I'm Just Trying To Be Practical While On The Hard, Making V Berth Sheets

My mother, was really good at a lot of things, she could cook like no other, sew beautiful quilts, but most of all I loved the way she made a bed. I know it sounds silly, make a bed, yes, make a bed! My mother was one of those women that hung bed sheets on a clothes line and when she took them off they smelled like heaven trapped in cotton. She would then iron her sheets, don’t laugh, she loved her sheets as crisp as could be. Seriously when you slid into one of her freshly made beds after a warm bath you knew you were going to have a blissful nights sleep. Even though, I’ve never been as ardent as my mother when it comes to making a bed, I love a well made bed and a I love a good sleep

Now imagine sleeping on a boat in the Caribbean, gently rolling waves lightly tapping on the side of the boat. Stop! Think, tires screeching, breaking glass. I have trouble sleeping on the boat and I think its because of that dam bow berth. I will forgive Marc’s snoring just for this one time, because for this blog I want to write about making the bow berth bed. OK stop rolling your eyes, I don’t have to much time on my hands, I just need to have a good sleep, says this author at 04:01

Our bow berth is the weirdest V shape possible, 80” on the port side, 89” on the starboard, 10” across the toe and 69” at the head. I’m either jammed up on one side where the linens bunch up in a lumpy layer or sleeping on the other side clinging to  bare mattress where the sheet has popped off. 

If sleeping in the bow berth is not the best, making a bed in the bow berth is just plain nasty.  I gather the bottom sheet, throw myself forward toward the toe of the bed, flop around, scooch ahead try to wiggle and tuck the toe in, flop to the port side tuck that side in and as quickly as possible scooch to the starboard side before the port side has popped out. Basically, I push, pull and fold my way into making a bed, bang my head, have a hot flash, curse like an old trucker, then I beg Marc for help. 

It only took me two boats and way to many nasty bow berth beds to make to motivate me into making sheets for the V berth  and you know it wasn’t as daunting a task as I had built in my mind, And you know what, I am really proud of myself it wasn’t hard, they fit like a glove.  I can’t take all the credit, after diligently scouring the internet for what looked to me the easiest pattern i could find, I came across an article A Finley Fitted Berth by Kathryn Munn-Hodgkins, 1-36 Mischief and modified it for my needs. 

A Finely Fitted Berth

By Kathryn Munn-Hodgkins, I-36 Mischief

  Materials List:

• Two (2) King (not Cal) size flat sheets in the highest thread count you can afford. Shop white sales for that next set of sheets. Pre-wash the sheets for best results.

• 1/2inchelastic for the bottom fitted sheet and foot of the top sheet. You will need 6.5 yards for the bottom sheet and 1.5 yards for the top sheet for a total of 8 yards.

Steps:

1. Measure your V-berth using the sheet templates with this article. Mischief has a 1981 hull and the measurements in the templates are hers.

2. Transfer the measurements to the flat sheets using fabric marker and yardstick. Better yet, make a pattern you can reuse. Tip: Make a half pattern, fold the sheet in half and pin the pattern along the fold.

3. Cut out the bottom and top sheets from the flat sheets. Tip: For the top sheet, use the finished end of the flat sheet as the hem along the width (head) of the top sheet.

4. Sew French seams at the 4 corners of the bottom sheet and 2 corners of the top sheet. French seams means sewing the wrong sides of the fabric together, turning the seam inside out, and sewing another seam, trapping the raw edges inside. You can find detailed tutorials online if you are rusty.

5. Make a 3/4” casing for the elastic along the edge of the bottom sheet. Be sure to leave a 2” opening to insert the elastic. Make a 3/4” casing for the top sheet around the foot of the sheet and 20” inches up each side.

6. Insert the elastic in the bottom sheet casing using a safety pin to pull it through, sew the ends of the elastic together, and sew the casing closed. Tip: To more easily find the foot of the bottom sheet when you are making up the berth, sew a small button in the middle of the foot, close to the casing.

Back Where We Belong

Today we returned to DevOcean after our 17 month unplanned break, both Marc and I are ecstatic. Seriously, we didn’t know what to expect and we were worried. Anyone who follows this blog knows that when we returned in 2014 after a six month hiatus, we were met with a mess. The port lights in the salon had cracked, causing a lot interior damage, so much so, that we spent six weeks and two days on the hard. Now I’m not the most patient person when I am unhappy, and living on a boat, on the hard, was just plain awful. To this day I am still apologizing to Marc about my behavior and he is still cashing in favors, in exchange for my less than stellar performance. 

How worried we were was clear from the tone of our many conversations during the drive. We gave each other pep talks, solutions to probable problems, alternatives we could live with. We rejigged our budget expecting the worse. checked our attitudes and became each others cheer leaders.

 Marc was worried about the shape of DevOcean and all the work that awaited us. 

I was worried about another extended stay on the hard, For my non sailing friends, a  definition of living on the hard is, a boat that should be swaying gently in the water but is mounted on stands enabling the captain and crew to repair the ship. Living on the boat during haul out is incredibly challenging and not for the weak at heart. The head is dry, the stairs are high, yard dust is flying, tools are everywhere and your small living space becomes even smaller. Think engine, hoisted in  the middle of your kitchen. As I’ve said,  we’ve done this before and it wasn’t pretty so this time much to the demise of our pocket-book and benefit of our marriage we rented an air B & B for the first two weeks of our return.

So what really did happen when we saw DevOcean… Surprisingly to me, I had an overwhelming feeling that I was home. I think if Marc could have hugged her, he would have, and I think he did when I wasn’t looking, this hiatus has been way to long.  Honestly she looks pretty good. Many of our fears were for nothing. The shade cloth worked really well and we have very little damage. Of course, there is the green mossy stuff that is covering the outside surfaces, but that will wash away pretty easily. The inside held up very well with little show of her sitting for an extended period of time. Often, throughout our first day I heard Marc talking to himself with pleasure that most of the systems are still working. We enjoyed poking around and getting reacquainted with our much loved boat, our home, our traveling companion. Now what will tomorrow bring…