Athwartship Berth?

[kadiddle]

Greetings cruisers.
I'm new here and my wife and I are researching boats for our eventual retirement. We plan to cruise the caribbean for a few years then do some passages. Will probably go to Europe and back then off to the south pacific.

We have found some boats that would otherwise be acceptable except for our perceived distaste for athwartship berths. Some even have the berths midship. To us, this is mainly a concern when crossing oceans. Would not the motion when riding over waves be less pleasant in an athwartship berth? It seems that it would cause the body to roll side to side, where in a berth oriented fore/aft there would be less rolling.
We haven't spent much time on cats, but when we have it seemed to us that motion in rough seas was the most tolerable in the aft section of the boat. If making a passage it seems that a forward or even mid-ship berth would be less desirable.
I would greatly appreciate hearing from experienced sailors on this subject.
Thanks for you help.

[Factor]

Athwartship berths, particularly island (where you can get in and out either side without having to climb over each other) are great, but you are right in your assessment of some issues at sea in rough conditions, thats why it is always good to have a fore and aft berth as well so that your feet are forward. Midships location is great, its in the area of least pitch roll and yaw. And this is based on this post being in the multihull section, so I presume you are asking the question in that context

[s/v Moondancer]

We are crossing the Pacific and our athwartship double in the aft cabin is almost unusable.

In a seaway you are either standing up or on your head. At sea you need lee cloths in a tight single bed configuration.

Ok in port.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

We are crossing the Pacific and our athwartship double in the aft cabin is almost unusable.

In a seaway you are either standing up or on your head. At sea you need lee cloths in a tight single bed configuration.

Ok in port.

This is in the multi-hull section.

[kadiddle]

Thanks for the input.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, kadiddle.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by kadiddle

Greetings cruisers.
I'm new here and my wife and I are researching boats for our eventual retirement. We plan to cruise the caribbean for a few years then do some passages. Will probably go to Europe and back then off to the south pacific.

We have found some boats that would otherwise be acceptable except for our perceived distaste for athwartship berths. Some even have the berths midship. To us, this is mainly a concern when crossing oceans. Would not the motion when riding over waves be less pleasant in an athwartship berth? It seems that it would cause the body to roll side to side, where in a berth oriented fore/aft there would be less rolling.
We haven't spent much time on cats, but when we have it seemed to us that motion in rough seas was the most tolerable in the aft section of the boat. If making a passage it seems that a forward or even mid-ship berth would be less desirable.
I would greatly appreciate hearing from experienced sailors on this subject.
Thanks for you help.

Every Catamaran I have been on has berths facing fore and aft.. but then like everything it is size related so 50ft upwards is an unknown quantity to me.. if your talking cats..
If your talking Mono's.. its rare you'll find bunks running port to starboard and all others run fore and aft.. island berths are murder in a following sea as the boats trying to throw you out either side.. V berths are noisy and bouncy.. for me at sea, the most comfortable place is midships on a saloon berth on the lee side.

[Dr. Sea]

If you are looking for a multihull, then my comments will not be relevant, but I can speak to my experience in offshore passages in a monohull. The midship cabin is the one most people prefer because it has less motion. Sometimes crew leave the forward cabin to sleep in the salon, which is very smooth and comfortable. The owner's cabin is aft and has a fore & aft island berth. In a rolling sea or on a long tack heeled over, we sleep athwart the berth to convert rolling motion to pitching motion, which is much more pleasant. We hardly notice it. We don't bother with the lee cloths because a rolling motion still causes you to wobble back and forth if you are sleeping fore & aft in this berth and that makes it hard to sleep unless you are really exhausted.

[contrail]

45 foot cat, athwartship berths in the aft cabin, very comfortable, in my opinion.

One thing about cats is that most designs rotate around a point considerably aft of amidships, thus the berths with the least motion may be those aft, and not amidships. Berths forward can be really jumpy, particularly a windward forward cabin, going upwind!

Cheers,
Tim

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by kadiddle

Greetings cruisers.

I'm new here and my wife and I are researching boats for our eventual retirement. We plan to cruise the caribbean for a few years then do some passages. Will probably go to Europe and back then off to the south pacific.



