Actual Berth Size (Master Thread)

[Loren Beach]

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=7522

This current thread is getting into assessing the "sleeping accommodations" on the Ericson 38 series, and I thought it would be useful to transition to a fresh thread with some comparative stats on the various Ericsons.
This topic comes up whenever someone is shopping for a new or next boat. One difficulty is finding objective information.


Having the berthing spaces defined only as "big enough" or a host of similar subjective terms never tells me what I really need to know. (No matter how well-intentioned the narrator.)
I would prefer:
1) Actual measured flat resting area by general shape and length and width.
2) Overhead room when you need to sit up and move around.
3) Access -- i.e. what sort of contortions do you need to get into and out of. (This one probably will be more subjective.)
4) Usability under way.

I would note that overall length of the boat has little (or nothing...) to do with sleeping comfort, per se. (Some small boats sleep two adults in total comfort, and some large boats sleep six in misery.)

I shall obtain some real measurements of our Olson and post them up shortly.

Here's to a good nights' rest!

Loren

Companion thread "Actual Deck and Cockpit Dimensions" here.

 

[joerun26]

Actual berth room

Thanks Loren for the separate thread. Any method to quantify the "space" of the V berth of a 38-200 would be much appreciated (even if exact measurements are not available). Also.. I saw a 38-200 for sale that stated the aft cabin was a full beam berth (is this common ?)

Thanks Rob and Capt Ron for your input on the previous thread.

joe

 

[Loren Beach]

Olson 34 berth Data

Here are some measurements from our Olson 34. The forepeak sleeping area ("V Berth")is large by almost any criteria, and, while the copied diagram does not show it, the wide part with the little pillow icons has a fill cushion. There is ample head room to sit up in bed and move around.

The settees both use a foot well to give full length for sleeping. They are both 62" long for seating, and 76" (port side) and 80" long (starboard side) for sleeping.

The aft cabin berth is large, with the main dimension being 60" wide at the front end and 40" wide at the foot (aft). The squared-off portion is 78" long and the outer part of the cushion extends forward to form a seat (or more length on that side) another 24".
The only downside to the aft berth is that part under the cockpit (roughly the inside one-third of that width) is limited in overhead room.

Good news is that even without using the forepeak, the boat can sleep three on the off watch for ocean passages. There are lee cloths for both settees.

In quiet waters it can sleep as many as six, if couples are using both ends of the boat. And, that's way more snoring people than I would want to have aboard at once!

As this thread grows, I would suggest that it someday be considered for the Docs part of the site. This is the sort of objective information that sailors should have when considering which boat they want. Of course, when you do fall in love with a particular design, it may make little difference...

Here's to quiet nights under a blanket of stars.
Cheers,
Loren

 

[Loren Beach]

Ericson 31 Forepeak Berth

Glyn had a question about resizing photos for the site and passed along his data and pics to me for some additional efforts.
(Not included was any cushion measurement for the settees. Perhaps those are reserved for Jack!)
Note that these boats have wonderfully warm and comfortable interior.
Best,
Loren

Here is Glyn's text:
" Thanks for the suggestion, I went to the boat this morning and got the
following measurements:

1. Foot room at the front of the berth, 17".
2. Depth of the berth down the center, 72".
3. Widest part of the berth without insert in place, 68".
4. Berth depth on port side with insert in place, 88".

Also please see the two attached images showing the clever design of the
insert that becomes a little love seat when stowed and a great place to sit
on when putting ones socks and shoes on.

Why am I sending this directly to you? Because I thought these two
images would be of value to others to see but for the life of me I've never
been able to shrink the size of the images sufficient to load to the site.
Maybe you could reduce them enough to load them to the site for me? "

 

[PDX]

Clever design

The Ericson 31 is a testament to clever design.

If I'm not mistaken, there is an opening in bulkhead 5 so that you can stretch out on the shorter settee with your feet going into the hanging locker. I'm not sure whether there is a corresponding hole through bulkhead 4. If so, then maybe you could rest your feet on that little stoop in the forepeak.

