www.iFourWinns.com

Ok, for those of us with some sort of open bow boats - have you ever spent a night on the boat? I am not talking about going fishing till 4 in the AM...I am talking about you and your spouse (or buddie(s)) actually spending a night ON the boat somewhere? My boat has no "camper canvas" option, so it would be pretty much like sleeping outside camping.

Share your experiences please! I am thinking this would be a lot of fun for my son and I or maybe a buddy etc...

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

I bet I overnighted on my boat more than most people do on their cruisers. I put the camper top up and then blow up one of those double thick air mattress like the one below that fits PERFECTLY inside the U-shape seating both width and height so it makes for a pretty good sized sleeping area back there.

I find its better and more comfortable than a tent but I'm getting old and I'm tiring of the air mattress, sleeping bag set up. But it has served me well and I LOVE sleeping on the boat.

I've seen people with 20 footers without the u-shape seating put the cockpit chairs in the bow and lay mattress over in the rear.

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Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

Although I don't get anywhere near the number of overnights spent by Cincy on an open bow, my son, my fiance and I overnighted frequently last summer on our Horizon 200.

It took a little time to develop a system, but it worked out great! I bought a cover for a 26' foot boat on e-bay to serve as a "dust cover" a while back. Turned out that dust cover became a really convenient makeshift camper canvas. At night, we would stretch it from the bow over the bimini and bunjy strap it to the back tie downs. It fit like a glove and generally kept out the weather. For sleeping, we slid down the back bench, took the captains chairs and turned them upside down in the bow (under the cover) and blew up a double thick twin Coleman air mattress. The air mattress came to about the same height as the bench seat. One other sleeping option, you can stretch a sheet over the sunpad once the cover is on and sleep up there. A little uncomfortable due to the slight slant towards the back of the boat, but doable.

All in all, it worked out excellent for us. We were going to have a custom camper canvas made for this season, but decided that a bathroom was a must. We got quotes on the canvas and it was about $1,500 to $2,000. The guy was going to also make a piece that stretched from the front of the bimini out over the bow to make a tent like enclosure. I had seen some of his custom canvas work and it was awesome, as good as factory.

Long story short, with the storage and layout of the FWs, it's extremely doable.

Hope that helps!

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2006 Vista 258
2007 Yukon Denali

Haven't yet but that is definitely on my to-do list for this summer. I will absolutely do it, even if I end up by myself.

Buddy, we might have to tie up to each other then. I dont see my wife going for this, haha.

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

I think it was 2 Memorial day weekends ago. Took my two boys out camping on a little beach area on Lake Russell which is on the GA/SC boarder. Boys slept in a tent, I folded down the bench seat in back of the 180 and had THE most restful night I've ever spent outside in the history of my life.

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2004 180 Horizon
NE Georgia

Oh, forgot to say, the wife didn't go. She won't "Rough it"

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2004 180 Horizon
NE Georgia

Well, I have never owned an open bow, but I rarely slept in the cuddie, wife and kids got that. I always slept on the back bench, usually under the stars! Our 245 sundowner had back to back seating on both sides, and a nice large bench that went across the entire back over the motor.

Current boat has a small U-shape seating area, but I think its too small for me to sleep there, comfortably.

I very much enjoyed sleeping under the start on our last boat.

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2000 248 5.7L DP
'92, '94 SXI 750, '08 STX 15F, '12 Ultra LX 300
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