How does your bed fold up?

[magpie patrick]

Hi Folks,

 

I decided to do this rather than hijack the Bathroom thread. As discussed there, we have a cross bed that is about 6 feet by 5 feet and doesn't block the boat, by virtue of the rear deck extending over one end of it and then steps down into the cabin. Nice bed, most comfortable on the boat although the person on the inside is well and truly hemmed in with a bulk head at the back of the boat, the deck over them up to the waist and their sleeping partner between them and the rest of the cabin. BUT Val is 6 feet tall (I'm only 5-7) and thus bed is a tad short.

 

I thought of simply reorientating the bed but realised fairly quickly that while theres as much room as we might wish for length the steps to the back deck make for only a 3-6 wide bed. My reckoning is that any bed that doesn't block the aisle will be little more than 3-6 wide: the "double" in the dining area is only that.

 

So those of you who have beds that block the aisle, and claim they only take a minute or two to put up and put away, how've you done it? I have considred making a bed that pivots so you just swing it up by day, and that may be the final answer, but I'm looking for ideas.

 

Thanks Guys

 

Patrick

[alan_fincher]

It doesn't answer your question, but we have a fixed double along the boat that if 4 feet wide, and still allows plenty of room to walk alongside it.

 

Partly this is achieved by being quite low down, meaning that the person on the non corridor side can utilise the below gunwale area, without feeling hemmed in.

 

We used a standard sized memory foam mattress that is exceedingly comfortable, without raising the sleeping surface as much as an elaborate spring interior mattress would.

 

A limiting factor is how far back you are building - if it's too far back, the rear swim may start to encroach on available space.

[magpie patrick]

It doesn't answer your question, but we have a fixed double along the boat that if 4 feet wide, and still allows plenty of room to walk alongside it.

 

Partly this is achieved by being quite low down, meaning that the person on the non corridor side can utilise the below gunwale area, without feeling hemmed in.

 

We used a standard sized memory foam mattress that is exceedingly comfortable, without raising the sleeping surface as much as an elaborate spring interior mattress would.

 

A limiting factor is how far back you are building - if it's too far back, the rear swim may start to encroach on available space.

 

 

Thanks Alan: a good start, I'll get the tape measure out

 

We,re going to use one of the middle cabins, and the current double will be relegated to guests who are less than six feet tall. It's almost impossible to do anything else with the space because the swim, sewage holding tank and about a ton of ballast are under the cross bed!

[blackrose]

A neighbour of mine has a double bed with one end on a rope & winch. The winch is bolted through the cabin roof and they winch the foot of the bed right up to a 45 deg angle when they want to get to the storage space underneath.

Edited September 25, 2008 by blackrose

[Yoda]

Dont bother, put the woman on the roof at night!

[DaveR]

Ok, here goes.

 

The Bensham had two bench seats which, when you moved the boards from one side into the middle made a 4 foot wide bed. Not too big for myself (6' 2") and OCM who is a few inches shorter. Not only that but it was a pain in the bum making it up every night.

 

What I have now is the same two bench seats which are 2' wide - on either side of the central walkway. There is then the centre board cut in half and attached on either side using piano hinges. To support in the middle I used two breakfast bar / table legs from B&Q at 2.50 each.

 

This then gives a full width, full length bed plate onto which I have two IKEA foam matresses (800mm). Result is a king size bed. During the day the matresses stand up against the bulkhead just below the window line and are kept in the upright position by the half centre plate hinged up to rest against the matresses. The quilt lives behind one matress under the gunnel and the 4 pillow on the other side, again under the gunnel.

 

It takes two minutes to fit the legs, drop the two halves of the centre plate, lower the two matresses and throw the quilt over the top. Pillows follow soon after. There is enough room down each side for book, glasses and glass of whiskey (with an 'e') - telephone, watch alarm clock or what ever else takes your fancy.

 

During the day time the beds can fold up or just one half so OCM can have afternoon zzzz's.

 

I can make a sketch if you need, just PM me and I can e-mail it to you.

 

Dave R

[saltysplash]

We have 3' wide fixed bed base along the starboard side.

I then connected to this base on its open side a hinged 3' board and fitted 3 hinged legs to its underside.

This hinged base, when stowed folds down flat onto the fixed base, we have 2 3' wide matresses, one of which is propped against the wall the other lying flat on the base. This matress keeps the other from falling back down when in the stowed position. The bottom sheets remain on their respective mattresses and the huge quilt and pillows are laid on the flat matress. This allows the bed to be used for snoozing during the day or as a escape settee when swimbo is watching crap on telly.

 

To set the bed up...you just lift the bottom mattress up at one side, reach for the handle fitted to the hinged base and pull it up and through its 180 degree arc. The hinged legs deploy on their own. The bottom mattress is the slid across onto the hinged base and the propped mattress drops down onto the fixed base. the quilt is flicked over from the first mattress and hey presto, bed deployed, ready for whatever action you desire in less than 1 min.

 

Stowing is just the reverse but requires more faffing with the matresses to slide them back to their daytime positions so I would guess a minute and a half for stowage

[magpie patrick]

Salty and DaveR, than you very much, both given me plenty of food for thought. the drafting pencil is being sharpened ready for the design stage.

 

Yoda, I put your suggestion to Val but she pointed out that the bed is big enough if there is only her in it, as she can then sleep on it diagonally (think 62 foot boat in 60 foot lock!). So she favours me sleeping on the back deck instead

[SteveE]

My solution was a fixed bed 2' 9" wide with 3" slats fixed side to side with a 3 and a half inch gap between them. Thin ply sheets were tacked top and bottom. A sliding half bed was then made, 2' 9" wide, the slats of this being arranged so that they slide beween the slats of the fixed bed when not required, and making a 5' wide bed when slid out. A stop is required to prevent the sliding bit being yanked completely out of its location when the bed is made. I'll try and post a pic of ours if I can find one.

SteveE

[FadeToScarlet]

Our bed (about 5' wide or so) is on gas struts and folds down. When folded down it's about 3 and a bit feet from the deck, with maybe two foot six headroom above it.

 

When folded up, it gives access to a top-loading wardrobe, desk and computer chair, and chest of drawers.

 

http://nbluckyduck.blogspot.com/2008/08/in...e-our-home.html

 

Photos here.

[Jason Wilson and Family]

Yoda, I put your suggestion to Val but she pointed out that the bed is big enough if there is only her in it, as she can then sleep on it diagonally (think 62 foot boat in 60 foot lock!). So she favours me sleeping on the back deck instead

 

Yer doin it wrong!