CD 31 folding berth

[David Brownlee]

We're seriously looking at some Cape Dory 31s, and we're a bit puzzled by the fold-down upper berth on the port side of the main cabin that appears in the earlier 31s. It seems to make a rather cramped upper berth while simulaneously rendering the port lower berth useless unless you pull it out and insert the three little legs needed to support it. Any observations from 31ers?

Ann and David Brownlee



dbrownle@sas.upenn.edu

[Larry DeMers]

Ann & David,

That berth is called a "Pipe Berth", and is the needed berth for a shorthanded crew that intends to travel at all..meaning overnight passages. It is setup with a lee cloth that the off duty person raises when they use the berth, while the other crew is at the wheel or standing watch. Since the boat is always on one heel or another, the narrow berth provides a cozy place that will hold one securely on either heel, while the boat is bouncing around in a seaway. The V-berth, while nice in an anchorage or at port, would be a real bad place to be while underway.

Cheers!

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 ~~~~'On The Hard' on Lake Superior~~~

We're seriously looking at some Cape Dory 31s, and we're a bit puzzled by the fold-down upper berth on the port side of the main cabin that appears in the earlier 31s. It seems to make a rather cramped upper berth while simulaneously rendering the port lower berth useless unless you pull it out and insert the three little legs needed to support it. Any observations from 31ers?

Ann and David Brownlee

demers@sgi.com

[David Brownlee]

Ah, but on the 31, it's not a proper pilot berth (which is what I think you mean), deep and snug--nestled behind a tall board. It's a rather frail folding affair. Has anyone modified it on their boats?

Ann and David



dbrownle@sas.upenn.edu

[Tom]

We're seriously looking at some Cape Dory 31s, and we're a bit puzzled by the fold-down upper berth on the port side of the main cabin that appears in the earlier 31s. It seems to make a rather cramped upper berth while simulaneously rendering the port lower berth useless unless you pull it out and insert the three little legs needed to support it. Any observations from 31ers?

Ann and David Brownlee

Ann and David, I have CD31 hull no. 15. There isn't any fold down berth on the port side. The backrest of the port settee is hinged at the top and folds up so that you can store things behind the backrest and then fold it down to cover them so that you can use the settee in the normal way. Alternately if you want to sleep in that berth you can latch it in the up position so that it folds against the backrest and you have a beamier bunk to sleep on. The cushion on the settee runs all the way back under the backrest so you have the the full width for a bunk.

I've never seen a 31 with the configuration you describe. Since you say it folds down rather than up, it sounds like some previous owner has modified your boat. I put a lee cloth on my port bunk so that I can use it for a seaway bunk but then it would be used with the backrest down so that you can wedge yourself in. Actually I've never used the port bunk for that purpose because I've found that the starboard bunk works better when you want to wedge in because of the table being on that side. I leave the backrest down and the double bunk pulled out then I wedge myself between the table and the backrest with seabags, bags of sails and so on. That makes a really secure sea berth.

With the V berth up forward, a double bunk on the starboard side and the single bunk on the port side you can sleep 5 adults as designed. That seems like all the bunkage one could expect in a 31 foot boat. Why would you need or why would Cape Dory put in a pilot berth on top of that? Having a pilot berth that high up wouldn't make sense anyway. People unfamiliar with the boat sometimes call the storage area above the bunk a "pilot berth", but it wasn't designed for that and is too small unless you're talking about an infant or a pet. Since it has a nice deep lee rail it kind of looks like a pilot berth so maybe that gave someone the idea to convert it to that. Maybe that would make sense if you have a whole passel of kids or maybe use it to store gear on. It sounds to me like an owner modification for a specific need.

John Nuttall (hull #28) has the original CD31 brochure and it doesn't show any arrangement like that. You've probably got a custom modification but maybe some other 31 owners will come on and straighten us all out. Hope this discussion helps.



TomCambria@mindspring.com

[David Brownlee]

Aha! This is CD 31 #1. It sounds like we're looking at a (nearly?) unique arrangement. I should have said more clearly that the hinged portion folds DOWN to form the backrest for the settee, and then UP (but not past horizontal) to form the base of the upper berth.

David



dbrownle@sas.upenn.edu

[Tom]

Aha! This is CD 31 #1. It sounds like we're looking at a (nearly?) unique arrangement. I should have said more clearly that the hinged portion folds DOWN to form the backrest for the settee, and then UP (but not past horizontal) to form the base of the upper berth.

