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W36 Vega and does the Cockpit Seat Make into n Bunk
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Ian MacDonald
Hi there I have read references to the rear cockpit seating on a Willard Vega 36 Stn making into a berth but have never seen a picture oif this. Could someone confirm that yes / no there is a sleeping berth available in the rear cockpit area and a picture of this (if it exists) would be wonderful.
Thank you Ian MacDonald Nanoose Bay British Columbia |
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There is no specific "conversion," just that the W36 Sedan bench is large enough to comfortably sleep.
The W36 Sedan aft deck has to be the largest aft deck of any sedan-style monohull under 60-feet. Downside of course is rhe inside living space is reduced. Just depends on how you use the boat.
I found rhe attached online.
Peter
--M/V Weebles1970 Willard 36 Sedan Hull #40 Ensenada, MX  |
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As Peter says, the aft cockpit “seat” is large enough to sleep on as is. I have slept on it several times, lots of room for one person. In some respects it is a better berth than seat, the curved back means only the two people on the outboard ends have a back rest, while it can accommodate 5 abreast easily. Bill |
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Ian MacDonald
Hey THANK YOU Peter and Bill for your quick responses, much appreciated. Reason I am asking is that I am once again leaning to a W36 but dont have an accurate sense of the internal dimensions. Specifically berths. Is that double berth with the fold down single bunk on top on the starboard side adequate / comfortable? Also are there any options to replace the bench seat with a 2 seater dinette in the salon in order to create an internal table (British Columbia North Coast, Haida Gwaii and Alaska is not always weather friendly to relaxing / eating / working in the cockpit). See attached a couple of pictures of this modification. Anyone have any comments, precautions??? Finally, I know there are some W36's in Puget Sound, anyone know of a W36 in British Columbia that I could track down to have a looksee at the interior dimensions?
Thank you Ian MacDonald Nanoose Bay British Columbia 
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Hey Ian - my best guess is the Willard 36 sedans were all semi-custom. The interior varies a fair amount between each boat. Most of the early boats had 4 single berths forward - I can't speak to their comfort. I'd imagine the lower ones were fine. The upper ones would be unusable except for children. Most had the head forward, but not all - the alternative layout was a v-berth in the forward section with the head compartment on starboard side just forward of the bulkhead that divides the main saloon from the stateroom area. As my wife and I have aged (and re-gained our baby fat), the double-bunk to starboard became increasingly awkward for the inevitable notcurnal pee-trek. As part of the refit, I had the bunk moved to a v-berth configuration, and the head moved to the after end of the stateroom. I believe Bill's boat is similar, as is Nokken if you can find pictures of her.
Here are some old pictures of Weebles' original layout showing pullman berth - no changes to saloon (I think you will need to be logged-in on the Groups.IO website to view them). https://willardboatowners.groups.io/g/main/files/Misc./4%20-%20Willard%20Pictures%20-%20Renedezvous,%20etc/W36%20%2340%20Weebles%20-%20Pictures I lived aboard Weebles for a few years, and was a remote worker in tech at the time. The aft deck was a decent office. I'd say one option that I wish my boat had had would be the hard-top extension to cover the aft settee - mine had a soft-top that worked fairly well, but I decided to have the hard-top built-in during my refit. We are headed to the tropics and want sun and rain protection, but would be good for an aft-deck enclosure. I think the biggest challenge is money. These are not very valuable boats which makes it impossible to restore them for any reason than just plain love of the boat. I think these are a good 1-couple boat, possibly a third person. I also converted the top-deck to have two fore/aft benches instead of the one thwart bench. Here is a picture I have handy showing during painting - note hard-top. These benches are easily long enough and wide enough for sleeping in decent weather (again, headed south, not north). In closing, when I first moved to Florida in 2005, I thought a slow, displacement boat was a fish out of water. I quickly changed my tune - the ICW has many no-wake zones so speed is often useless. And the skinny water means a well-protected prop is a real benefit. Last thing I wanted was a hard-top; and losing the mast meant I could fit under more bridges without opening. Peter  -- M/V Weebles 1970 Willard 36 Sedan Hull #40 Ensenada, MX |
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Ian,
I echo Peter’s comments. We find our W36 sedan very comfortable for a couple, and workable for one extra. I have seen several W36S over the years and I have never seen two identical interiors. I personally have had two W36S, #6 and #34. One had the head in the forepeak with two single berths aft of the head, one port, one stbd, with a passageway to the head between, and a pipe berth above each, for a total of four. One had a small dinette, and the other an L shaped settee, both similar to photos you have posted. Our L shaped settee converts to a double berth by moving the back cushions down, but as Peter notes more than a couple plus 1 gets crowded for longer trips. The dinette was single wide and short, I prefer the L shaped settee with table, it has plenty of room for 3 without impeding passage to forward. Off hand I can’t recall seeing a 36 in BC, but we hope to be in Nanaimo next summer and would be happy to give a tour. Bill -- W36S #34 The Grey Goose |
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Okay, so I snapped some pictures of Weebles this morning. Shes just getting finshed-up so a bit messy, but you can get the idea of the layout.
First pic is from the aft door facing forward. I have an L-Shaped settee in the front starboard side. This is a very comfortable single bunk if needed. Its also a decent place for my wife and I to have coffee in the morning with a quilt over us if it's cold out. I'm not a banquette kind of guy so I wouldn't do it, but some folks prefer it. Personal preference. When we bought Weebles in 1998, she had blue shag carpeting. An early project was installing this teak parquet.  V-berth that replaced the forepeak head compartment. Bunks are 78" long. On Weebles, this was originally in the forepeak; and in this area was a fullsize pullman berth that was tight even when we were younger. Now, with one of us invariably needed a trip the head to pee, vee-berths are much more convenient so the head compartment was moved. Also added an extra pair of ports (thanks Newfound Metals). Also added a small A/C in the anchor locker - note the round vents. Head compartment to starboard (right). Shower stall to port (left)  Stall shower is the only original work in the stateroom area.  Picture of the head compartment. As an aside, I found the parquet online from a guy who purchased it 40-years ago and never installed. It's tough to find these days.  Helm station. This is far from optimal. Sea back is not yet installed. The seat itself is pretty high, and the instrument console is also pretty high. It's fine for long watches where much work is via radar, but visibility forward is pretty poor on the Willard 36. It's a huge tradeoff - install a nice helm chair and lose a ton of storage. For me, even with grand cruising plans, will only be underway 5% of the time, and much of that will be from the flybridge. It's something you get used to,  Better picture of the flybrdge benches. Propane locker on port side. These benches are about 6'6" long. Not show are the backs that articulate to allow forward facing seating at front of bench, or a 'headboard' on the bench seating.  Aft deck. I had a freezer fabricated into a 'chaise' section of the settee.  I don't think many other W36's have a sloped ladder entrance to the upper deck. Although it encroaches into the cabin slightly, it makes ascending to the top deck much easier. There's a nice mahogany ladder with wide steps instead of the old ladder shown.  Hope this helps give a sense of the space. M/V Weebles 1970 Willard 36 Sedan Hull #40 Ensenada, MX |
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Willis Skaggs, Vega 30 Nomad
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On Thursday, November 24, 2022, 2:26 PM, Peter P via groups.io <pete_pisc@...> wrote:
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