GP14 Bed for dinghy cruising

Showing my chosen (for now) method of sleeping onboard SKISMO when cruise/camping. The bed was chosen for the ability to sleep above the cockpit floor and also for being able to use the campbed as it was originally intended if camping/sleeping on land during a dinghy cruise trip. Space is a little tight but I believe it is a small price to pay to guarenteee a dry night.

[@afloatinawoodenboat]

Fabulous to find another dinghy cruising channel! :)

[@chris9056]

Genius!

[@morbidfollower]

Dude that’s a great idea

[@sailingskismo]

Thanks! :) - And it has proved to be very successful, I've used it lots of times now. Thanks for watching.

[@captaincooksboatybites9049]

Its great when a bit of kit can be modified to fit. Well done.

[@sailingspark9748]

I have a series 1, so I can slither down under the thwart and still have room beneath the benches to lie down, but I like what you did here, quite ingenious really. I also like your compass placement, I need to steal that.

[@sailingskismo]

Ah! Thank you, the compass has had many previous locations, none of which I liked or were a problem. I took a while ( and too many screw holes ) to finally settle on that location, which I’m really pleased with now. Thanks for watching 😊⛵️

[@johnmclachlan1023]

You're hardier than I. I'll never sleep on one of those stretchers again lol.

[@lawsonst3v3]

I laughed out loud at the open warning screen.

[@DinghyCruisingKingfisher]

Well done! Coming together nicely. Can I suggest a couple of spacer blocks screwed to the forward end of the stretcher? It appears as though the forward end needs to be a bit higher to prevent a hump in the middle of your bed. Maybe it’s just camera angle though… thanks for posting.

[@sailingskismo]

Hi, and thank you for the suggestion. You are right, the feet end of the bed does sit ever so slightly lower than the head end however, having used it a few times now it is really comfortable as is. Adding spacer blocks would prevent the end rail from being removable from the fabric and therefore wouldn’t stow away as intended. Love your videos, keep them coming! :) ( I learned to sail in a heron many many many years ago )

[@ceesailor]

It looks more comfortable to sleep on than my setup: just a self inflating mattress, but it looks awkward to set up if you are already under the boat tent in pouring rain.

[@sailingskismo]

Can't argue with the awkwardness, but I do like the way it packs away to a slim bag and the fact that I'm off the floor during the night.

[@mitchellsmith4690]

Cool!

[@rorysteen7951]

Noticed when you untied the main it looked like it just had a bolt rope that needed fed into the mast groove .Had you thought of sail slides /slugs ,that would mean main easier to hoist and lower ?

[@sailingskismo]

Hoisting and lowering my mainsail isn’t difficult so I don’t see how I would benefit from changing. Not to mention the expense and downtime involved. Thanks for watching and posting. Fair winds 😊

[@wilsontheterrier1]

🙂

[@Ingvir]

Great idea. I thought of doing something similar in my boat. What brand of camp bed is it that you're using? My seating configuration is different so I will need to experiment a bit. Recognised your voice from the DF95 instruction videos. All good stuff. Cheers, Jeff

[@sailingskismo]

Hi Jeff, the camper is by HiGear and it’s called a slumber campbed.

[@mikeu5380]

Just a thought or two, if I may... Instead of drilling out the rivets and detaching the legs, why not just raise the legs with blocks of wood? If not, then why not place a board across and beneath the legless side to support and raise the lower end, rather than use bungee cords? It will be "evenly flatter" then. All-in-all, fair winds and peaceful dreams!

[@sailingskismo]

Hi, Thanks for your suggestion. The centreboard is too high to either of those things, it would result in the foot end of the bed being way too high compared to the head end, plus it woild mean carrying more 'parts' than I've got room for. That said, I will probably add some soft pads to the bed rail ends so they don't risk scraping the varnish off my bench lats. The legs that I drilled out can easily be re-installed using the bolts and wingnuts shown in the video. :) Thanks for watching and engaging :)

[@mikeu5380]

@@sailingskismo I see. Thanks, and fair winds from Japan.

[@paulgibson7848]

New to this do those rowlock holes come as standard on fibreglass boats ?

[@sailingskismo]

Hi Paul, not usually. The GP14 class association do have documentation that suggests where exactly to install them. However, I sat in the boat with the oars and marked where they should go based on my seated position and oar length. Installing them was reasonably straightforward but you do need to put a piece of ‘load spreading’ timber on the underside of the deck. I used 25mm thick mahogany.