Cushions, Cabin, Part 3: Installation and Use

The new cushions, intalled

Above and below we see the new cushions in place in Oystercatcher, my Ericson 25, soon after her launching in July 2015, after an extensive refitting. In this posting I describe my installation and especially my use of these cushions over the past three years.

I purchased a queen-sized fitted-sheet for the V-berth. This was just the right size. When cruising or spending a weekend on the boat, this sheet is always in place. It keeps the cushions fresh. It does inhibit access to the V-berth lockers, which are beneath the cushions, but then again the cushions inhibit access as well. The items in these lockers - spare parts, extra gallons of water, and extra paper towels and toilet paper, are not the sorts of things I need on a daily basis.

This queen-sized blanket is just the right size as well.

When day sailing or simply hanging out on the boat at the dock, I keep the blanket in a nylon bag, and I keep the fitted-sheet inside a pillow case. These items and a pillow I stow behind the starboard bulkhead. You'd never know they were there unless you stuck your head in the V-berth and looked around.

I found some inexpensive sheets at Walmart. I bought one queen-sized and two twin-sized fitted sheets. In three years, I've yet to have more than two total persons on the boat for the weekend or when cruising. One of us sleeps in the V-berth and the other on the starboard settee with the berth extension. I keep the second, twin-sized sheet as a spare.

I got the navy colored blankets at Walmart as well. They were about ten dollars a piece. Here we see the queen and a twin. I actually bought two twins. When the weather is chilly in the late fall, winter and early spring - around 40 degrees Fahrenheit at night - I use both twin blankets when I'm sleeping on the starboard settee and berth extension.

I also got the pillows at Walmart.

I started by stowing all sheets, blankets, and pillows in the settee backrest stowage lockers I had created on the port and starboard sides of the main salon. This quickly proved to be impractical. I, therefore, began to stow the V-berth items in the V-berth, as described above. I also began to use this port side settee stowage area for the spare twin sheet, spare twin blanket, and spare pillow and pillow case.

Likewise, I began to use the starboard settee backrest stowage area for stuff I used on a nightly basis when sleeping on the starboard settee and berth extension.

Pay no attention, therefore, to the pillows in this stowage space in this picture from 2015.

In the picture below from 2015, you'll notice that I've stowed the settee berth extension cushion underneath the main salon table. This was impractical. When day sailing or simply hanging out on the boat at the dock, I stow it on the starboard side of the V-berth. It helps to keep the bagged blanket and other items from rolling around. I also sometimes prop it up against the backrest of the starboard settee. It's actually quite comfortable to lean against it. Good lower back support.

Initially, I kept a cushion atop the Yeti cooler with the anticipation that I would need that cushion when a third person slept on the boat. You might recall that my plan was to move the cooler off of the settee at night to open up this space for sleeping. I soon found this cushion atop the Yeti to be annoying, and I took it home. It's not been back on the boat in three years.

I also soon found the Yeti cooler to be annoying. It was heavy - too heavy to move in and out of the boat on a regular basis. This made it difficult for me to remove water and half-melted ice and cooler gunk from it. I had to use a bailer and a sponge, pouring water and wringing the sponge into the galley sink.

Eventually, I bought an Engel refrigerator. What a game changer. Smaller, lighter in weight, and bigger in capacity. In the picture below you see it soon after I've completed the wiring. That's why the wiring in the alcove box is exposed.

There was plenty of space for an AC receptacle and two DC receptacles. The fridge senses when an AC power source is available and automatically switches to AC in order to take the load off the battery bank. It only needs one DC receptacle. I wired two - one directly to the house bank and one directly to the reserve bank so I would have an option.

I'll say it once again, over the past three years, I've been pleased with my decision to have the upholsterer create two separate cushions for each settee, in other words, two on the port side and two on the starboard. This has enabled me not only to use the Engel fridge atop the forward end of the port side settee, but it's also enabled me to access the lockers beneath the individual cushions quickly and efficiently.

This ends this posting on my use of the new cushions in Oystercatcher, my Ericson 25.

Cushions, Cabin, Part 1: Analysis

The original cushions temporarily reinstalled

In my complete refitting of Oystercatcher, my Ericson 25, I knew I wanted to replace the existing cushions, which were now some forty years old. I was not sure, though, if the new cushions should have the same configuration as the originals. Specifically, I wondered if it would be better to have two separate seating cushions on each side of the boat rather a single slab seating cushion. In this posting I discuss problems with the original cushions and I explain why I ultimately decided to abandon the single slab seating cushion approach I found in the original.

