235) but since the berth was a little smaller I didn't cut the foam into three pieces. The single piece was for the old boat was a little unwieldy but as you said, it didn't come out until Fall. On both boats we just stretched a king size fitted sheet over everything and it worked great. The only issue is the new foam is a little too soft. Next year we will purchase another topper that is more firm.