Question for R27 owners who have added toppers

[Gin]

We have taken delivery on Echo (so much to post about that, so little time!). Everything is going great on our shake down learning experiences. Except . . . as we fully expected, the mattress in the V-berth is a killer. We need a topper, whether that proves to be a short term or long term solution. We are 50 miles from our boat, thinking about getting one now at Costco or through Overstock.

The question for you have have been there and done that . . . what size? I saw a post from Herb of Walldog that suggested a king is required. I can get a regular king (76 wide x 80 long) or a cal king (72 wide x 84 long). Maybe either will work. But if we were to want to maximize the size of the cut-offs, any suggestion as to which size? It would be great to get it before we get back up to the boat, where we didn't think to take measurements after our very uncomfortable first night on the factory foam.

Gini

 

[WA6BTK]

Gini,

We just took possession of our R-27 5 weeks ago. We bought 3 inch foam from Costco and cut it with an electric knife (Herb's suggestion). Two weeks ago, we stayed on the boat for two nights, both of us sharing the v-berth. Yikes! I am 6'2" and weigh about 215. I wish we had bought the 4 inch foam as I had sore hips and shoulders after those two nights. It was not good. Add to that situation that our feet were playing footsie all night long which added to the discomfort. The new plan is for me to sleep in the cave with a topper and Sue gets the v-berth along with our clothes duffels. Hope this helps.

Stu

 

[Gin]

Stu, that sure confirms how inadequate the factory mattress is. Discouraging that a 3" topper isn't necessarily a solution. Right now, though, that may be all we can do for immediate relief. Fact is, we won't sleep on it again as is until we do something. It was that uncomfortable . . .

Gini

 

[JamesTXSD]

Not all mattress toppers are created equal. We put in a 3" memory foam with gel, and both of us find it very comfortable. My wife says a 4 or 5 pound density is necessary to keep the foam from just squishing down (she did the research). I've seen some memory foam toppers that go flat when you press on them - too light on the density. Our boat is a C-Dory, not a Ranger, but I think the original factory v-berth cushions are similar in density. A regular king gave us side to side coverage, trimming the edges to fit the V.

Hope that helps.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

 

[baz]

King size will be overkill and a few dollars more than Queen size, but will surely give you complete coverage with pieces left over you can use elsewhere. We bought a 4" from COSTCO and it was almost too heavy for me to haul about as it was so dense. It's extremely comfortable for us. I weigh in at 175 lbs and 1st mate is around 132 lbs. We do touch toes at times but that's the nature of things... :lol: We even allow Ms Chloé and Mr Jake to sleep in between or where ever they find room and that works also.

Using an electric knife to shape the foam mattress is very important as it makes a nice clean cut with ease and it's like cutting a knife through soft butter.

I used our factory mattress cushions as templates laid out on the dockside with the foam mattress underneath them. I made the foam mattress 2" more all around than the factory cushions as the foam mattress will have a tendency to shrink up some when you lay on it. We covered the foam with a fitted sheet. The only problem we've found is that it's not easy to slide around on the mattress with the fitted sheet as there's too much friction and the fitted sheet kind of stick to your clothing. Maybe we need super slick silk clothing for bedtime.

To avoid toe tangles one could sleep with head in the bow section... haven't done that yet mind you. We use a king size goose comforter on top and find that's plenty for keeping warm... and sometimes too warm. 😉

 

[knotflying]

In the R-27 king size will give you full coverage and then some at the widest part. Queen size will be a little short on the sides at the widest part. Thickness and density are a matter of personal preference. I would say you want to be dense and 3 inch should suffice.

 

[Gin]

I'm going to go with a regular king based on the replies. Thanks all!

Gini

 

[aussie]

Hi All guess we will have to wait and see how we like the comfort of the factory mattress 😀
about 5 weeks until we get to she her 🙂

Cheers
Peter and Ronie B

 

[walldog]

Hi Gin, Just make sure it is the GEL foam. Costco sells the Novaform 3 inch Gel Foam pad. Others are not as comfortable.

 

[Don and Brenda]

On our previous boat (C-Dory) we added a 3" topper which we picked up on sale at Bed Bath and beyond. The tug 27 fortunately came with the optional memory foam mattress. We have spent 2 nights on it and was very comfortable.

 

[Cocoa Gold]

I used a 3" foam from BBB and used white glue to add on the piece that poked out wide and also extended the length to match the cushion

I sewed a custom cover to protect the foam 'cause I never want to revisit this again!
It works well.

 

[Oregon Trail]

Hi Gini,
Sorry we missed your delivery! Jamie and I have something for you when we meet on the water some time. Regarding the mattress, we have not tried it yet on the "new" and "big" boat, but on our old sailboat, which was very small, we just stopped at REI and picked up a couple of Thermarest backpacking pads and slid those under the factory cushions. It is certainly not as upscale, but with those and our sleeping bags, we slept just fine. Good luck.

Mike and Jamie
Cutwater 28
Portland

 

[Gin]

Mike and Jamie, will shoot you a personal message this evening so we can look for a time and place to get together. It will be great to meet you.

As for other suggestions, all good. Except I'm a bit frustrated to hear about the factory memory foam option on the R27. We specifically asked and we told the standard mattress was the only thing the factory made available. This is actually the second R27 I now have heard about that came with memory foam cushions in the V berth.

 

[knotflying]

Perhaps Andrew or Kenny can chime in on the Foam option. There may be many owners interested in purchasing an upgrade.

 

[Don and Brenda]

Gini

Remember my boat is a 2011, and the original owner had made special arrangements to have this installed, my understanding is that it's not an option, they actually have to change the position of the bolster pads on the side to make it work as the mattress is too thick for the standard install.

Don

 

[Hydraulicjump]

Gini,

Barbara and I found this topper

http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Studio-Visc ... ess+topper

Cut to fit with a bread knife (not as neat as an electric carving knife, but covered with a sheet who knows?) works great for us. The factory bed is, to put it succinctly, a brick. But I am sure they make it that way so it will last a long time and hold up to wear.

Simple, cheap, comfortable fix.

Jeff

 

[Gin]

Thanks for the link, Jeff. Don, that's helpful to know (that a special mattress required moving the bolsters). The factory is super busy with high demand for its boats, making it genuinely difficult for them to customize things to the same degree as at other times. That was probably why I got the answer I did. They worked with us on the special requests we had that that mattered the most to us. We love our boat, and had a great experience working with the factory and staff. We can cure the mattress problem ourselves. As with so many things on this forum, the advice and help of other Ranger Tugs is always a big benefit. Thanks all!