 

[Mark F]

Sorry for the sloppy appearance it's hard to trace with a mouse (humm... maybe that's what Loren meant about hearding cats ;-)

 

[Loren Beach]

Meow........

Thanks Mark!

Thanks to all of the talented and thoughtful owners contributing here all these years, the site just gets better all the time.

Cheers,
Loren


ps: do a search on Google and you find:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8

 

[Dave N]

My wife and I had hoped that the 38-200 would provide a larger v-berth than our current 35-II. Sadly, this is not so. Loren, from your diagram, you have more space than the 1989 38-200 v-berth. Numbers I measured for the foot width, length, and head width are; The 35-II is 14, 77, and 70. The 38-200 I measured 16, 77, 69. The 38-200 has 5 more feet of waterline and displaces half again as much. More foot room and length would make this a comfortable space for two. The aft cabin berth is wonderful with lots of foot room. We simply prefer to sleep in a v-berth. Space up there was clearly a low priority, imo.

 

[Loren Beach]

I've read that the E25+ had an optional starboard settee extension and am wondering if any details about it are available. I made an attempt but it must be redone to provide more clearance for the companionway steps. Looking for ideas for a more elegant solution.
View attachment 15147View attachment 15148View attachment 15149

Given the appeal for construction or design ideas, this would work better if it started a new thread.

OTOH, if you have a set of measurements for berth sizes for your boat, please do put them in.

Thanks,
Loren

 

[markvone]

Ericson 36RH Berth Sizes

The 1981 - 1984 Ericson 36 RH (Ron Holland -designer) has 7 to 8 berths. It has a V-berth double, port and stbd settee and pilot berths in the main salon and an aft quarter berth double. The aft quarter berth is questionable as a double for adults at only 48 inches wide.

Here are the actual berth cushion sizes:

V-berth - width at head 77", length 81", width at foot 22"
P&S Settee Berths - width at head 25", length 78", width at foot 21"
P&S Pilot Berths - width at head 23", length 78", width at foot 14.5", vertical clearance above cushion is 18"
Qtr Berth - width at head 48", length 80", width at foot 24.5"

Mark

 

[Loren Beach]

E-38-200 berth diagram

I hope that one of you with an aft-engine model of the Ericson 38-200 would take the attached diagram and pencil in the dimensions for all the sleeping areas.
Comparing this to a drawing for the mid-engine version (circa 1986), there is an apparent difference in the shape of the aft cabin berth, although not too pronounced, from the drawing.

The simple drawing and text tools in any free or low-end drawing application, probably the one that shipped with your computer, might do the job.

The drawing is a bit small, but should scale up a ways without getting too pixilated....


Thanks much.

Regards,
Loren

 

[Christian Williams]

1984 Ericson 381 berth dimensions

This boat has the open cabin plan with straight starboard saloon bench.

...

Both the V-berth and quarterberth afford easy access (no overhead issues). The bench of the saloon settee is just about right for sitting at the table, but for sleeping many people will choose to remove the back cushions for additional width (when used as a single berth).

Dimensions are without cushions. Back cushions reduce width by about 4" .

(C) V-berth: 88" long, 6'6" wide at mouth. Ample room. Most people can nap athwartships, which is nice when heeled. (The 381 V-berth is considerably larger than that of the 38-200, which gives up the space in favor of an aft owner's cabin. See Dave N's post above.)

(D) Saloon starboard bench: 78" long, narrows slightly from 27".

(B) Saloon settee: 80" long x 56" (aft) and 36" (forward end). Seat depth 21" .

(A) Quarterberth: 7' long x 47" (entry). The berth narrows to 24", and is 38" at midpoint.

(E) Galley


This model has a large forward-facing sitdown nav station with ample storage.



More photos of the interior of the '84 381 here.

Deck and dockpit 381 dimensions here.

 

[old salt joseph]

Sure is a pretty boat. Certainly enjoy all your photos of your fine renovations. Please continue so we can see your progress. Joe.

