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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 250 Specific Forum

How do you use your berth/storage space?

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2269 Posts

Initially Posted - 10/12/2014 : 12:14:38

IMO, one of the nicest things about the open, bulkhead-free design of the C250 is the great flexibility it provides for storage and berthing space. Virtually every cushioned surface in the cabin can be used for sleeping or storage, giving an endless variety of storage and sleeping options. During our five seasons of ownership, the way we have used this space has evolved over time.

One of the first things I noticed was that the blue settee cushions were way too hard for sleeping. They appear to be designed for taking your entire body weight on your smaller (but always expanding

) buttocks. When lying down, your weight is distributed over more area, so your pounds per square inch is lower, and the cushions are way too hard for sleeping. The aft berth cushion is not designed for sitting, so it seems to be a little softer, but still a little hard. We've done things to address this, and I'll mention them later.

Another obstacle to sleeping forward is the huge cockpit table that collides with hips, shoulders, and even your head. After a couple years, I finally got up the nerve to fix this issue, and it's the single biggest improvement that I've made to the boat:

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The other issue with selecting an optimum sleeping area is finding somewhere that doesn't accumulate so much stuff that you need to spend a bunch of time clearing out space every night before heading to sleep. We generally like to store as much stuff as we can behind the forward athwartships back rest, and keep the settees open for sitting. The backrest hides the stuff well, giving a clean, uncluttered appearance. Also, keeping heavy things like tool bag, extra anchor chain, and portable A/C forward helps with the trim of the WK model, which otherwise tends to ride with the bow high.

After a couple years I realized that my vinyl cockpit cushions are much softer than the interior cushions, so I sleep on one of the settees with the side backrest removed and the cockpit cushion on top of the blue cushion. There is just enough length behind the front backrest for me to fit. The cockpit cushion is a little longer than that, so I lift the forward backrest a couple inches and slip the cushion underneath it. The cushion goes back in the cockpit the next morning if we are sailing. Otherwise it goes into the aft berth for storage.

My wife didn't like sleeping on the settee because she rolls over when she's sleeping. She wanted a wider space, so she prefers the starboard side of the aft berth. My daughter returned from college with her twin-size memory foam topper, so we tried it there and she sleeps great.

I will consider sleeping back there with her next season, but this year we had our inflatable dinghy and trolling motor occupying the port side of the aft berth and I didn't want to move it. Next year I'll try to position that in the bow area, leaving a nice queen size area in the aft berth for both of us.

As for storage under the A-berth area, my boat came with the wood cover cut into front and back parts. This was horrible, because with the cushions cut into left and right parts, accessing this area required you to clear out the entire A-berth area and remove both cushions. So while I was modifying my table, I also made a new cover out of birch, cut into left and right parts, with a piano hinge connecting them. Now, to access that storage, I only need to clear out half the A-berth area and remove one cushion. I've heard that later model C250s have this cover cut into left and right parts, like it should be.
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What things do other C250 owners do?

Edited by - TakeFive on 10/12/2014 17:54:21

DavidCrosby
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Response Posted - 10/12/2014 : 17:40:14

My wife and two teenage daughters would regularly sleep on our C250WK. My daughters would sleep up front. The stock table would be removed and either laid on the floor or stood up on edge by the sink. The back rest divider in the V berth area is stored in the aft berth storage area. The girls would sleep fairly far forward, one on each side.No complaints other than my snoring.

My wife and I sleep in the aft berth, both facing forward. I am very comfortable on the stock cushions. My wife adds a roll up self inflating air mattress.

When our daughters are not on the boat, my wife sleeps in the v berth and I sleep in the aft berth. I find the aft berth to be really comfortable. I like the room since I seem to toss and turn through out the night.

My table has been replaced with a 24 inch round pine table top from Lowes. I got the idea from another member's post.

I have also modified my storage compartment cover in the v berth area to allow easier access.

Edited by - on

frejoh
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116 Posts

Response Posted - 10/13/2014 : 10:00:19

That table mod looks great, can you provide details? What type of hinges,piano? Most important, how do you keep the leaves up when raised? And how did you match the stain color for the Edges of the newly cut leaves?

Fred

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2269 Posts

Response Posted - 10/13/2014 : 10:36:22

quote:
Originally posted by frejoh

That table mod looks great, can you provide details? What type of hinges,piano? Most important, how do you keep the leaves up when raised? And how did you match the stain color for the Edges of the newly cut leaves?

Fred

The design went through multiple iterations before I settled on the final plan. It started with an overly-ambitious plan to fabricate a whole new table, and ended up with a relatively simple project that accomplished all its objectives much better than expected. The whole thing is documented here:

http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=24328&whichpage=1

Edited by - on

frejoh
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USA
116 Posts

Response Posted - 10/14/2014 : 18:53:53

Rick, that's very helpful. I noticed the shelf above the vee berth, too, and figure you measured it out to fit. But how do you anchor it so it doesn't slide aft? And where do you find the nice filial (?) to form the aft edge of the shelf?

Fred

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2269 Posts

Response Posted - 10/14/2014 : 19:42:03

quote:
Originally posted by frejoh

Rick, that's very helpful. I noticed the shelf above the vee berth, too, and figure you measured it out to fit. But how do you anchor it so it doesn't slide aft? And where do you find the nice filial (?) to form the aft edge of the shelf?

Fred

I don't have a shelf. I think that was someone else's picture.

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frejoh
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USA
116 Posts

Response Posted - 10/15/2014 : 16:11:13

Oh, I see, you were "quoting" Henk. Where did you find those brackets?

Henk, can you please tell me about your vee berth shelf?

Edited by - on

frejoh
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USA
116 Posts

Response Posted - 10/15/2014 : 16:20:07

Sorry again, saw the link just now. Which model did you use?

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zeil
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1297 Posts

Response Posted - 10/18/2014 : 18:32:39

Velcro'd the shelf to the hull... the following year we added about 2 1/2" wide spacers to raise the shelf for more room below the shelf. A couple years later we removed the shelf altogether and velcro'd the fiddle by itself higher up because the shelf was difficult to reach and was prone to mold even though we added ventilation holes through the bottom. Also notice the "cut-in-half", piano hinged V berth storage cover as per Arlyn's website

Edited by - zeil on 10/18/2014 20:00:37

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