The fabric for the original cushions was Golden Rod Plaid, a color and a design that was popular in 1975, the year in which Oystercatcher was born. Some in the early 21st Century might find this color and style appealing for its vintage feel. I, though, did not. I preferred the classic, navy blue color common to wooden sailing ships of old. I was, after all, inspired to purchase Oystercatcher because of my experience on tall ships.

The foam for these cushions was not robust. It offered little comfort to the hindquarters, and besides, it had experienced water intrusion over the years from the leaky portlights that stood above the cushions.

This water intrusion had even affected the backrests. The plywood foundations of the backrests had absorbed some of the water and had become brittle from rot.

The V-berth cushions were in better shape.

These cushions in the V-berth, however, just like the cushions in the main salon, did not have cloth on their bottoms side but vinyl. This vinyl would trap moisture and not allow the cushions to breath.

So yes, I knew I wanted to replace the existing cushions, but I began to wonder whether it would be better to alter the original configuration of the cushions in the main salon. I began to wonder whether I should have two separate cushions on each side rather than a single, slab cushion. My thinking was shaped by my concerns about the use of the four lockers beneath the settees. I wanted to have easy access to each locker. A single, slab cushion would be difficult to pick up quickly and move out of the way.

Adjacent to the galley sink was an icebox. I had no plans to use this for food. There was not enough foam insulation around it to make it effective. I decided I would use it as a pantry for the storage of dry foods.

It was deep and spacious.

I experimented with ways I might stow the dried food in plastic containers.

I did eventually use this space for the stowage of dried foods, but I never used the plastic containers. It was easier to put the foods in ziplock bags, and it allowed for the stowage of far more food.

In lieu of using the icebox for the stowage of refrigerated foods, I decided to use a cooler, one that I would stow on the settee in the main salon. I had seen one other Ericson 25 owner online who had done the same thing, and this seemed like a good idea.

This led me to purchase a Yeti brand cooler. These Yetis are well insulated and can keep food colder much longer than your average cooler. This particular model was the Yeti Tundra 75.

One of the drawbacks to the Yeti was its size. It made for a tight squeeze between it and the main salon table.

I experimented, placing it in various locations atop the settees.

One thing I had to consider was the loss of one settee. This meant that this boat could only sleep two persons, one in the V-berth and one on the single available settee.

In an effort to remedy this potential situation, I experimented with places I might stow the Yeti cooler at night to allow both settees to be used as bunks, thus allowing 3 total persons to sleep on the boat - two on the settees and one in the V-berth.

I eventually decided that the forward end of the port side settee was the best place for the Yeti to sit on a regular basis. This meant that in new settee cushions - at least the one on the port side - needed to be not a single slab, but two separate pieces. I decided it would be smart, however, to go ahead and have both sides - port and starboard - made with two separate cushions. This would give me flexibility in terms of where I might wish to place the Yeti cooler. This was a smart decision. I can say now, over three years after the fact, that I love the flexibility of having four separate cushions on the settees, if only because they allow for easy access to the settee lockers, which, when cruising, I access every day, often throughout the day.

My thinking at the times was that if I dropped one side of the main salon table there would be plenty of room to walk back and forth.

I planned to install straps to hold the Yeti down to the top of the settee. If I ever wanted to lower the center of gravity temporarily, I figured I could drop the Yeti down into the slot between the settee and the table.

My Ericson 25 did not have the starboard side settee berth extension that had been an option from the manufacturer in 1975.

I knew an Ericson 25 owner who had one. He no longer needed his, because of modifications he had made to the main salon of his boat. He offered to give it to me, since we had gotten to know each other well from telephone conversations and emails over the years.

I needed to figure out if I could even use this berth extension with the main salon table that I had already constructed.

Do to the sturdiness of its construction and the way I had firmly mounted it to the bulkhead, it could stand securely without one of its legs.

The berth extension and cushion arrived via UPS with no cost to me but the shipping. Yes, the shipping wasn't cheap, but it was far cheaper than what it would have cost me to make my own out of mahogany. I also would have lacked a cushion.

This berth extension would end up being one of the most valuable additions to the boat. It would allow me to sleep comfortably many a night.

Now I needed to make precise measurements of the existing cushions.

It appeared from a distance that these cushions fit quite well.

They in fact did not.

Either the foam had contracted over time (a likelihood), or they were a little short to begin with, or both.

I, therefore, could not simply hand the upholsterer the cushions and ask for exact copies.

The same held true for the V-berth cushions.

There was a gap on the sides of the V-berth cushions. Notice the 1x4 board in the pictures above and below.

There were also gaps on the aft end of the V-berth cushions.

The forward ends also were short.

It was clear that I needed to make all these measurements just right.

This ends my account of the analysis I made with regard to the new cushions I planned to have made for Oystercatcher, my Ericson 25.