mid cabin - entry door blind/curtain and v berth mattress

[BobCT]

Starting to think about a couple of things that bugged me last year:

1) no curtain on the sliding cabin door so it was pretty bright at times. I've seen some listed with curtains (easy enough I suppose) and one with what looked like a 2 part roll up blind. Anyone done that and have some info?

2) High on my list is upgrading the mattress. Has anyone had a custom innerspring or foam one made and have any feedback? I'm sure it's not cheap but we're going to try some extended stays on the hook this year.


Bob

[ready123]

Starting to think about a couple of things that bugged me last year:
2) High on my list is upgrading the mattress. Has anyone had a custom innerspring or foam one made and have any feedback? I'm sure it's not cheap but we're going to try some extended stays on the hook this year.

An inexpensive route I have used is to add 3" memory foam mattress topper from Costco cut to shape..... worked well.

[S.A.M.]

Bob,

Our's came with insulated pleated curtains across the fixed panel and special pleated panel that you velcro to the inner frame for the sliding door.

Kelly made a snap-on panel for the top glass on the sliding door. We put that on the outside during the day when the sun is shining in. It makes a big difference in keeping the salon cool and less stress on the a/c.

Also per our emails, I'm going with 30" x 9" trim tabs.

[koviak]

Bob, my mid cabin also came with curtains for the sliding door. Do you have the bar that spans the center so curtain follows the angle of the glass ? Easy enough to make a set of curtains to fit. Also have the memory foam cushions.



Also for SAM, I went with 30" x 12" tabs and made a big difference.

1989 mid cabin

[RWS]

Bob,

My '83 Express Cruiser still has the FACTORY sliding curtain across the stairway (curved stair model)

The previous (original) owner added removable Sunbrella maroon canvas to cover the smoked/clear lucirt? door. It is attached with velcro fasteners.

Believe it or not, we are still sporting the FACTORY interior fabrics and curtains, although we did in fact replace the carpet in 2003.

Please share with us your experience with the new matress, as we're still using the factory high density foam unit.

With the storage space under the matress I would consider a new "folding" model.

Additional upgrades will include the addition of several simple "vent" type grilles to allow air to circulate in and around various under the seat compartments in the dinette and under the fwd (master) bunk.

RWS

[BobCT]

Unfortunately we don't have any remnants of the curtain but the rod is there. I'll get one made by someone... maybe in the family

We tried a 2" foam mattress topper and that definately helped. I would like to go for something a little more comfortable and use the foam pad in the mid cabin. Also, there's a dead space on each side of the mid cabin mattress which if I'm going custom, I can actually make the bed a little wider.

I like the passive vent idea. When I re-did the interior steps last year, I took the opportunity to run 3" flexible hose from the mid bilge (across from the head) up to a vent I cut in behind the wet bar. I then installed a computer fan into a metal/right angle dryer adapter from HD.

It runs 24/7 and produces a pretty good exhaust even from that distance. It's brushless, draws almost no power and should be good for about 3 seaons the way I'm using it. It's made a huge difference in moving the bilge smell (which turns out to be IN the plywood) outside.

I also found out that my Nicro Solar vent runs during the winter through the shrink wrap. I meant to take the battery out, forgot and heard it running.

BTW, no storage under the mid cabin mattress..... just the holding tank

[RWS]

The computer fan is a great idea.

I just run a simple, old fashioned oscillating fan to keep air moving about in the cabin when it's closed up.

Is the computer fan 120 volt?

You could extend it's life big time if you put it on a timer to run off and on a few hours a day like I currently do for the oscilating fan.

RWS

[BobCT]

no, it's 12v so it's a direct connection. I probably could use a timer but the fans are only about $20 and rated for 20,000 hours (8,760 hrs in a year).

It's been off for most of the winter so it's really only going full time 6 mos of the year.