V - Berth

[Rumdaddy]

I need to replace the v bearth mattress in my boat. Could anyone tell me what type of foam or mattress is the best? I have allways daysailed but I have plans to take my family on a cruise this comming summer. So I have no experiance on the matter. Im fairly handy with upholstery and dont mind giving it a go at making my own. That being said I would buy one already made if something was reccomended by the masses? In other words, Whats everybody else do? Im new here, so any help would be great.

[Sailmonkey]

We went to the foam store in Houston and laid down on several samples. There is a huge variety to choose from density and thickness wise.
We bought the foam and had it covered by an upolstery shop.

[Kiwi303]

Any closed cell foam will do. Open cell will sop up any leaks, drips or moisture, which is not welcome on a boat which is so close to so much moisture outside the hull anyway, best to keep it out there.

Take your old swabs to a foam shop and they usually have the heat wire to cut the foam to the berth shape.

[denverd0n]

Almost all manufacturers use open-cell foam, of varying types, in their berths. My personal recommendation would be latex with a top layer of memory foam.

I have ordered foam from these folks before, and found them very easy to deal with...
Foam Mattress Pads | Memory Foam | Platform Beds | Bedroom Furniture | patio cushions

[Rumdaddy]

Thanks alot for the great advice. Thats what I needed to know. So if I get the foam I need, I could get a pro to cut the shape and cover it myself. Should I order marine upholstry material, or would anything thats tough enough work? My old boat is pretty tight, but I dont know if some materials are more prone to mold. Maybe it is very likely I'm over-thinking this whole deal?

[MarkSF]

It all depends on your budget. Options range from putting new foam in your existing covers, to having a sprung mattress custom made to fit.

I went for replacing the existing foam. The watchword here is density - the higher the density of the foam, the better the quality and the longer it will last.

In terms of comfort, I like to have a firm mattress with something soft on top. (on the principle that a firm foundation can be made softer, but the reverse is not the case.) So I went for a firm, high density foam, on top of which I put a 2" memory foam topper. This is kept rolled up when not in use and has it's own cover. This allowed me to keep the original covers but have a much more comfortable mattress.

I actually bought a queen-sized mattress from the Foam Factory, and cut it up with an electric carving knife. This worked out much cheaper than having a local place cut up foam to fit.

[Cheechako]

I like the latex, maybe memory on top as mentioned. You need a fairly firm foundation, then a soft topper. At least 5", 6" better.

[Lagoon4us]

We have curved "comfort slats" under the mattress on top of the ply. This allows the mattress to breathe preventing moisture build up from body sweat.

The slats are curved upwards similar to a bow and held together with a moulded rubber strapping, best sleep ever!!!!!

'tis available on all Beneteau's/Lagoons i believe.....

[Sumner]

We have bought all of our foam from...

Foam by Mail, foam products, cushions, mattresses, pillows, seats, sound proofing, memory foams, mattress, pillow,

..the foam factory but now use their wholesale site....

Polyurethane Foam Sheets | Packaging | Comfort Foam | Soft Cushion

...as it is even less expensive and they have free freight. We use the Lux High Quality in 3 inch thickness on both boats and now also use that for our home mattress and one in our teardrop trailer. We sleep on the same thing wherever we go. It is very firm, maybe too firm for some but they sell less firm foam also. We use their dryfast for cockpit cushions and really like that also. For us close-cell would be way too firm.



We also have cut the foam from side to side for both boats and really like it that way. Cut it so that your shoulders, hips and knees aren't on the cuts and you don't even know they are there. It makes getting under the mattress to storage much easier and also now you can...









...make the berth up standing up at the head and you don't have to climb up in there to make it up.

All of this info and more pictures and more can be found near the bottom of this index page...

Endeavour 37 Canvas Mods Index

Sum

[MarkSF]

Sumner, that's where I got mine, but used 4" and according to my records it took a king size which I cut up. The LuxHQ is a good, high quality foam, so even if you like it softer I'd buy that and then soften it with a topper.

[Sumner]

Originally Posted by MarkSF

Sumner, that's where I got mine, but used 4" and according to my records it took a king size which I cut up. The LuxHQ is a good, high quality foam, so even if you like it softer I'd buy that and then soften it with a topper.

If someone wants softer that is a good idea. We don't go through the 3 inch and for us it gives us more headroom especially in the Mac near the foot where the cabin drops down and I have long legs and my knees stick up there. Sometimes even an inch is a big deal.

We used the 3 inch for cabin cushions on the Mac and Ruth likes it, but my boney butt sinks through after a couple hours at night on the computer. When we do the interior cushions for the Endeavour we might put 1 inch of the dryfast under the 3 inches of Lux or maybe go with 4 inches to begin with.

The hard thing about recommending foam is that we all have different comfort levels and like different densities. Ruth and I are lucky that we seem to like the same . The foam factory will send samples but they are so small that you just can't tell much from them,

Sum

[SaucySailoress]

We don't have the luxury of fancy closed cell foam in Kuwait, which I've heard WILL get wet anyway, and is a bugger to dry when it does. So we had to use regular foam, the sort they use to make couches and beds here.

So we went for really heavy 5cm base, and a softer 2cm top layer. Well, the first ones we made were for the v-berth, and I did them in 7cm and 3 cm (following advice from here!!!) but they were too heavy!

Cutsey Curtains & Cushions…. « Saucysailoress's Blog
Cutsey Curtains & Cushions II « Saucysailoress's Blog

Then we covered them in decent splashproof furniture fabric, the same stuff we've had on our couches for ten years now (we bought an entire roll when we saw it, cos we knew it was what we wanted)!

[Sumner]

Originally Posted by SaucySailoress

We don't have the luxury of fancy closed cell foam in Kuwait, which I've heard WILL get wet anyway, and is a bugger to dry when it does. So we had to use regular foam, the sort they use to make couches and beds here.

So we went for really heavy 5cm base, and a softer 2cm top layer. Well, the first ones we made were for the v-berth, and I did them in 7cm and 3 cm (following advice from here!!!) but they were too heavy!

Cutsey Curtains & Cushions…. « Saucysailoress's Blog
Cutsey Curtains & Cushions II « Saucysailoress's Blog

Then we covered them in decent splashproof furniture fabric, the same stuff we've had on our couches for ten years now (we bought an entire roll when we saw it, cos we knew it was what we wanted)!

Nice job .

I think sometimes this "marine grade" stuff is overrated. I guess it all comes down to how you use your boat and the environment it lives in,

Sum

[barnakiel]

We make ours too: get some 4 or 5'' thick foam, cut to shape and cover with light canvas.

A mattress built in smaller pieces is easier to drag out/in and dry.

b.