Bedding for v-berth

boater2065

Active Member
Jul 30, 2018
222
Everett, WA
Boat Info
Searay
Engines
merc
What do people out there use for bedding in their v-berth bed? The few times we have stayed on board, we have just thrown blankets down over the stock cushions and it's been alright, manageable for a few nights. But i'm curious if anyone uses sheets, or has custom made sheets or uses mattress toppers etc? I have seen some websites for yacht bedding, but holy cow it's expensive and for the amount of time we sleep on the boat, i can't sense spending that much money. Overall, just looking to see what folks out there use and if there are any homemade/cheap ways to improve sleep comfort.

Thanks,
Jeff
 
A lot of us on here have added a mattress topper to our beds. A very inexpensive way to do it I learned from others on this site: Buy a solid foam topper from Walmart or Costco, mark the shape using existing mattress and a sharpie. Trim to fit using an electric carving knife. Yes, one of those old-school knives with two blades that slide back and forth. This cuts foam very nicely. The whole job is about 30 minutes.

There are contoured bottom sheets that are made for v-berths. Your boat probably came with a set, but it sounds like you don't have them. I'm sure others will chime in on where to find new ones, or you can just buy a normal non-contoured set and tuck them in - which is what we do.
 
Thank you for the tips. I will definitely look into the mattress topper idea. The boat is an 02' that i bought used this past summer and there are no sheets with it. I will also look around for those sheets, though if anyone know of a good website, please let me know.
 
I'm no help on the sheets. We were a little more primitive on the 290: We did the memory foam topper on the factory cushion, and placed sleeping bags above the memory foam. The sleeping bags were unfolded to be flat. One sleeping bag was soft side up to be the bottom sheet, and the other was soft side down to be the blanket. We found ways to tuck the edges of the sleeping bags during the day to tidy it up. The setup was pretty comfortable.
This way if wanted wanted to use the v-berth for sitting, just rolled it all away (topper, sleeping bags and all).
 
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What do people out there use for bedding in their v-berth bed? The few times we have stayed on board, we have just thrown blankets down over the stock cushions and it's been alright, manageable for a few nights. But i'm curious if anyone uses sheets, or has custom made sheets or uses mattress toppers etc? I have seen some websites for yacht bedding, but holy cow it's expensive and for the amount of time we sleep on the boat, i can't sense spending that much money. Overall, just looking to see what folks out there use and if there are any homemade/cheap ways to improve sleep comfort.

Thanks,
Jeff
Before we had a boat with a queen sized bed and innerspring mattress, we used two queen sized comforters. They were both cream colored, nice quality products from Bed, Bath and Beyond. We tucked one into the cushions and used the other as a blanket on top. Cost was maybe 200 bucks for both. They were easy to launder but we took them to a dry cleaner. Worked very well.
 
Hey one more idea that my wife came up with. If you put some rug gripper pad between the topper and the mattress it will keep it from sliding when you get on and off the bed, or when there is other activity on the bed ;-)
 
Since my v-berth doubled as a dinette the foam was too hard for comfortable sleeping. I got a double bed size memory foam topper from Amazon and cut it to fit the v-berth. I cut it down the middle to stack it, than rolled it up and tied with a rope when not in use. Vastly improved sleeping comfort.

I also made a custom fitted sheet from a queen size flat sheet. I cut and sewed it to match the cushions, then sewed in a elastic edge. It wasn’t perfect be worked pretty well. Then we used some blankets on top.
 
