Centerline or athwartship - does it matter?

[hsi88]

Originally Posted by jackdale

For bluewater passage making I would recommend centreline / inline with lee clothes. One of the worst arrangements is island queen berths with no lee clothes.

Was guessing "lee clothes" was a sheet to keep you from rolling out of the berth. But to be sure, I looked it up, "Lee Jeans" came up. Finally found the definition under "berth". Spelled without the "e". Lee cloths. The Internet is often my best friend. I learn something new every day.

[liveaboard60]

Originally Posted by hsi88

Was guessing "lee clothes" was a sheet to keep you from rolling out of the berth. But to be sure, I looked it up, "Lee Jeans" came up. Finally found the definition under "berth". Spelled without the "e". Lee cloths. The Internet is often my best friend. I learn something new every day.

On the boat on which I served, we didn't have Lee cloths.. While they will help you keep from being rolled out of your bunk, they do nothing for being tossed out.. Instead we had 2 seat belts which (in theory) could be used to strap us in..

I always felt it ironic that if I needed to be strapped in, I wouldn't be able to get any sleep anyway.. By the way, when heading into 25' seas, the forward berth of an 82' patrol boat drops about 50 feet as it crests the wave..

flk k

[sparrowhawk1]

On my Center cockpit boat my aft cabin has a berth that is athwartship but both ends of it are long enough so I can sleep fore n aft. In the main cabin I have a Centerline table with births on either side. At anchor athwartships is superior. Undersail it depends on the tack. Usually the leeward birth in the main cabin followed closely by sleeping fore and aft on the leeward side in the aft cabin is the most comfortable (I also prefer sleeping in the main cabin when I'm sailing so I'm close to the cockpit)

[Sandero]

Our aft cabin has large berth which lets one sleep fore-aft or athwartship. I've done both, but in our boat I prefer athwartship with our heads to port so we can essentially look forward into the salon.

[rustypirate]

My family's boat had both inline bunks and one large enough to sleep athwart. As the youngsters, my brother and I shared a forward cabin with inline bunks and during normal conditions it was comfortable enough, but when in high following seas or beating in choppy conditions, the pitching fore and aft would make sleeping very difficult.

The time where sleeping athwart became critical is when we got caught in a cyclone while crossing the Indian Ocean. 20 days of gale force wind and very high seas, and before long the only place one could get any sleep was in the aft berth where you could lie athwart.

With this experience in mind I designed the interior of my current boat with the bunk running side-to-side. I will be able to always sleep with my head on the high end.

As for the "crawling over", I can say that it really did not bother me when I had to endure it. My current boat is set up for single handed operation and as such this is a moot point for me.

[barnakiel]

At sea, the only time I can remember sleeping comfortably athwart was on a big cat.

On a mono or on any boat that rolls, I always chose sleeping along.

In port, any position is fine.

b.