how to sleep on my boat

[smallboatlover]

i have a mistral 16' sailboat i can't sell this boat can never get rid of it a family boat. well my boat. so i want a boat i can sleep on and this is the boat i have to do it with.
ive thought of just beaching the boat but around me all the beaches are rocky and i busy so i don't like the idea of me pulling up and there being people all around me while i'm sleeping or when i wake up. so i think that is out.
so i wanna make my 16' boat sleep able. i think i could make a plywod bed that goes from the center board to the bench and that folds 4 times to make it small. Also i would need to find a place to store food, anchor, bedding, etc. i have plenty of room for storage on my boat i think.
i think that a boom tent could help in overcast times. i would have to put a motor on the boat to make it better for overnighting.
please give me advise for what to do to make it a boat that i can sleep on. Also should i bring a dinghy tied to the back towing behind and keeping most the gear on there and sleep on the on the sailboat open to ideas planning on making a boom ten this weekend.

[JoeDiver]

Your cockpit design is your most difficult thing to overcome. If theres any possible way to open up the front v berth to make it useable for storage, do it. You may have to cut and trim out an access port.

You'll have to get plywood or a small stack of 1x12's cut to fit to line the cockpit and provide a surface to sleep on...blow up an air mattress and use a sleeping bag.

Setup a boom tent to cover you....dew will form on you at night and in the morning if you don't. The tent cover can be an inexpensive blue tarp.

This is why you have to open up the v berth...otherwise storing all this stuff is going to be a problem. Face facts man...you have a day sailor. It's just not designed for overnighting. Not saying you can't....just that you're using chisel when you need a screwdriver.

Other option is to camp onshore: tent, sleeping bag.

[smallboatlover]

i have storage on the left v berth but i cant you the starboard that is a spinnaker shoot

[sailguy40]

Maybe you can rig up something like whats on the Sea Pearl 21, a convertable cabin...

Marine Concepts Sea Pearl 21 important features

[ImASonOfaSailor]

I would remove all storage things that you dont need over the time of the sleep over.. This way you can have room where the spinnaker is.. I am sure you do not put the spinnaker up every time when you are sailing the boat. so you could remove it also and just use a tarp over the boom...lay plywood down and get a sleeping bag..

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by smallboatlover

i have a mistral 16' sailboat i can't sell this boat can never get rid of it a family boat. well my boat. so i want a boat i can sleep on and this is the boat i have to do it with.

What you are trying to do is quite do-able and the ways to achieve it are many and varied.

Do an internet search for dinghy cruising and go from there.. There are even clubs you can join where people share their ideas and experiences. Enjoy!

[Mobnets]

Check out the magazine "Small Craft Advisor". All about doing all kinds of things (including overnighting) on very small (mostly under 20') boats. Although I have a 32 footer, I enjoy it anyway just because it's got a lot of interesting material.

[Mobnets]

"Small Craft Advisor" magazine's website:

www.smallcraftadvisor.com

[MacGyverRI]

pop a tent up in the cockpit then make some boards to make a full size bed, add an air mattress!

[YARDPRO]

wow, what a hard post to read...