Sleeping Positions

[Smuttynose]

First, this is a legitimate question. (Please do not transfer post to an 'Adult Material Only' site). My mate and I can only sleep with our heads forward. When we try positioning ourselves to what appears a much better use of the space with our feet facing the bow we feel like we are 'downhill.' We have confirmed this with a level. Do others have the same feeling? Do we jettison our 90 for a good nights sleep?

[snal]

Hmmmm? We've never had that feeling with feet towards the bow, although Jo did have a natural inclination to sleep the opposite direction when we fist got the boat.
I'm curious as to how much out of level your berth was (?) I'll be checking ours now that you've sparked my curiosity.

[Sea Wolf]

Smuttynose_



Did you measure the angle with a level with the weight of two persons in the berth, or just the observer?

Were you tied up at the dock, at anchor, or ???

Was the boat level side to side, too, or did you measure that?

Do you have much in the way of shiftable ballast that can be moved on the boat to compensate?

Would you be interested in adding 100 ft or so of chain to your rode? And a windlass, if you don't have one?

Have you heard of the Oregon Boot?

"WARNING: This item in our catalogue did not pass the required U.S.Coast Guard Type III Flotation Device Test Sequence."


How about building a mattress pad that is wedged in thickness from aft to bow? (This may be more sensible that some other suggestions made here.)

Seriously, I've noticed this a bit too, but never found it to be all that bothersome, or that it couldn't be overcome:
"Have another glass of "Maderia, My Dear?"


I do think it's real, however serious or minor, but that it can get to you, and once you're thinking about it, it can be hard to just put out of your mind, at least for some. One of those psychological things, I guess.


If all else fails:



Hope you didn't mind the interspaced, perhaps inept, attempt at humor.

Joe.

[dotnmarty]

--or you could just turn the boat around. ..then your feet would be were your head was...

[Yellowstone]

Smuttynose - Head slightly lower at bulkhead can bother some sleepers. Edna sleeps feet to bow but uses a thick pillow to raise head and shoulders and sleeps very well. I sleep on the table feet aft. The more we sleep on the boat the less annoying the attitude is. Trying to level out the boat is difficult. Several times I have slept across the berth and fared well - have a special cushion to fill the front gap. I have often wondered how anyone could sleep in a hammock, but some do. John

[Hunkydory]

The decline at head bothers me a little Jo-Lee not at all. You don't turn around to sleep in the overhead of any truck camper or motor-home and personally the turning around part is what bothers me most. What Jo-Lee doesn't like about sleeping head to the bow is the small amount of room overhead. She bangs here head enough sleeping the other way. The clincher for us sleeping with feet to bow is what the anchor rode and chain can bring up when used alot on extended cruises. The wet rode with sea grass and bits of kelp can get overpowering with the nose to close.

[hardee]

Smuttynose. Good question. I think we do sleep a bit downhill with heads to bulkhead, and feet to bow. Me, makes no difference, but my wife can't sleep in there the other way, to crowded, but (don't tell her, often times when under way she will crawl into the V with her feet just sticking out over the cutout in the cushion, head way up in there and she goes to sleep.

I have occasionally checked the waterline (from the outside) to see if the boat is sitting level in the water, and it appears to be doing that. When we load up for a weekend there is a fair amount of stuff that goes up forward into that V so maybe it sits deeper when we are sleeping. Have not checked with a level.

Then again, we may carry more ambient flotation (adipose) than you and your wife. Works good when we are in the water to keep our heads up and out, but probably not helpful to unweight the bow when we are in there .

Harvey
SleepyC

[dahkota]

"Would you be interested in adding 100 ft or so of chain to your rode? And a windlass, if you don't have one?"

Our boat came (used) with 150' of chain and a windlass. I didn't even know there could be a level problem in the v-berth. Our boat sits at waterline and we sleep flat. Maybe that's why we have so much chain...

[Will-C]

Smuttynose,
Just a thought. How about making new closed cell memory foam cushions to compensate for the down ward slope and some pillows. I guess you would have to make new covers for the new wedge shaped cushions.
D.D.

[breausaw]

We keep two five gallon buckets onboard for this and that, one often gets used at night to level out the boat side-to-side. If you filled two of these and placed on deck as far forward as possible it may help level things out a bit.
I can tell without using a level our bunk area is out of level, guess you just get use to it. After a long day of hiking, fishing, shrimping, etc, etc, than having a couple of beers-it just doesn’t matter.

[Anne-B]

We have had our C-Dory for 12 years and have always slept in the V-berth with our feet to the bow. We have spent many weekends and even week long vacations sleeping this way. Never had the feeling of our heads being lower. We do have pillows but not big fat ones.
Anne will sometimes go into the V-berth area and sit up to read. There is just enough head room for this. The biggest thing is getting into the berth without hitting your head on the under-side of the dashboard.
The wedge pillow sounds like it would take care of any downhill feeling you may have.

Hope you have fun cruising.

Doug & Anne

[tsargent]

This is an ongoing discussion on our trips... I feel I'm sliding downhill all night, while my wife says we won't fit the other way (is she saying I have a fat head?). She also claims the head hitting problem.

I was napping a couple weeks ago with head at bow and she joined me. Said later there just wasn't enough room for both our heads. I couldn't say one way or another... never woke me up! Although I guess my snoring would be rather close! My only hope is that she recently stated she felt we slept too far apart with feet at the bow. Might get a book outta this adventure yet!

[El and Bill]

Hmmm! Been sleeping head-down for most of the past nine years on our boat - and now every night for the past several months - maybe that explains why folks look at us with such puzzled looks ...

[Sea Wolf]

Maybe we ought to as our sleep expert, Harvey, if there's any medical evidence that sleeping head's up or head's down is better for you?

Which is easier on the heart?

Which is better for the brain?

Does gravity interfere with or aid digestion one way or the other?

Would an extreme version of either, like sleeping upright or upside down be preferable to prone sleeping, or cause problems?

What has NASA fund out when it studied the sleeping habits, patterns, brain waves, etc. of it's astronautics in zero gravity?

Do any cultures or other groups practice any form of sleeping that could give any insights into this question?

Bats sleep upside down. Would sleeping upside down make you "batty"?

Inquiring minds want to know........

Joe.

[thataway]

From a purely medical standpoint, feet slightly up, is probably best. But we all have psychological responses to sleeping positions, as well as true physiological issues.

I have been sleeping in various attitudes in boats for over 60 years, so it makes no difference, including sleeping athwartships with the boat healed at 50 degrees (feet down)--or in a bunk with rolls up to 90 degrees--frightening. But you learn to sleep in almost any situation when sailing and racing offshore.

We have never noticed any issues with any of the C Dories--but I suspect that the out of level is only a few degrees max.