Front deck all-weather cushions

[scubaman]

As we have also found ourselves doing some pootling, I thought it would be nice to have cushions for lounging on the foredeck. For convenience, the cushions would have to be good for leaving them exposed to the elements whenever we are on the boat to avoid the hassle of lugging them around at every shower. I’m half way though the mini-project but I’d love to hear your comments regarding my plan before I take them to the ladies who will do the difficult part of sewing it all together.

For the in-fill I got some closed cell -type material (sorry, don’t know the correct term for this in english…). The material is used in those thin camping mattresses but in this application five layers have been glued together to create a firm but surprisingly comfy and warm result 5 cm thick. Main thing is, it doesn’t absorb water.

The fabric will be dark grey sunbrella (charcoal solid, 3705). This was stocked by a local dealer.

I made a template of the front deck recess and used it to cut the mattresses to the required shape.

I also ordered some DRY-mat from Shipshape Bedding to go under the cushions. Idea being that it would keep the cushion from gathering water under it and letting it dry faster.

My plan is to have flaps sewn in to the top seam of the cushion and fasten them into the sides of the front deck recess either with studs or velcro. This is not perfect by any means as the flaps will be visible but I haven’t come up with a better idea.

There’ll be zippers on the (in) side of the cushions and I’m having further long flaps made to cover them from water coming down from the top.

I’m contemplating on having a thin layer of foam below the sunbrella to make the cushion more ‘puffy’ but I don’t fancy this as it’s sure to absorb water and slow the drying up -process. Not having it would probably mean that the fabric is not as tight around the infill and there could be undesired wrinkles. Any views on this?

Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated.

-S

 

[Nick_H]

I think closed cell foam isn't normally used because it's quite firm, but if you're happy with the feel of it then that shouldn't be a problem. The alternative way of avoiding waterlogging is to use reticulated foam which is free draining. My bow cushions have reticulated foam, and mesh on the underside, so any water drains out. I've reverted to vinyl on the bow cushions, so that they dry much quicker after a shower, and salt spray can be easily wiped off.

I've attached them to the bow is with luff tape and track at the front and back edge, and i've always just had the flap on the bottom edge of the cushion. I'd advise against velcro as the adhesive doesn't last, and leaves a solid residue on the GRP which is very hard to remove. Ask me how I know this! Press studs may be OK, but at speed there can be a lot of wind trying to lift the cushions, so they may come undone. Velcro is fine to attach the two cushions together, as it will be sewn to both cushions.

Finally i'd advise building in raised areas at the head end. It makes them more comfortable to lie on, plus gives a more professional look I think.

Not the best photo, but you can see the raised head area

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

The easiest (and imho) best way to secure coachroof cushions is with luff rope stitched into the leading edge of the cushions, which then slides into a track that you fit to the boat on the vertical face of the cushion recess. Without this, when you are at planing speeds the wind will get under the cushions and do its best to rip them off. I wouldn't use poppers for the remaining fittings, I'd use small webbing straps with webbing bridges on the boat.

Ref the foam, +1 to what Nick said, I also think the closed cell stuff is too hard for comfort. I replaced the closed cell foam on the T40 with 75mm reticulated foam, which is just right for comfort, and the water flows straight through it, so v quick to dry.

 

[rafiki_]

We have 2 lounging cushion for our Azi foredeck. These are vinyl covered, with luff rope along one side of the cusshion to give robust retention, and poopers the other side. In reality, the luff rope is very difficult to slide into the track. Bottom line is these cushions were a PITA, and are now lining the garage wall at home.
Closed cell foam will not sponge up water, so is the best solution if you can find the right hardness.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

We have 2 lounging cushion for our Azi foredeck. These are vinyl covered, with luff rope along one side of the cusshion to give robust retention, and poopers the other side. In reality, the luff rope is very difficult to slide into the track. Bottom line is these cushions were a PITA, and are now lining the garage wall at home.
Closed cell foam will not sponge up water, so is the best solution if you can find the right hardness.

Afternoon Raf

I don't agree with you on many levels here
1. luff rope shouldn't be that hard to slide into the track, if it's all been designed right. It's definitely the best solution to prevent, er, blow off
2. closed cell is too hard for comfort. honest guv. Reticulated is the way to go
3. any foredeck cushion that's got poopers down one side of it just sounds like sh*t to me!

