Sundown Sailing Adventures

One of my FAVORITE things is lined-dried sheets. They smell and feel so fresh and clean. And soon, I’ll be enjoying those sheets on a new mattress in Sundown.

Clay and I took a trip to Boulder Comforts (A.K.A. Foam Source) today and ordered mattresses for the pullman and aft berths (i.e., our bedroom and the guest room). Boulder Comforts not only sells standard-size mattresses for home use, it also makes custom-size mattresses for RVs and boats. As a matter of fact, the U.S. Coast Guard orders mattresses for their ships from Boulder Comforts. WHO KNEW that I could find a company to make special, weird-size mattresses for a boat right down the road in Boulder?!? And apparently they do a really good job if the Coast Guard does business with them.

We worked with Matt, who knows A LOT about sleeping surfaces. He gave us the rundown of our options. For our pullman berth, we choose a natural latex foam with an organic cotton and organic wool quilted, zippered cover. The combination allows the mattress to breath and wick away moisture in an hypoallergenic and anti-bacterial way. We stepped down to a more standard firm foam with a hinged cotton and zippered cover for the aft berth. The hinge is important because our batteries and the water heater are located under this berth and we want to have quick access if necessary. Don’t worry! It will still provide a comfy night’s sleep for guests.

We went prepared with exact paper patterns of the two berth areas complete with exactly where we want the seam in the aft berth mattress and the angle degree needed for the outside edge of the pullman berth mattress (if you’re not familiar with the typical sailboat wall structure, they are curved and match the shape of the hull, thus, the one edge of the mattress will be curved, too).

What really surprised me was how big of mattresses we need. I expected the pullman berth would need about a full-size mattress and the aft berth just bigger than a twin. I was SO wrong. The pullman berth mattress will be cut from a KING-size mattress; the aft berth requires nearly a full-size mattress. That sounds so spacious!

I was delighted when we got to tour the actual factory where the mattresses are made. However, the quilted cover we ordered for our bed will be made in Louisiana and then shipped to Boulder to be placed on the foam core. Had we ordered a simple organic cotton cover, it would have been made right there in the Boulder factory. Either way, we’ll take delivery of our new sleeping platforms in about a month.

In the meantime, I’ll be dreaming of being rocked to sleep on our new bed with yummy sheets to make it all perfect. Oh, and my best friend will be beside me. Bliss!