spending the night on a Typhoon - weekender, of course.

[bifcondor]

Any words to the wise or ideas about how this will work best. I have spent many weekends tent camping in the mountains but I was just imagining sleeping down below in my typhoon weekender and it seemed a bit cramped. I thought about trying to rig some type of platform across the benches in the cockpit but where could I store this while sailing to the anchorage of my dreams?
Also, commercial boom tents are out of the question due to cost. I have the stoves, sleeping bags and a cooler, but where and how do I lay the body down after a day of sailing?

[Markst95]

I've spent as much as 6 nights in a row on my Typhoon. Its definitely tight but has been quite comfortable. I don't have my V berth cushions, I sleep on a self inflating mattress from ll bean. I also sleep head towards the bow. I'm not a small guy either, 6"1" 250lbs. My son is 11 and fits in the quarter berth. If your used to camping its really not that bad. A battery powered fan or two helps.

[GLutzow]

My wife, myself and my oldest daughter, then 1-6, spent many weekends "camping" on board our TYW. It was tight but more than doable and in good weather sleeping in the cockpit is not out of order.

[Jeff and Sarah]

In one of Don Casey's book he talks about making a teak grate for the cockpit sole that could also be rested at seat level on long teak cleats. He was talking about using it for the exact thing you mentioned- a platform connecting the benches for sleeping that actually stores well.

It's in his 100 Fast and Easy Boat Improvements.

[mike ritenour]

Our open cockpit ty, "Dorothy" has full length benches and an awesome cockpit sole to lay out on. Nice boom tent and we are snug as a bug, in a rug.
Rit

[John Danicic]

I made a full cockpit cover for Moana, my beloved Typhoon. It had insect screens (shown on the photo above). We weathered quite comfortably, several high wind thunderstorms at anchor on Lake Superior.

I also made as Jeff and Sarah suggested, cleats to hold plywood and cushions that completely turned the cockpit into one big bed. Ah, the luxury of it all!

Only slept in the cabin a few times. The quarter berths felt like coffins, and the bow berth was only a bit better for one but ludicrous for two. The quarters were a good place to store the cockpit spacers and cushions.

Sail on

John Danicic

CD36 - Mariah- #124 on the hard under a coating of ice.
Lake Superior- The Apostle Islands
CDSOA #655
Sail on

[Dino]

Our entire cabin is a V berth. We built a platform over the benches and the area between them to the height of the V berth, cut foam to raise that area to the height of the V berth cushions and topped everything with a 2" queen size memory foam mattress. It's really, really nice and comfy in there. Seriously.

Three lengths of 2x4 rest widthwise on the benches, one just forward of the companionway, one just aft of the V berth, the other halfway between. Three pieces of 3/4" white oak plywood rest on top of them, one over each bench and one covering the space between them. All pieces are loose, but after assembling them galvanized nails are inserted into holes drilled through the plywood into the 2x4s to align everything and keep it from shifting. It disassembles and stows easily - the plywood stores under the V berth cushions, the additional cushions on top and the 2x4s just shove together at the companionway or store in a quarter berth.

A bonus is that the middle piece of plywood does double duty as a very nice cockpit table. It is supported by the bottom two hatchboards in their normal positions, extending a few inches forward of them. That allows the top hatch board to be fitted just two inches forward of its normal position, wedged between the table top and the bottom of the companionway opening. This cantilevers the tabletop out into the cockpit very sturdily, requiring no support at the cockpit end, allowing for easy movement.

Once again ... It's really, really nice and comfy in there. Seriously.

[Sea Hunt]

Our entire cabin is a V berth. We built a platform over the benches and the area between them to the height of the V berth, cut foam to raise that area to the height of the V berth cushions and topped everything with a 2" queen size memory foam mattress. It's really, really nice and comfy in there. Seriously.

Three lengths of 2x4 rest widthwise on the benches, one just forward of the companionway, one just aft of the V berth, the other halfway between. Three pieces of 3/4" white oak plywood rest on top of them, one over each bench and one covering the space between them. All pieces are loose, but after assembling them galvanized nails are inserted into holes drilled through the plywood into the 2x4s to align everything and keep it from shifting. It disassembles and stows easily - the plywood stores under the V berth cushions, the additional cushions on top and the 2x4s just shove together at the companionway or store in a quarter berth.

A bonus is that the middle piece of plywood does double duty as a very nice cockpit table. It is supported by the bottom two hatchboards in their normal positions, extending a few inches forward of them. That allows the top hatch board to be fitted just two inches forward of its normal position, wedged between the table top and the bottom of the companionway opening. This cantilevers the tabletop out into the cockpit very sturdily, requiring no support at the cockpit end, allowing for easy movement.

Once again ... It's really, really nice and comfy in there. Seriously.

And when "Mama" needs to use "the facilities" in the middle of the night they are located ..................

[Dino]

Just kidding, that's still a few years off. I hope?

Seriously, we don't do that. Well, wee doo, but not on the Typhoon. That's for day sailing and napping. Overnights are done on our son's CD 28 which has a proper head.

But we do have a nice porty stored on our Ty in the normal place. So we could disassemble the bed and do our business with no headroom, ventilation or dignity or put it out in the cockpit at bedtime. Why compromise comfort for hours for convenience for minutes?

[Troy Scott]

Put the porta-potty in the cockpit before retiring. Sleeping below works. You need to make some (foldable) "blocks" to extend the Vee-berth aft into the settee area. That and a removable cross-piece will make for a much bigger bed. All this should fold and slip under the vee-berth cushions during the day. You need thicker cushions, too. All this is easy.

Also, a small dodger looks good on a Typhoon Weekender. It not only looks good, it extends the living area. You can even have it made with a weighted mosquito curtain on the aft side. The tent is a workable idea for some folks, but I never did it because it is just "too much stuff". The foldable vee-berth extenders, OTOH, make sense and are easily made to disappear during the day. A sunshower or two left on the foredeck during a sunny day will provide warm cockpit showers in the evening. Just use them before they get cold... I added a removable ventilator to the foredeck of my Ty. That helped a lot. I also had a nice DC electric fan. There is a good place to strap down a battery under the cockpit.

[karonoko]

I sailed Typhoons for many years out of Deer Isle, Maine in a "summer camp" situation - I hung a hammock from the gooseneck aft and it worked great. The kids all got knocked out of their 'berths" by the lobstermen in the morning (except the l,ittle guiy on the sole) and i just swung there happy as can be.

[Bob B]

We stayed a few nights earlier this summer. Too hot now. I made a screen for the companionway and we put a fan in the opening. It made it less confined feeling. I like the idea of leveling out the V-berth sides. We just stacked up some food boxes and a boat cushion or two to make the bunk longer. We have a compression post so the V berth is split. I also put the porta pottie out in the cockpit. It works but we have camped for many years in very confined spaces and been holed up for several days.

Bob B.
CD Typhoon Liberty
Lancaster, SC