Happiness is a warm, dry bed!

Water definitely belongs on the outside of a boat

Much as I like living on the water, I really don’t want to sleep in it.

One of the main problems we discovered soon after moving on-board Ravensdale was a damp bed (not what you’re thinking J – unless you’ve spent any time on a boat, in which case it’s probably exactly what you’re thinking)

We found that the cold water tank beneath the bed was causing terrible condensation under the mattress, which was getting soaking wet so we had to strip the bed, tip the mattress on its side and put the dehumidifier on full power every day to dry it. This also meant we were using more electricity than planned.

An off-cut of the Dry-Mat that is now under the mattress

Fiona at Maiden Marine chandlery in Whitehaven recommended a product called Dry-Mat. We were told that this anti-condensation underlay, which is only about 1cm thick, allows air to circulate under the mattress, thus preventing damp, mould and mildew.

We ordered some, cut it to fit and the result has been amazing – so much so that we checked it every day for the first few days expecting to find it hadn’t worked. Thankfully it has worked brilliantly.

The bed in the main cabin

And putting the dehumidifier on in the bedroom for an hour or so each day seems to keep the rest of the moisture at bay.

Our Christmas present to ourselves is going to be a new mattress. The one on the boat is probably as old as the boat itself and is so hard that it’s like sleeping on the floor. Anyone who has ever slept on a cheap sofa bed, marked “for occasional use only” will know what I mean here.

Anyway, we made a template of the bed, which is double bed width at the top and slopes away on each side making it narrower at the bottom, and we have now ordered a custom-made mattress.

The company has said it will pull out all the stops to get it to us before December 25 so we will have it in time for our first Christmas on the boat.

And if that’s all I get for Christmas this year I will be very happy (Just hope Phil doesn’t read this bit J)