For bottoms sheet I used a flat sheet and tucked it in. Then I graduated to using some elastic straps with clips that I got at Bed Bath and Beyond to hold it in place.
We slept under another flat sheet and regular blanket.
My boat came with a fitted bed cover and shams. We had it dry cleaned and used it for the first season but it wasn’t to our taste.
We went to the boat show and ordered a new bed cover before the start of the second season along with some matching shams and throw pillows.
While I had the credit card out I splurged and added two bottom fitted sheets to the order. One to use and the other as a spare to switch off with.
Expensive package? Yup! But the bed looks better when made and the fitted sheets are not only easier to handle but they stay nice and tight when we sleep on them.
We still sleep under a regular flat sheet and blanket at night. The bed cover and fancy pillows come off the bed when it’s time to ready for sleep and the flat sheet and blanket take their place.
If you only need a fitted bottom sheet, even though they are pricey, I recommend getting one. It will make life much easier.
If you are handy with a sewing machine, or know someone who is, you can always just make one or two out of larger flat sheets and some elastic.
 
We put a mattress topper on the stock mattress (used electric knife to customize). The bed came with a custom cut comforter that fit the congif of the bed perfectly but it was in an olive green color which both couldn't stand. I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and bought a very nice set, bed in a bag with the matching extra pillows, etc. I took the new comforter and the old one to old canvas guy and for $75 he customized our new one perfectly. As for the sheets, we use the sheet keepers that clip onto the bottom sheet from side to side keeping it in place and tight.
 
We purchased a queen size 3" memory foam topper from Walmart and cut it to the odd shape of the 290's v-berth.

I like the rug gripper pad idea sb!
 
We bought a 3" Serta Cool gel memory foam mattress (I think it was from Kohl's) and cut it to fit. We got the comforter and pillow cases off Etsy.
 

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There must be a big difference in the bow birth between a 240 and a 260. We tried sleeping in the bow birth one night. Never again. I love my wife. But, I can't sleep when we are breathing in each others ears. We spend every weekend on our boat and sleep in the aft birth. But, we did add memory foam and use a queen linen set back there. We will use the v-birth for grandbabies if they visit for the night. 8 year olds can sleep anywhere.
 
I invested in a custom fitted V berth sheet for my 280DA. It was expensive and was very difficult to put on. Now we use queen size flat sheets and tuck them under. Works fine.
 
There must be a big difference in the bow birth between a 240 and a 260. We tried sleeping in the bow birth one night. Never again. I love my wife. But, I can't sleep when we are breathing in each others ears. We spend every weekend on our boat and sleep in the aft birth. But, we did add memory foam and use a queen linen set back there. We will use the v-birth for grandbabies if they visit for the night. 8 year olds can sleep anywhere.

Yes it’s a pretty significant difference. My wife and I did ok in the vberth. We didn’t have an aft berth. We used to put a double size inflatable mattress in the cockpit and have the kids stay in the vberth. Despite being smaller someone they always ended up in each other’s space.

The best sleep I ever got on the boat was when my son was little and he needed a nap. I used to go down in the cabin to get him settled and take a nap right along with him.
 
after 2 years fighting standard sheets and a pretty firm mattress, I am doing a combo of all the above. Bought a King 2" memory foam topper and cut to shape. It came with a mattress pad that I'm using straps to hold in place. I bought a set of custom sheets from here https://www.quahogbaybedding.com/.

The best part so far is the fitted sheet has a draw string that pulls tight underneath and (hopefully hold is place. Nothing is easy to put on in a V Berth...
 
On my 26' we slept in the aft cabin. Used a 3" memory topper and a queen bed in a bag set.

On my 37', we sleep in the forward berth, again on a 3" memory foam topper with a queen bedding set, using the sheets straps under the mattress.
 
We bought a 3" Serta Cool gel memory foam mattress (I think it was from Kohl's) and cut it to fit. We got the comforter and pillow cases off Etsy.
That looks great and is what the Queen and I are looking to do. Thanks for the pictures!
 
On my 26' we slept in the aft cabin. Used a 3" memory topper and a queen bed in a bag set.

On my 37', we sleep in the forward berth, again on a 3" memory foam topper with a queen bedding set, using the sheets straps under the mattress.

We had been using the sheet suspenders/straps underneath and last week the wife said she was done with that and now we have a zippered bottom sheet with one extra sheet to zip in when the first needs to be washed.
 

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