| West Wight Potter Owner's Home Port ____________________________________________________________________________________ |
When I was eleven, I had a very cool tree house. Actually, it was more of a tree platform, since it didn’t have
a roof and only meager walls. Also, the tree was too small and spindly for a good tree fort and there was a
lot of swaying when the wind blew. But, it was a wonderful place to daydream and I spent many hours up
there reading Jack London and R. L. Stevenson as my “crows nest” rocked away. I also spent quite a few
nights sleeping there. The funny thing is, I really don’t remember thinking about things like comfort or
restfulness. I’m not even sure that I used a pillow up there. Back then, an all-night adventure under the
stars, in the rigging of my swaying tall ship, was enough.
Somehow, my perspective has changed some. Forty years later, I’m still gung ho for sailing adventures, but I
think a lot about comfort and restfulness. I guess I’ve become a finicky sleeper over the years. I’m not quite
as obsessive as The Princess and the Pea, but I’d rather sleep on a comfortable bed than not. Maybe it’s
age or maybe it’s all those years camping out with my Scouting sons, but now if I’m hoping to fall asleep, I
must not be also be subjecting myself to back torture.
There’s a certain amount of discomfort implied with small sailboat cruising. I accept that. I’ve owned two
sailboats; both West Wight Potters. Both were built with cabins designed for sleeping. My P-19, Beowulf,
certainly offered more comfortable sleeping than my P-15, Tetra. But to be honest with you, I never had a
restful night inside either cabin. Some of that might have been claustrophobia or poor ventilation, but I kept
finding myself poking my head out the hatch to see what was going on. I guess I tend to mentally put myself
on anchor watch and then never relieve myself. Whether its smells or stuffiness or paranoia or curiosity,
cabin sleeping just doesn’t come naturally to me. “What’s that sound? I’d better check.”
So, I started sleeping in the cockpit. Hey, there was fresh air out there! You could look around and see
what was going on in the anchorage! However, there was a serious comfort trade-off. The P-19’s benches
were just short of tolerable; the P-15’s were medieval torture. And, of course, Tetra’s cockpit was so small
that I had to either sit up or lie diagonally. My first attempt at P-15 diagonal cockpit sleeping required me to
span my legs across an ice chest while I hugged a stinky 5-gallon fuel can. I kept thinking that there had to
be a better way.
Thus, the purpose of this article. For those of you who are looking for some alternative to bottling yourself
into that stuffy cabin, you’re in luck. Or, if you’re just looking for some extra berths, I can fix you up. With a
little ingenuity, you can turn your cockpit into some pretty comfortable digs. And, you don’t really have to
spend much money to do it.
Turn those benches into a comfortable bed:
Step One of my cockpit transformation was an adult-sized bed. If you are five feet tall and weigh 90 pounds,
you can skip this step and move on to Step Two. But, for the rest of you, this is important. I’m pretty sure
that WWP benches were meant for sitting and sailing as opposed to slumber. It may look like a roomy place
to sleep until you actually try it. My friend, Travis, showed me how he filled in his cockpit’s footwell for better
sleeping and I adopted it immediately. This is what I did.
I wanted a flat platform that would fill in Tetra’s footwell at bench height, but then also drop down out of the
way when not in use. It was important to me that the platform live on the cockpit sole and not require
stowage inside the (already full) cabin. I envisioned a collapsing platform that served as both a bed frame
and cockpit grate. After doodling some ideas onto a napkin, I hit my workshop looking for materials. Luckily,
I was able to use scrap wood and spare fittings and didn’t have to purchase a thing. Below, is my elevating
cockpit grate:
The cockpit grate, collapsed and sitting on the port bench
The cockpit grate from underneath
As you can see, it’s pretty simple. It’s basically a ladder-type frame with boards (legs) that swivel down. To
keep things simple, I used rope as the locking mechanism. The hardest part was all the measuring to make
sure that it fit the cockpit sole and that the legs would make the height match that of the bench tops. But,
with trial and effort, it worked fine. To lock the legs in place, I wove a polypropylene rope through the frame
and legs and used jam cleats to hold the rope in the “standing” position. I could then quickly uncleat the
lines to collapse it and turn it back into a flat grate again.
