Same thing for a ne dory or any similar boat

Allen H, greg77,

i have no other idea then bringing som planks and put them from frontseat til aftseat.

Please share youre ideas.

Ruud

Might want some ballast, too, if you're going to be sleeping benchtop level. More for comfort than safety, to damp out the roll a bit.

Sleep tight, don't let the skeeters bite,

Laszlo

   Someone posted recently about seats that run along each side of the boat between the middle thwart and aft seat. These seats are secured to cleats under the seats. it seems if you used a method like thus you wouldn't need long boards but boards that go from the middle seat to the forward platform and from the aft edge of the middle seat to the after platform. You could use cleats on the bulkheads and have the planks even with the seat tops.

The problem is in the storage of the planks while underways. I am thinking about a way of folding out the siteseats using hinges. The round form of the boat does not make it any easier.

Ruud 

   I have a cot with adjustable legs that might solve the problem iI'll have to see once it's built . I had the foresight to trace the outlines of the bulkheads onto my workbench so if I later want to build something match the conture of the hull I've got a head start ( think a couple of wannigan style lockers to span the rear compartment)

Sleeping on a Dory, hope some ideas transfer to Skerry.

Glad to see interest in sleeping aboard, wish there was more info available. The Great Loop guy surely sleeps aboard but I can’t find any mention of exactly how.
Link to Flickr pics with descriptions.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskgohHk8

Short story: a pair of floor grates held down between 2nd and 3rd seats. Remove seat, remove grates, reinstall seat. Span 2nd, 3rd and aft seat with grates. Use lazy jacks/topping lift to suspend bug net. Well, that part needs sorting.
Thought of a cot, narrow stern prevents that. Was worried about stability sleeping at seat level, in practice it’s no issue. It is sketchy squeezing past the mast/partner to deploy anchor. Any ideas about how to deal with that?
When planning a night onboard take minimal gear, think back packing instead of boating. As for cooking, using an ungimbled stove in such a tender boat could land fire and boiling water in your lap.
Sleeping at anchor (does any one ever really sleep at anchor?) is wonderful in such a small boat.  Rode on long scope dampens wave action to a comfort. Wish I was articulate enough to describe the sensation but it is a delight in a half wakeful state.

Sure would like to hear what y'all think.

   Oops, here's the right link...

https://www.flickr.com/gp/31735445@N06/fM099M

"Any ideas about how to deal with that?"

My anchoring method required I attach a bow eye to the boat. I run the anchor line through the bow eye and bring the bitter end back to where ever I'm sitting in the boat and secure it. When I anchor I can lower the anchor from where I'm sitting but before I do that I tie a piece of line of equal strength to the anchor line. This line is about 30 feet long and I pay it out until the strain of the anchor is on the bow eye. When ready to raise the anchor line simply pull in the second line till you have the anchor line in hand.  When the anchor isn't deployed the lines lay loosely in the boat and I store the anchor, chain and line in a canvas bucket I got on eBay, under the center thwart.

   Well, my skerrys innards are "stock" so no removing of thwarts for me.

BTW, the "Great Loop Guy" has pictures of his tent set up on shore. Also, his skerry was much modified from stock and had no center thwart, if I remember correctly.  So I believe he mostly slept on shore, but if necessary, could have slept in the boat.

My solution is to carry two sleeving poles and a piece of fabric that can be slung between them to form a short "cot" instead of planks.  I have poles which are broken  and cut down pole vault poles. I have bit of metal tube which the poles sleeve into. When sleeved together, the total length is about 6-8 inches greater than the distance from the back of the thwart to the front of the aft buoyancy chamber.  When broken down, the poles are shorter than the width of the boat, or the distance from the under-thwart bulkhead to the front bouyancy chamber. In other words, they stow in the front of the boat.  They are plenty strong enough to support my weight.

I have two pieces of  2 x 2 which are about 2 1/2 feet long. There are holes drilled  into them which just fit the fiberglass poles. These are "spacers" which keep the fiberglass poles apart at a good distance.

I bought some heavy-duty cordura fabric, and sewed two tubes into the edges.  The fiberglass poles, sleeved together, fit into these tubes. Then the ends of the poles go into the wood spacers.  Voila! I have a more-or-less 4 foot long "cot" which spans the distance from the back of the thwart to the aft buyancy chamber.

On top of this I  lay a relatively cheap air mattress and my sleeping bag.

That's MY idea.

Another respondant via e-=mail has suggested using the LL Bean Camp Futon, supported by a couple of oars to span the gap between the thwart and the aft buoyancy chamber.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/74595?page=camp-futon

It appears to basically be an incredibly beefy version of an inflatable thermarest backpacking/camping mattress. 

I SUSPECT that my 290 pound frame would push that mattress between the oars, but of course I don't know that for sure.  However, a thermarest-style mattress on the fabric DIY- "mini cot"  that I've made will probably work fine.

As for being rolly...I don't know. Maybe. There's no doubt that the boat would be more stable at achor with my body weight further down inside the boat, but  honestly, even when I sit up to row, the boat isn't THAT tippy. If I lie down, I bet it's not going to be a problem.  The guy who wrote me about the LL Bean Camp Futon says he's done it a long and has no problem.

For a weather cover.....

You can buy aluminum or fiberglass flexi tent poles.
http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Replacement-Tent-Pole-Kit/dp/B0046VJV9A

 The ones I have are also fiberglass.   A set of those, linked together can be inserted in the oarlocks, forming an arch over the middle of the boat.  Wrapping the ends of the poles with  a bit of gorilla tape, about an inch up from the end will keep the pole from slipping too far down into the oar lock.

A wide/tall A frame can be made from cheap small-dimension lumber  that clamps to the edges of the bulkhead that supports the aft buoyancy chamber. Make it tallish. You want to make an "A" that sticks about 2 1/2 or 3 feet up from the  level of the top of the buoyancy chamber.

Now run a line from the mast, about 3 feet up, over and around the top of the fiberglass pole "arch" at the oarlocks, and  then aft over the top of the A frame.  tie it down to a little eye screw you've set up at the stern.Drap a poly tarp or a nifty, fitted nylon cover over that, and you're set.

At least, that's my thinking!

   Anyway, all that are my IDEAS. I haven't actually tried them out, yet.

   Any ideas as to what's going to hold that tarp down?  I suspect that that futon will droop badly, between the oars, unless you somehow place several boards across the oars, width-wise.