The original layout of the REVENGE cabin was to have two separate berths, tapering together toward the bow. Between the berths an optional Porta-Potti could be mounted. The Porta-Potty could be covered by a nicely crafted mahogany wood filler piece that could also be inverted and form a small table.
Chris and I were not too keen on sleeping in a cabin with a Porta-Potty in the same area, and we did not need the table function of the wood filler piece, although I did admire its very ingenious two-function design. Instead we wanted to create one, large, queen-size berth in the cabin.
I made some careful measurements for a design for a new V-berth filler, and with the help of a friend, Gordie, and his carpenter shop, and some wood he had laying around, we put together a new filler panel for the cabin. My measurements must have been accurately drawn, as the actual filler panel we made from them fit very well. The panel is shown in three illustrations below.
- Fig. 1. A new berth filler panel for a REVENGE W-T. This creates a queen-size bunk in the cabin.
- berthFillerPanelMatressInPlace.jpeg (152.16 KiB) Viewed 2636 times
As shown in FIgure 1, the new filler panel fills the gap between the original berths and original cushions. Chris was in charge of the mattiress. She found a local source for the foam (at place called "House of Foam"), and had them cut out the foam to the required shape. The shop also did the upholstery, using some fabric they had to upholster the foam. Of course, there was no chance of getting an exact match to the Boston Whaler fabric, but the closest approximation was used, and it has similar colors. Plaid material was very scarce, even back in the early 2000's when this cushion was made, and probably even scarcer today in 2023. The mattress is a nice tight fit into the space between the bunks. As you can almost see, the mattress and panel extend aft to butt against the aft bulkhead of the cabin.
As much as possible, Chris comments, the foam filler piece in the mattress should be matched to the height of the side cushions. Our mattress is just slightly taller than the side cushions. This tends to make a sleeper roll out of the center and onto the side cushions.
After using the bed for some years, we decided the mattress needed to have more foam. A second piece of foam was cut to the shape of the entire larger bed area. This single large piece of foam is just stuffed into a cotton cover for a King-size duvet. The cotton duvet cover becomes the top surface that we actually sleep on. In this way you can take the foam out of the cover, wash the cover, and easily get the foam back into the cover. To store the foam, roll up this big piece of foam and stuff it into a deep rectangular shipping box (that we found somewhere). The extra foam layer is then stored in a bedroom closet.
- Fig. 2. The filler panel and mattress stowed forward to give access to the cabin.
- berthFillerPanelStowed.jpeg (157.09 KiB) Viewed 2636 times
As shown in Figure 2, there is just enough room in the cabin to move the filler and mattress out of the sleeping position and stow them forward, against the forward bulkhead of the cabin. In actual use, we generally don't keep the filler and mattress onboard unless we are planning to be sleeping on the boat. We store them ashore: the most convenient place we have found to store the filler panel and the mattress is under the queen-size bed in our bedroom. This way we never have to ponder: where did we put that boat mattress and filler?
Figure 2 also shows how the filler panel rests into the space between the bunks. The forward end of filler panel rests on the molded section of the hull liner that is at the top of the foot well. This is the same height that the wooden hatch covers rest at, and they are also made of 1/2-inch plywood. This design makes the base height for all the cushions the same. The aft end also rests on the molded tops of the cabin footwell, but we use a rubber pad as a filler to adjust the height and to avoid scratching the gel coat finish. (The rubber pad was cut from a computer mouse pad--remember those in the days before a laser mouse? )
In general, when sleeping most people prefer a level bed or if there is a slight incline, they prefer to sleep with their feet lower than their head. Exactly how this will work out in the cabin of a REVENGE depends on the boat's static trim when you and your mate are in the cabin. Because our REVENGE has a Whaler Drive and a single that is rather a lightweight engine, the trim on the boat when we are both in the cabin is decidedly slightly down by the bow, and thus we sleep feet-toward-the-bow.