 

[crazy4557]

The easiest (and imho) best way to secure coachroof cushions is with luff rope stitched into the leading edge of the cushions, which then slides into a track that you fit to the boat on the vertical face of the cushion recess. Without this, when you are at planing speeds the wind will get under the cushions and do its best to rip them off. I wouldn't use poppers for the remaining fittings, I'd use small webbing straps with webbing bridges on the boat.

Ref the foam, +1 to what Nick said, I also think the closed cell stuff is too hard for comfort. I replaced the closed cell foam on the T40 with 75mm reticulated foam, which is just right for comfort, and the water flows straight through it, so v quick to dry.

I'm about to recover my standard Fairline bow cushions too and currently they are the original blue/white stripe versions. Anyone know what the foam is in these and whether it's good to drain as well? I'm piggy backing your thread Scubaman as it's relevant for what I'm doing too!!
BTW my cushions were attached to the sides of the recess by webbing straps with s/s rings screwed into gelcoat. The webbing straps have all ripped off now, probably the age of the cushion material and has degraded by UV rays so bear this in mind.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

I'm about to recover my standard Fairline bow cushions too and currently they are the original blue/white stripe versions. Anyone know what the foam is in these and whether it's good to drain as well? I'm piggy backing your thread Scubaman as it's relevant for what I'm doing too!!
BTW my cushions were attached to the sides of the recess by webbing straps with s/s rings screwed into gelcoat. The webbing straps have all ripped off now, probably the age of the cushion material and has degraded by UV rays so bear this in mind.

How thick is the foam? Hard or soft? Colour? Surface texture?

 

[BartW]

I have to agree with the other posters K,
no real experience myself, but alway's had negative advice on the closed cell foam,
alway's used the reticulated foam, for all cushions and sun beds.

no better advice on the fixing,
ours are fixed with poppers on the foot end.

For future I'm planning to make a slatted sub floor underneath the bow bed cushions, so that there is a air gap,
with a foldeable head part, so that this can be fixed in a raised position, more convenient for reading, just like sun beds etc..
but thats for next winter.

OK for the sunbrella 3705, good choice ;-)
but we have just changed some cushions on two FB benches, and used Sunbrella Natte Stone 5078,
we like this very much so that we will use that for all FB furniture,
and probably also for the Bow sunbed.
furniture in the cockpit will remain 3705

as you know we have covers for all outside furniture,

there is a vinyl, looking almost like fabric, called Movida iirc,
but I prefer Sunbrella

 

[Nick_H]

Anyone know what the foam is in these and whether it's good to drain as well?

If they are the original cushions supplied with the boat, then they're unlikely to be reticulated foam, however you never know if someone updated them later.

It's easy to tell if you look at the foam, reticulated looks much coarser, a bit like a loofah.

 

[vas]

bloody hell, that's one thread I have serious problems following due to lots of foreign unknown words
I'll go and ask ppl here for reticulated foam and video them and their replies
wtf is luff rope?
wtf is loofah?

Speak English you lot!

V.

 

[Pinnacle]

bloody hell, that's one thread I have serious problems following due to lots of foreign unknown words
I'll go and ask ppl here for reticulated foam and video them and their replies
wtf is luff rope?
wtf is loofah?

Speak English you lot!

V.

See here for an explaination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reticulated_foam

Luff rope is a wafi term for a rope sewn into cloth, so it can then be retained if you slide it into a tube shaped extrusion with a cut out all along its top edge. EDIT see here - View attachment 42069

Loofah is the kind of sponge you would have in your bath or shower to rub yourself with!

Hope that helps.....

 

[vas]

thanks!

I got reticulated foam in Wikipedia but not sure I can explain that to ppl here, will have a go anyway as I need to sometime do cushions for aft deck and f/b !

Now I know what luff rope is and from personal experience it's a fcking pain or plain impossible!
I also learn a new (and probably useless ) word, loofah. When I get some time I'll try and source it's etymology, should be interesting!
I suppose you cannot use it in: "pass me the soap and loofah darling" way, can you?

OK, back to work!

cheers

V.

 

[scubaman]

Come on Vas, you mean to tell me you don't know who Loofah is, eh? Joke...

Some new words for me as well but think I got them.

I did some googling before getting into this and saw the negative comments regarding closed cell foam, but I was looking for a firm material so at least for now I'm satisfied with what I've got. Let's see after a seasons use...

