Rrrring! Rrrrring!, makes the bell of my flat. As I open it, a poor delivery guy is hauling an oversized round package up the stairs. I sign and thank him: Here we are, the next self-test arrived! You may remember my article about meeting the upholsterer who took the measurements for the custom made mattresses and salon cushions for my new boat? If not, check it out here, it´s interesting. Anyway, as we were talking about how I will use the yacht and who will be mostly sleeping where, we also discussed about materials, thicknesses, hardness degrees and – of course – prices.
Maybe because of the fact that I appeared to him a bit overwhelmed – it was in fact quite a bit of a discussion and in the end a very important decision for the colors and fabrics for the cushions – the upholsterer, Markus, made a very clever suggestion: “You know what? I will send you the foam you are about to opt for and you can test it at home. How´s that?” Well, that sounds like a great idea! And this is the backstory of how this big white sturdy roll of cold cured foam ended up being delivered to my doorstep. Let´s go!
We are all getting older …
You know it, probably: As we are getting older so fast, a good night´s sleep becomes more important by the day. Many of my sailing friends suffer from more or less severe backpain and I know from various sailing trips how bad you feel when you wake up from a shitty night. Sleeping quality becomes even more important the more nightshifts you are sailing through in one leg. So, it´s a question of comfort, of course, but also a question of ergonomics. The first question Markus asked me was about the hardness scale of the mattress I sleep on at home.
As a matter of fact, at home I also have custom made mattresses, by chance produced by the very company that (at least used to) makes the mattresses fur the Lürssen shipyard – mega yacht quality. In Germany we only have three hardness degrees, H1 to H3 (of which I prefer the hardest, H3), in the USA there´s a more sophisticated gradation from 1 to 10 or the “firm”, “medium” and “plush” distinction. In any case, I like it hard, baby! My fiancé on the other hand prefers it a bit softer. So where´s a good compromise? Markus emphasized to go for a 10 centimeter cold cured foam base material – and this is what he sent to me.
The layers of my yacht´s mattresses
But of course, a mattress is much more than just this one big layer of foam. Or at least, it should be more: A professionally made high class yacht mattress can range from a simple one-layered quilted cheap-version to a multi-layered luxury mattress with many built-in specialties. Such as “memory foam” or different foams with different hardness degrees in different areas. Also, you can have your good old boxspring mattress aboard. It depends on the budget you are willing to invest.
As for my boat´s cushions, the budget is fixed. It amounts to several thousand Euros. So in one hand I´d like to get the best quality there is, on the other I´d love not to drain my poor ban account completely because of cushions. Markus explains therefore, that he will apply only the needed and obligatory layers and let go of the luxury bling. At last, my blog is called “no frills sailing”, right? So the first layer and one of the most important is a spacer fabric. It´s a 3D-mesh that is both flexible but also durable. I know this stuff quite well: For my last boat, the small First 27 SE I retrofitted this to the sleeping-cabin after I realized that a load (!) shit of water – well, sweat it was! – accumulated underneath the mattresses after each night in summer. So that´s one of the most important things for yacht mattresses!
Ventilation and sweat discharge
To make sure that the mattresses are well ventilated from underneath and the sweat water, together with condensed water from the hull and other moisture will be discharged and can vaporize, this spacer fabric is a definitive must for any mattress in your yacht! You definitely do not want to have dammed-up water in your boat. This will surely become a problem because mold will form that can ruin the whole thing.
The second layer he emphasized was a kind of nice soft fleece. It´s a kind of batting that is both very soft but at the same time rugged. This will be glued onto the cold cured foam all around. It´s called Polytex and weighs 100 grams per square meters. Wrapped around the sides and the main reclining area, it protects the foam from friction damage and will also smoothen out potential irregularities.