David

This is so hard to do in cyberspace. If we could sit down with a pencil and paper it would be easy, but here's the usual arrangement:
From the settee going up the port side there is first a space of about 16 or 18 inches. Then there is the bottom of all the lockers. There is a locker with a door at both the fore and aft end with an open locker in the middle. These three lockers which stretch the whole length of the settee are about 16 inched high. Along the bottom edge there are hinges that are attached to the bottom of the lockers and the top of the backrest for the settee. When you are using the settee for sitting the backrest is down, but when you're using the settee for a bunk the backrest folds up almost vertically and is held up with a deadbolt. It is now in front of all three of the lockers. On the top of the lockers which are about a foot deep is what U;n calling a "pilot berth". Actually it is just a full length storage area that has a solid fiddle that is about 6 inches high. If you were to raise the backrest so that it was horizontal you would be 16 inches below the "pilot berth". When the backrest is fully up the top edge which is the bottom edge when it is down just comes to the bottom of the "pilot berth" and it is more or less vertical.

When yours is down does it reach all the way from the pilot berth to the settee cushions? If so, it must be a yard wide and cover all the lockers when it is down. On my layout the backrest is about 16 inches wide and when it is down you have access to all the lockers and storage areas. When it is up you have access to the "pilot berth" storage area on top and to the back of the settee under the lockers but the lockers are blocked. There are no sticks to hold anything up. The deadbolt at one end holds it in the up position and when it's down it rests against two vertical teak boards at either end. A lot of words for a simple setup, but if this doesn't do it I'll draw up something and scan it and send it to you.



TomCambria@mindspring.com

[David Brownlee]

Thanks for explaining that so clearly. Indeed, that is what we've seen in other, later CD 31s. This one, as I've said, is CD 31 #1 (it's the one photographed in the sales brochures), and it has a different arrangement that certainly looks original. Briefly, but more fully, the portside arrangement consists of

1. A settee berth whose plywood shelf does slide out about 18 inches, requiring 3 dowels to be inserted as legs. (I've also seen this arrangement, with exactly the same construction details, on several CD 30s.

2. Above the berth there is a space about 14 inches tall, topped by a shelf/bunk, but NO enclosed lockers. (There are lockers on the starboard side above the comparable shelf.)

3. attached to the outboard edge of the shelf/bunk, is a hinged panel about 14 inches wide that folds down where it can be latched into place as the backrest. It also swings up, but not past horizontal, to create a full-width single bunk in conjunction with the aforementioned shelf. In that position it is supported by two swing-out wood brackets at the ends and a lockable folding steel strut in the middle.

As I said, this all looks original. The details are of the standard CD type, and there are no scars left from removing things. It doesn't sound like anyone else has seen this arrangement, however, which does seem rather awkward. (The seat back can't swing up and out of the way, so the lower berth really has to be slid out to be used; and the upper berth is pretty unattractive). So perhaps CD abandoned it early--maybe after one boat? Anyway, we'd be glad to hear from anyone who has lived with it or altered it on their boat.

Ann and David Brownlee
(presently CD 27 #181, WINDRUSH, but looking at CD 31 #1)




dbrownle@sas.upenn.edu

[Larry DeMers]

Ah, but on the 31, it's not a proper pilot berth (which is what I think you mean),

...Nope..I meant what I said..a *pipe berth*. This is the term that it has always been refered to in the old sailing journals, perhaps due to the construction of the berth itself..which used two pipes with canvas between them. It could be collapsed and put away when not needed.
The berth on the 31 is a stranger to me, as I only chartered a 31 for a week, and do not recall even seeing this berth on that boat. Were all of the 31's so equipped?

deep and snug--nestled behind a tall board. It's a rather frail :folding affair. Has anyone modified it on their boats?

You would want something that could take a good deal of abuse since you would be ostensibly sleeping in this affair while the boat moves on through all conditions.

Cheers!

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 Sailing Lake Superior



demers@sgi.com

[Fred Adame]

I've got CD-31 #4. My arrangement appears just like #1. I don't think that "shelf" was meant to be converted into a bunk. My boat has only one barrel bolt to support it. Not quite enought in my opinion. I'll admit it does look like a pilot berth but I'd hate to be the one climbing into it, or sleeping in it for that matter. Of course the boat, when I bought it, did have a narrow cushion on the "shelf", maybe as an inducement to masochists to use it as a berth.
Fred Adame CD-31 Astrea



fnav@earthlink.net

[Catherine Monaghan]

David,

Since a picture is worth a 1000 words, would it be possible for you to get a couple snapshots of the berth in question in its different configurations? If you don't have a way of posting them on a website for the rest of us to see, please send the photos to me and I'll post them for you. Once we all see them, maybe someone out there can provide some help, suggestions, etc.

Send me an e-mail if you'd like to send the photos for posting.

catherine_monaghan@merck.com
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

We're seriously looking at some Cape Dory 31s, and we're a bit puzzled by the fold-down upper berth on the port side of the main cabin that appears in the earlier 31s. It seems to make a rather cramped upper berth while simulaneously rendering the port lower berth useless unless you pull it out and insert the three little legs needed to support it. Any observations from 31ers?

Ann and David Brownlee

catherine_monaghan@merck.com