forward V berth questions

Richie89

Active Member
Aug 20, 2012
599
Miami Beach, FL
Boat Info
450 Sundancer
Engines
Twin Cummins 480 Zeus
who's slept in one? i currently have a midship bedroom and never slept in a v berth. how are they in a big sundancer? on anchor, are the wave slaps loud? more movement? thanks for any input.
 
I slept in the v-berth of our '89 340da all the time. That v-berth is huge and we used to sleep my wife and I and 2 90lb. dogs. I never felt much motion but rarely anchored overnight, but the motion would not have bothered me unless it was extreme.

I never minded the noise of the water against the hull. I felt it was relaxing. However, we've had guests on board that it drove nuts. But these were the same people that could not have a clock ticking in the same room.

Now the one thing that did make me nuts was the burgee whipping and rattling on the pole on the bow rail. Than racket just got amplified through the hull. I solved in on the Sea Ray by putting a piece of 1 1/2" PVC pipe over it and on the 52' CPMY I bought, The Swiveler. http://originalswiveler.com/sstore/ That solved several problems.

I think it's going to depend on your sleeping habits now. Are you a light sleeper or do you sleep through a hurricane. I can fall asleep with surf pounding right outside my window. I know others that would be awake all night.
Shawn
 
There's no getting away from the sound of the waves slapping the side of the boat in a v-berth. The bow does go up and down at times as the wakes pass but it isn't too bad. I guess it just depends on where you anchor. I'm a light sleeper and by 6:30 I'm usually awake anyway so it doesn't bother me too much.
 
I sleep our v-berth and it's fine. I also like the sound of the waves on the hull; it's relaxing to me. A good day on the boat is when I can nap for an hour in the v-berth.

The size of the v-berth is variable by boat model, so it's hard to say how big they are. Some are on the center line, some are on a diagonal. For example, I find there is more room in the v-berth of my 270 AJ than a 290 AJ because of the cabin configuration. My wife and I sleep fine in ours, but the 290AJ was too small for us.

One factor for the comfort has to do with the cushions. If your v-berth converts for use as a dining area the cushions will probably be high density foam for comfort while sitting. High density foam is terrible for sleeping and feels like concrete. My v-berth cushions are high density foam and I currently use a memory foam topper. I'm planning on replacing all the cushion foam with softer foam and ditching the memory foam topper for a better night sleep.
 
we sleep in our V berth bed all the time.....on our 340DA the V berth bed is quite large and roomy....we added a 4" memory foam pad on top of the OEM bed pad which made a huge difference in comfort....the movement of the bow with waves nor the sound of water slapping against the bow is a problem for us....

however we usually only go to bed after we have consumed a sufficient amount of adult beverages so that very little bothers us.....o_O.....

cliff
 
We always sleep in on our v-berth in our 340SDA. Plenty of room. I actually enjoy the noises that the water makes against the hull. It reminds me of those sleep sounds you could play as background.

The v-berth is very different from you master mid-berth on the venture but I am sure you would adjust.

-Kevin
 
just make sure you have access from both sides of the bed... :)
 
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thanks for replies! i am debating between the 540 and 470 Sundancers as next boat. wasn't sure about the master stateroom as a V berth tho on the 470.
 
i would think a boat that big and heavy would probably rock very little while anchored or tied to a slip under normal conditions so this may not be a real concern for you.....

good luck....

cliff
 
We sleep in the V berth in our 410 all the time and it is pretty comfortable. Kind of a pain in the neck to make the bed in the morning on ours because although there is side access, it doesn’t go back that far. We recently ordered some new bedding that we hope will make it easier.
My advice when looking at boats is to consider how hard it will be to make the bed.
You do hear the slapping of the water against the hull if a boat passes by, but it’s not terrible at all and is only a factor when people don’t abide by no wake zones.
We used to sleep in the mid berth in our old boat and there is no difference in the two as far as motion.
The 419 is a heavy boat that doesn’t get rocked around, the boats you’re considering are even heavier.
We never heard any water slapping against the hull in the mid berth in the old boat, but the person on the inside had to crawl over the other person to get out of bed for things like middle of the night bathroom calls.
That isn’t the case with the V berth. Either one of us can get out of bed without disturbing the other one.
 
The first night we had our 260DA, we tried to sleep in the mid cabin. That lasted about 30 minutes. It was the V birth from then on with a 4” memory foam mattress. On our 44DB, we have only ever slept in the V birth. It is basically a full queen bed. There has been very little motion and the light slap of the water on the hull has never bothered us. We added a thin gel pad and it is great. Queen sheets and mattress pad fit very well and never had an issue.

Bennett
 
who's slept in one? i currently have a midship bedroom and never slept in a v berth. how are they in a big sundancer? on anchor, are the wave slaps loud? more movement? thanks for any input.

My 2 cents. Wave slap is an issue in forward staterooms. It is almost constant on boats that have reverse chines because no matter how small the waves (ripples) are, they make noise as they are trapped under the chine. The question is how much it bothers you or how well you adjust to it. We refer to it as gentle lapping. Does it help us sleep? nope, I sleep just as good when I don't hear it, I sleep well either way, it doesn't keep us awake. In our home marina, the larger slips are located adjacent to the fairway that leads out of the basin. We chose a slip so that our bow would be facing away from the fishing boats leaving the marina at 0 dark thirty making a wake. I don't want to listen to it if I don't have to.
That said, when we hang on the hook, we sleep fine most nights because we hang on the hook a lot and are used to it. But when the wind is blowing, or boats wake us in an anchorage, we hear it.
As far as movement goes, we really have to be pitching to notice that. On the other hand if we are hanging into the wind and surge is coming on the beam, I feel that you will be aware of roll no matter where on a boat you sleep. Hope that helps.
 

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