 

[cooper999]

E30+ v-berth cushion dims



Hopefully the image isn't too small, but here's a summary of dimensions for the v-berth cushion in our '85 30+ per Loren's request. Right at the forward bulkhead, the cushion is 12" wide, widening to 68" at the widest point toward the aft. Total length is 72".

 

[Loren Beach]

Really Helpful!
Can you measure the other berth/sleeping areas next? And post up the numbers?
This is really helpful to potential owners of these boats.

Thanks again,
Loren

 

[supersailor]

I have been asked to post the dimensions for the E-34 berths. Enough has now been reassembled to actually measure them. There are no cushions on the boat at this time so I guessed the room taken up by the side cushion on the setee on the port side. The setees are measured with the backs removed as that is the way I use them with lee cloths that are installed for these berths. I only use them when at sea. They are good then in keeping the sleeper from getting tossed around. At anchor, they are a bit tight. Great for Grandkids, though.

 

[Loren Beach]

E-33RH measurements

Interior sleeping accommodations just checked with a tape by owner Mike, whose Ericson 33RH moors at the same YC.
I have sailed with Mike quite a few times over the decades. It's a fast boat with a large cruising interior.
Mike provided the info in narrative form, and you can easily relate the measurements to the drawing.


Starboard Qtr Berth - 82" long - 44" wide at head - 22" wide at foot

Starboard Settee =- 79" long - 28" wide at head - 17" wide at foot

Port Settee - 79" long - 25" wide at head - 22" wide at foot

NOTE: On this particular boat both Port & Starboard settee platforms were widened by 2" over stock!

Port Pilot Berth - 79" long - 22" wide at head - 13" wide at foot

Forward Vee berth - 79" long at centerline (84" long along the hull) - 76" wide at head - 16" wide at foot

NOTE: Vee berth cushion top is 31"

NOTE: "Squeeze" point going forward to head, or vee berth, is 13" between the stowed table and the hanging locker to starboard.

 

[sgwright67]

Looking for V-berth size of E29

I did a search here, and couldn't find anything on the E29 V-berth size, and if there is any difference between the early and late versions. In reading some old posts, I came across a comment about how small it is on the 29. I can't imagine it being smaller than the 27 though.

Does anyone have these measurements? Thanks

 

[toddster]

E29 Berth Measurements

Note this is the Mk I configuration. The layout is different in the later boats. These measurements are taken at the top of a 4" cushion. Actually the drawing on sailboatdata is pretty accurate. Measurements taken off the drawing (once scaled) are pretty close to the measurements I took off the boat.



Measuring the V-berth is a bit problematic because one has to assume the sleeping position that will be used. With the key out, you get a 24 x 77 on one side and a 24 x (77 - other person's feet) on the other. I usually sleep more diagonally which can eke out a bit more length and a lot more width. With the key in you get 72" width and fight it out however you like. I tried adding 2-inch foam on the sides (it gets cold in the winter) which made the v-berth into a very cozy little cocoon, but without the key, that made the individual sides too narrow to sleep comfortably.

The Q-berth appears to be the winner for real-estate. Except note that the port-side under the cockpit footwell has a total vertical clearance of 19 inches. Subtracting a 4-inch mattress, that leaves only 15 inches. And if the ladder is in place, another big chunk of headroom is closed off. (Without the ladder, the person on that side is "free and clear" from the chest-up and encoffined below.) Adding an opening port into the footwell greatly improved the habitability of this berth.

The port settee is a bit odd because the foot runs behind the hanging locker. Many people have bridged over this space to make a bigger chart table. And it's only 12" wide at that end. If you can still stick your feet in there, it becomes a pretty snug sea-berth, with a short lee-cloth. However, I've nibbled away at both ends, for a chart table and galley extension, and it's more of a love seat than a settee now.

Starboard settee is the go-to seating and lounging area for daily use, and a very comfortable napping spot.

One more thought on the V-berth. Unlike a lot of bigger boats that I've been on, there is (some) standing room in the forward cabin. That is, the deck house extends out over the "keystone" area in the V-berth. I like it better than boats that make you crawl into the berth.

 

[Christian Williams]

A companion thread, "Actual Cockpit Size," is here.