Plenty of food for thought regarding the securing part. Luff rope would be the most secure (and tidy) way to do it for sure, although I'm sharing raf's experience in it being difficult sometimes to slide into the track. I suppose the luff rope -side has to be as stiff as possible to keep it correctly aligned. I like the webbing straps -idea and will check local shops for correct color ones.

I'm also going to look into getting the head rest area raised, it does make for a more pro look.

@Bart: Natte is very nice. Your F/B will look v. nice. I'd have gotten that had the dealer had the right color in stock.

Many thanks to everyone for your very constructive comments!

 

[jfm]

I agree all the above about luff rope on the front edge and retic foam. Luff rope/channel must be sized correctly of course

On my first Fairlines, 1999 and 2004, they used closed cell and it was hard. Since then reticulated foam became more widely available and Fairline and others switched to that

I think closed cell is philosophically wrong anyway. Sure, the water doesn't get absorbed by the foam but you still have water inside the thing, trapped between the outer vinyl/cloth and the foam, yuk. You still need a mesh base imho. If you're doing that, you might as well use reticulated foam with the bottom layer of fabric in mesh so the whole thing drains

FWIW I used movida on my bow cushions and sunbrella everywhere else, as the Sunbrella fabric is hard to keep perfect around the edges when exposed to rain and salt spray. It so happens that Movida's silver grey and Sunbrella's Natte Cadet grey 5073 are an identical colour and you cannot tell that they are different fabrics just from the colour

If using sunbrella Kivi, make sure it is Sunbrella "plus" not plain sunbrella. S'Plus has a thin vinyl membrane glued to the inside face of the cloth, to make it waterproof. The seams wont be waterproof of course but it helps to have the big surface areas waterproof

So in summary my vote would be retic foam, closed cell foam is perfectly ok though, mesh base, luff rope on the leading edge, movida vinyl, raised or articulated bit for your head as Nick said

 

[rafiki_]

Afternoon Raf

I don't agree with you on many levels here
1. luff rope shouldn't be that hard to slide into the track, if it's all been designed right. It's definitely the best solution to prevent, er, blow off
2. closed cell is too hard for comfort. honest guv. Reticulated is the way to go
3. any foredeck cushion that's got poopers down one side of it just sounds like sh*t to me!

Thanks Jimmy, this gave me a quiet giggle. The iPad wants to change most of my words, so if I don't go back and check, all my worms get mussplet.
You are very welcome to be the luff rope feeder on the Rafiki cushions

 

[crazy4557]

How thick is the foam? Hard or soft? Colour? Surface texture?

I don't know, I've just come back from the boat and can't be arsed to go back and measure right now. All I know is it's quite soft but I've not looked at the foam yet..will have a butchers tomorrow

 

[Nick_H]

Vas, this is a loofah, and every home should have one

Retic foam looks a bit like it, but without the big holes in the middle

 

[superheat6k]

I have become fed up with the annual task of removing and drying the foam inner for the flybridge mattress on my Turbo 36, which gradually soaks up trace quantities of rain all summer, so by Autumn it is saturated and very heavy.

So this year I bought four sealed cell exercise mats from Lidl, so about £50 instead of the £130 I was quoted for closed cell (hadn't heard of reticulated foam not did I see it offered when I searched for the foam as one piece) trimmed these to size with a pair of scissors and inserted them inside the vinyl cover. Softness is about the same, and I will know later this year if it works. Might try JFMs advice and fit a plastic mesh below the mattress t provide some air circulation.

SWMBO also has four new garden kneelers from the offcuts.

 

[vas]

thanks Nick, luckily we do have one at home (but only used it once, wife and daughter use it...)

regarding the perfect cushions, I'm still slightly confused:
best material for the inner part is reticulated foam, OK
best material for the top and sides is your favourite sunbrela fabric (which I guess is NOT waterproof).
best option for the underside of the cushion is a mesh so that water drains out.

Does that mean that the guy doing the sewing together of the fabric uses sanbrela (or whatever) for the top and sides, BUT sews in a mesh at the bottom? Obviously there's a zip somewhere so you can open and wash the fabric at some point.

Did I get it right or is it as sh5k says above (fabric sawn allover, siting on top of a layer of a mesh).

JFM any 360deg pic of a cushion by any chance

cheers

V.

 

[Nick_H]

Vas, all my external cushions have reticulated foam and mesh sewn on the bottom (instead of sunbrella, not as well)

The bow cushions are actually vinyl top and sides with mesh bottom, as I leave them out all summer and vinyl is easier to clean.