The grate locked in the standing position
The last two photos show the grate collapsed and standing. In addition to the benefit of the bed platform, I
liked having a wood floor to rest my feet on while sailing. Wood is great. The wood slats were made from
spare Sapele wood left over from an earlier hatch project. I coated everything with marine epoxy to make it
waterproof. The frame was painted with white latex paint while spar varnish went on the Sapele.
The grate in sailing mode and sleeping mode
(Click onto photos to enlarge)
So, how did it work? When it was bedtime, all I needed to do was raise the grate and slide my cockpit
cushions together. I then inflated a camping pad for some extra softness. With my 5’ 10” height, I could
comfortably stretch out diagonally and relax. In a P-15, sailors up to 6’ 1” or 6’ 2” could pull this off pretty
easily. Sailors taller than that would just be a bit too tall to completely stretch out. Now, on a bigger P-19,
actual giants with a cockpit platform like this could sleep in ease and comfort. Or, better yet, you could
comfortably sleep side-by-side with a loved one.
Get yourself some cockpit privacy:
When you begin to move traditional cabin functions into the open and exposed world of the cockpit, you’re
soon going to wish for some privacy. Now, this may be more of an issue for P-15 owners than for P-19
owners. The senior Potter’s cabin is a nice place for teeth brushing, dressing and potty activities, and that’s
certainly where I’d do those things. But, for the junior Potter, forget about it. That’s why P-15 owners are
occasionally seen casually strolling off the beach and into a stand of trees while holding a bucket. Enough
said. The point is, cockpit privacy can be invaluable to the cruising Potter.
Now, if this sounds good to you, you have several options for Step Two of the resort transformation. Many
Potter owners have fashioned boom tents for this purpose. A simple tarp over the boom can create some
fast and easy privacy. You can put as much work and innovation into this idea as suits you. In my case, I
wanted to incorporate a bimini top for some extra flexibility. So, I purchased an inexpensive, generic white
vinyl bimini top and cut it down to better fit the boat. I mounted the bimini frame to my cockpit rails and it
folded forward onto the cabin top when sailing.
Sitting in the shade of my bimini, trying to figure out how to store a week’s supplies
(Photo courtesy of Chuck Pierce)
Then, to give me the privacy I was after, I set out to fabricate privacy walls. I bought a white poly tarp and
turned it into three panels that I could lash to the bimini, using grommets and short lengths of cordage. A
better, but more complex system, would have used zippers or snaps for attachment. On the side panels, I
even incorporated some windows to enable better ventilation and visibility. Designing and sewing the panels
actually became kind of a fun little project. When not in use, I would roll up the panels and store them in the
cabin.
My newly fabricated poly-tarp cockpit enclosure
(Click onto photos to enlarge)
What a difference this made. When camping, I could turn my cockpit into a cozy shelter. As soon as I arrived
at my destination, I’d rig the bimini and attach my enclosure panels. I could roll those panels up and get them
out of my way while I visited with my neighbors. Then, at bedtime, I would simply drop the panels down for
some privacy. Without much more work, I could have incorporated some mosquito netting into the design to
make the enclosure bug-free. The photo below depicts Tetra on a remote spit of land with her cockpit
enclosure in place.
A little haven of privacy on a crowded beach
(Photo courtesy of Stan Roberts)
What was that about a Four-Star Resort?
Okay, that may be going a bit far, but you can certainly turn your cockpit into a comfy, private place to spend
the night. Instead of sweating in that cabin, move out into that airy cockpit. Make yourself a big, soft bed on
top of those hard benches. Pull a couple of pillows out of a waterproof bag. Close up your sleeping space
with some privacy walls. You will enjoy your new living area as much as I did mine. And, if you really want to
complete the resort experience, you can even put a mint on your pillow.
John Turpin
john@teamturpin.org
John lives in Edmond, OK. Having recently lost his sailboat, Tetra, in adverse weather off the Texas coast,
he is now building a wooden camp cruiser and dreaming of future Potters. For more information on John’s
extensive restoration of Tetra and the adventures they shared, visit his website at www.tetra-sail.com.
Copyright John Turpin
Turn your Cockpit into a Four-Star Resort!
by
John Turpin
by
John Turpin
