Very High V Berth

[BlueMoon]

Folks, I've been looking at photos of other 382 v berths and none seem as high as ours. We have hull #5 and it is quite a challenge to launch one's self into bed.

The wood and trim seem to be original, and if I stick my head into the port cabinet, it seems like the over - under berth arrangement but just decked over.

Anybody else have this setup? It's a real head banger.

 

[jimcleary]

Our 382 (#53 1978) came with the over and under v-bunk arrangement. When our two boys were younger, it was a perfect solution. No arguing over whose feet are on whose side. Each boy had his own space. Life was good! When the boys no longer sailed with us we converted the bunks to a single berth with the higher of the over and under configuration as the new level. From your photo it appears you have done the same. Although it looks like your mattress is thicker then our 4" cushions. When the conversion was done we ended up with a large area of storage below the bunk. On our trips down the ICW to Florida and the Bahamas this allowed us to carry a lot of staple food items and many spare parts. We now have a 36 gallon holding tank up forward under the bunk. Bonnie (the Admiral) and I are not large people. I'm 5'8" and she is 5'1". There is a good deal of horizontal room in the bunk but not a lot of headroom. We are quite comfortable in the bunk. Our main issue is the getting in and out as we get older. A simple stool and step arrangement makes the process simpler. She keeps looking at photos of a Gozzard 44 that has a v-bunk that you can get in and out of without climbing. If only we hit the lottery.

Jim

 

[dave_a]

That looks identical to my 1982 383 model. Except we had a plastic step stool tucked under the berth to help my 5'0" wife get in and out. Me too. I had the 40gal water tank under the berth.

 

[mpearson]

Pretty sure that looks just like our 1984 384. I think it's good for my aging body to do "boat yoga" and fold itself into different odd positions. When living on the boat and/or working in it's various little spaces. I'm 6' tall and "burly".

 

[jimcleary]

Here is a photo of Dana's V-bunk berth (without the insert). I've been searching for for this in my files for days now. The next time I get out to the yard, I'll photo the stool and step arrangement.

Jim

 

[BlueMoon]

Thanks Jim, As you mentioned, I do think my mattress is a lot thicker. I had been judging other v berths by the distance under the port shelf. For some reason, the PO made the mattress all one piece with no cut out. Changing that is on the list since struggling with a solid mattress is a pain.

 

[jimcleary]

Bonnie had a mattress pad made for the bunk at a place in Essex CT. It adds less then an inch to the cushions but make it feel more like a mattress. I can imagine that the solid mattress would be difficult to get under into the lockers.

Jim

 

[john english]

I removed the port shelf and replaced it with a small net storage hammock and another one the starboard side. To get into the berth there is a single folding mast step. The bunk has 6" cushions with a 2" tempur foam topper. A fold-able body is however a requirement. I removed both doors 30 years ago as they were always just in the way.

 

[Keefer Douglas]

One of the things that had been bugging me most about Ripple was the relative difficulty of getting in/out of the V berth when the triangle cushion is in place. So I took advantage of the COVID quarantine to fashion a fold-up step out of a couple odd ends of teak board we had lying around. Only really possible in this configuration because we had already removed the door, which we never closed anyway and found was just in the way in an already tight space. May add a curtain at some point to restore at least the option of semi-privacy, but I digress.

I must say this has made getting in/out with the triangle cushion in place a much more pleasant process.