We have found some boats that would otherwise be acceptable except for our perceived distaste for athwartship berths. Some even have the berths midship. To us, this is mainly a concern when crossing oceans. Would not the motion when riding over waves be less pleasant in an athwartship berth? It seems that it would cause the body to roll side to side, where in a berth oriented fore/aft there would be less rolling.

We haven't spent much time on cats, but when we have it seemed to us that motion in rough seas was the most tolerable in the aft section of the boat. If making a passage it seems that a forward or even mid-ship berth would be less desirable.

I would greatly appreciate hearing from experienced sailors on this subject.

Thanks for you help.

Even a cat heels a bit, but noticeable enough when lying down, so athwartship berths not so good at sea. As for aft vs midships, aft will usually be a bit more comfortable but even midships (aft of the mast, though) will not have too much movement (lots of people sleep in the salon on passage, so same general midships position).

As many say, you spend 90+% of your time not at sea on passage. So your primary berth orientation and location don’t really matter - the primary requirements are for a decent mattress and good ventilation. As long as you also have a fore-aft oriented berth in the mid or aft part of your boat for use at sea then you should be fine.

Pay attention to climb height to get into the berth - older cats in particular can have high berths. Midships berths are often high to fit over the bridgedeck. While not bad for a week or for kids, high berths are a real PITA to live with.

Check for air-height above the berth also - you want to be able to sit up without stooping and there are certain bedroom activities that are more comfortable with more height .

[SV Bacchus]

We have fore/aft in master cabin and port/starboard up front. Our son chose the front cabin and little bugger got the best room in the house. Why? Ventilation! Ours in the rear doesn't get quite the airflow he does and that 90+% in anchorage it doesn't matter if you're fore/aft or port/starboard, airflow matters!

[contrail]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Even a cat heels a bit, but noticeable enough when lying down, so athwartship berths not so good at sea. As for aft vs midships, aft will usually be a bit more comfortable but even midships (aft of the mast, though) will not have too much movement (lots of people sleep in the salon on passage, so same general midships position).

As many say, you spend 90+% of your time not at sea on passage. So your primary berth orientation and location don’t really matter - the primary requirements are for a decent mattress and good ventilation. As long as you also have a fore-aft oriented berth in the mid or aft part of your boat for use at sea then you should be fine.

Pay attention to climb height to get into the berth - older cats in particular can have high berths. Midships berths are often high to fit over the bridgedeck. While not bad for a week or for kids, high berths are a real PITA to live with.

Check for air-height above the berth also - you want to be able to sit up without stooping and there are certain bedroom activities that are more comfortable with more height .

Most of those higher aft berths are laid out that way because the engine is under them, which allows a shaft drive. When the engine is further aft, so the berth can be lower, it requires a sail drive, which many would call another type of PITA, but that's another discussion!

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by contrail

When the engine is further aft, so the berth can be lower, it requires a sail drive, which many would call another type of PITA, but that's another discussion!

They are all a PITA! I have shafts and love em. But I sure hate having to make two bunks every time I check the oil, which is before we move anywhere. But I do prefer doing that to having SDs!

[Southern Star]

Depending upon sea state and the pont of sail, IMO there is little difference in aft berth orientation on a cat. Indeed heeling, or side to side motion is often less than the movement fore and aft when taking waves off the bows or transoms. In heavy seas, you certainly should not be taking waves off the beam.

Brad

[contrail]

Originally Posted by SV Bacchus

They are all a PITA! I have shafts and love em. But I sure hate having to make two bunks every time I check the oil, which is before we move anywhere. But I do prefer doing that to having SDs!

Your L42 is sort of in between! Your aft berth is way lower than the ones in my L45, but we both have engines beneath and the great benefit of sail drives. Your advantage/disadvantage is that you can/must reach your engine through your aft cabin, which requires dismantling the bed, as you say. My advantage/disadvantage is that I must reach my engines by going outside and then through the engine room hatches on the transoms, and then a door into the engine room under the beds. But, since the berths are much higher, I do have space to maneuver down there, and I don't have to make up the beds. Two sides of a compromise, but both with the advantages of sail drives.