Internet Sailor
Member
To paraphrase Edwin Starr.
Anyway, quarter berths. I am amply supplied with two of them on my 25' Westerly Tiger but, as I progress with the refit, I find myself sitting across the cabin looking at them, and considering their true purpose in life, rather than their theoretical one. For instance, when was the last time anyone used them to sleep in? More often you'll find sails, luggage and who knows what else stuffed down them. Surfboards, even! But not off-watch crew.
I'm alive to the need for a safe berth in a seaway, but I have a plan for that. My boat originally had a drop-down table that filled in the L-shaped dinette to form a double berth. I'm going to restore that capability, not by building a really big and awkward table, but by having two planks which lock together along their long side to form the infill, creating the double. But they will also lock end to end, forming a long, low bulkhead that I can fit along the length of the saloon berth, thus creating a safe berth that the occupant can't roll out of. If my description isn't clear, I might attempt a diagram...
Anyway, I think I can safely lose a quarter berth as a result. And this is good because I want extra storage space, and I would like to incorporate a dedicated nav station because using the table for this is just a pain.
I've seen a few ideas for chart tables that slide into the quarter berth, like this:
The table slides back into the berth like a drawer. Obviously, this will reduce the height of the berth, and make access to the berth more difficult (a shallower slot to slide oneself into). Thus, it's unlikely it would ever be used as a berth - so why not bite the bullet and simply redesign it as an efficient storage space, instead?
And in case you're from Mars and never heard the music the thread title is spoofing:
Anyway, quarter berths. I am amply supplied with two of them on my 25' Westerly Tiger but, as I progress with the refit, I find myself sitting across the cabin looking at them, and considering their true purpose in life, rather than their theoretical one. For instance, when was the last time anyone used them to sleep in? More often you'll find sails, luggage and who knows what else stuffed down them. Surfboards, even! But not off-watch crew.
I'm alive to the need for a safe berth in a seaway, but I have a plan for that. My boat originally had a drop-down table that filled in the L-shaped dinette to form a double berth. I'm going to restore that capability, not by building a really big and awkward table, but by having two planks which lock together along their long side to form the infill, creating the double. But they will also lock end to end, forming a long, low bulkhead that I can fit along the length of the saloon berth, thus creating a safe berth that the occupant can't roll out of. If my description isn't clear, I might attempt a diagram...
Anyway, I think I can safely lose a quarter berth as a result. And this is good because I want extra storage space, and I would like to incorporate a dedicated nav station because using the table for this is just a pain.
I've seen a few ideas for chart tables that slide into the quarter berth, like this:
The table slides back into the berth like a drawer. Obviously, this will reduce the height of the berth, and make access to the berth more difficult (a shallower slot to slide oneself into). Thus, it's unlikely it would ever be used as a berth - so why not bite the bullet and simply redesign it as an efficient storage space, instead?
And in case you're from Mars and never heard the music the thread title is spoofing:
