BETTER BUNKS
Richard Rogers rethinks his twin V-berths to double configuration ‘without that annoying triangular insert’ aboard his Morgan Giles 30
Forepeak V-berths are all very well but many of us prefer them set up as a double. The hassle is that awkward-to-stow triangle of wood that fills the gap between the single bunks to enable conversion. It’s horrible, isn’t it?
Like that huge removable dining table your boat came with, it lives nowhere in particular. And when you do find it and fit it, it cuts the height of the doorway to the forepeak in half. Getting in and out of the double berth is gymnastics at best, and at worst a fight with your partner involving knees and elbows.
Then there’s its buddy, the triangular cushion, which similarly has nowhere sensible to live, and so is always damp and smelly because it’s been stuffed out of sight somewhere cold.
There’s a better way. No loose and awkward triangle of wood commuting around the boat, and no need to compromise the height of the doorway to the forepeak. No smelly cushion either.
The basics
The alternative design is simple. Offset a double bunk to one side of the forepeak, and make a trapezoid insert that flips over to restore the single bunks if you want them.
To convert from the double bunk to the two singles and vice versa, you simply flip over the insert–the trapezium of ply in the foreground (right) without holes in.
The big advantage of this design is that in both set ups you can get in and out of the cabin using the full height of the door.
Also, the trapezoid insert is used in both configurations. It’s always in the forepeak as part of the bunk and never has to be stored elsewhere. Its cushion, which also flips over, never needs to be stored anywhere else either. It should stay dry and fragrant too, because it lives permanently in a well-ventilated spot. The idea works best if the doorway to your forepeak is to one side of centre, but the idea can still work if it is not exactly like that, with a bit of tweaking.
BEFORE
AFTER
We were lucky with Aurora, she came with the doorway in the right place. When we rebuilt her we kept the doorway where it was.
The one thing we did differently was build a watertight locker in the forward half of the forepeak, which can support the forward half of the bunk(s).