So after cutting the rough rectangular foam into the very shapes of my boat´s different bunks and sizing the batting, he will glue everything together and also cut the mesh-spacer to size. As for the sweat-discharging and venting mesh he tells me, this will be bent upwards to those sides of the mattress which have contact with the hull. This way there´s a kind of vent upwards and much more air can ventilate. Clever!
Custom made yacht mattresses or online order?
I am honest with you: Before I got to know and decided to award the contract to Markus I of course checked out the various online offers. There are a handful of companies making custom mattresses. For once, you have to submit the exact measurements of your cushions and click through a wish list of add ons, decide for which materials, hardness degress et cetera, before you receive a price. That´s fair. But there is no counseling. There´s nobody to call. Just a form which needs to be filled.
As Markus explains to me how the outer layer works, I think of it: What bothered me as well with these digital platforms was the fact that my cushions, at least that´s valid for the fore cabin and pilot berth in the aft, are very special in their measurements. Because of the extreme V-shape of the Omega 42-hull, the underside is smaller than the upper side, the sides in contact with the hull are angled. There was no way to put it into these forms, at least I couldn´t spot those. Anway way, back to Markus …
The last layer in my mattresses will be the quilted, undergirded solid fabric we all know from our mattresses at home. This will be custom fit to wrap around the whole mattress and everything stitched together firmly. As a last manufacturing step the spacer fabric will be stitched to the underside (and hull-facing sides) and here we are – the mattress is finished. I did not go for the mega-luxury variant, but as Markus reassures me, this will do just as fine! Well, quod erat demonstrandum …
Testing my choice: How comfortable is my future mattress?
And so we are here, in my humble living room. True to his word, Markus has sent me the cold cured foam roll of the hardness degree we agreed upon right after New Year´s Eve. I temporarily clear the living room of the coffee table and rearrange the sofa. Cutting loose the mattress it unrolls like a spring – that´s surprisingly much potential energy turning kinetic. A good sign of the quality, I shall say. Fitting the foam with two layers of nice soft and thick blankies, I recline, close my eyes and try how it feels …
Well, I´m missing the gentle seesaw of a moored boat or the sometimes rocky but naturally rhythmic pattern of a boat sailing through waves, but it feels quite comfortable. It´s not my home bed (which is luring next door), but it´s surprisingly comfy. So I prepare this makeshift bunk for the night, get my regular pillow and blanket into the living room, garnish everything with some Omega 42 boat show pillows and wish myself a good night: My first overnighter on my future mattress.
The night is not very pleasant, sadly. Not because of the mattress – all is fine here – but because of external factors. First of all I shouldn´t have devoured half a dozen big tangerines before going to bed, because I am forced out three times thereafter! Outside a strong wind was blowing and since I am not used to hearing these noises in the living room, I couldn´t find my sleep so easily. And lastly, I forgot to turn down the heating and was therefore sweating like a pig. But apparently, I was too unconscious to realize this and turn it off. Oh boy …
You made your bed, now lie in it …
Anyway, when I got up in the morning (and after replenishing some energy with the first coffee) I was amazed: No backpain, no negative feedback from my shoulders and also my neck felt just as fine. I have slept in many hotel beds which have been much, much worse. As for now, I´d say my choice and Markus´ suggestion was perfect. The overnight test of this 10 centimeter cold cured mattress foam was a success. Which hardness degree? I went for the T40/70 foam with a compression hardness of 34 kPa, so that you know.
I roll it up and wrap it in its transport plastic foil again: When I visit the shipyard next time this foam will be brought to Markus so that he can start working on the mattresses. Thanks for the opportunity to have a test-overnighter, Markus! I am really curious and excited to witness and keep records of how you will manufacture both the mattresses and the nice salon cushions for my new boat. Next article in march, when cushion production at the upholsterer begins!
Other exciting (and sometimes ridiculous) self-testes you might check out:
Three guys, one bag: Testing the no-mix toilet
What if I´d punched a hole into a life jacket?
Will 40 years old distress signals still work?
