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