Now for some details of the construction. The main piece of the V-berth filler panel is made from one piece of nominal "half-inch" plywood, cut into a symmetrical trapezoid. The dimensions are:
Width of filler at aft end: 30-5/8-inches
Width of filler at bow end: 14-1/2-inches
Length of panel at centerline: 40-1/8-inch
If duplicating this, I would cut the panel slightly larger and test fit into your REVENGE, then trim as needed. As it turns out, a panel of this size is just about as large as can be fitted though the companion way opening; is a rather close fit, but it does make it. This was not tested before building the filler panel.
- Fig. 3. The filler panel inverted to show the construction of the panel. Because the panel is inverted, the wide end is now resting on the trim piece, so it sitting higher than it would if in the normal position.
- berthFillerPanelUnderside.jpg (97.01 KiB) Viewed 2636 times
As shown in Figure 3, there are three additional pieces of 1/2-inch plywood on the underside of the filler panel so as to be reinforcements. These pieces are all 2-5/8-inch wide. How we picked that number is unknown; it was probably what was left of the plywood after we cut off the main piece.
The two long pieces fit flush with the sides of the filler; they start flush with the aft edge of the filler, and then stop short of the front edge of the filler by 1-7/8-inches.
A third 2-5/8-inch wide piece runs across the panel in roughly the middle, starting 19-inches from the aft edge.
The three plywood reinforcement pieces are glued in place to the main plywood filler panel.
There is a fourth piece of wood that is a part of the filler panel. An oak board (specifically chosen for strength) that is 5/8-inch by 1-5/8-inch is fastened across the top edge of the filler panel along its rear face with eight counter-sunk oval head screw fasteners. This acts as a stiffener to support the long span between the edges of the filler panel. It also acts a a fiddle to keep the mattress from shifting aft on the filler. For added style points, the upper end of the board is symmetrical sawn narrower than the bottom; this gives the board a more finished and yachty look. To keep the mahogany motif, I stained the panel to a suitable brown hue. I was always planning on applying several coats of varnish, but somehow that never gets done
Chris and I have spent probably more than 125-nights sleeping aboard with this arrangement. The bed has always been quite comfortable, although now that I am about to turn 73, the bed does not seem quite a comfy as it used to when I was 20-years-younger.
Getting into the cabin with the this filler panel and bed in position requires you to go down the companionway backwards and immediately sit down on the edge of the bed facing aft. From there you maneuver into a sleeping position, feed toward the bow.
Getting out of the cabin from a sleeping position is a bit more gymnastic. You have to swing your legs up and over the other sleeper, then jostle yourslef toward the companionway. The metal rod that runs across the companion way--which is actually part of the slide for the retracting ladder--becomes a great handhold, and you can pull yourself toward companionway using it.
Next you get your feet over the end of the mattress and into the footwell, and then lean forward and reach out with two hands. Then you can grab the teak trim on the starboard side of the companionway, and hoist yourself up to the deck. This sounds complicated, and maybe when I am 80-years-old it will be more complicated, but for now it works.
The space under the filler panel on the floor of the footwell is used for dry storage. The footwell should remain dry as long as the drain plug for the cabin sump is inserted tightly, and as long as the bulkhead between the cabin and the anchor locker remains well-sealed and water-tight.
When cruising, this space becomes the dry food locker. For 20-years we have been using the same rectangular cardboard box that has been cut so it becomes a a little open-top locker and fits perfectly into the space for maybe 20-years. That is a testimony to how dry the footwell has been for us these last 20-years; your outcome might vary.
When you want to get something out of the food locker, you enter the companionway facing forward, sit down on the cockpit deck, pull out the box about a 16-inches (as far as it can go), and rummage around until you find what you were looking for. In the worst case, when the locker is packed full and what you want is at the very bow end of the locker, you just roll up the mattress, lift the filler panel, and reach further into the locker.
I hope I have correctly explained all the elements of this panel. Most of the design was worked out as it was being built, with my carpenter friend doing most of the thinking. Gordie is also a boater, so he was completely familiar with the ultimate purpose and use of the wooden object he was sawing and shaping into a very useful accessory for my REVENGE.