Bert, the Pirate Dog

One of my friends wanted to see the new bed pulled out and with Bert stretched out on it, it was the perfect time to see just how "wide" our new bed really is.  Please, realize that Bert is about 95 lbs, so he really isn't a "small" dog by any means~lol  But, he IS smaller than Bob, my husband.   These photos will also show exactly how spoiled Bert really is.  We hold his paw when he goes to sleep (it keeps him from attempting to lay on us~lol).

Bert is sleeping in Bob's spot...notice the "ample room" that I am left with~lol

See how sweet we are...Bob is holding Bert's paw so he can sleep.
Before you post, yes I know his nails are long...they were twice this length when we got him
and we have now hit "quick"...this is as short as we can go without pain.

Bert trying to ignore the camera in his face and sleep.

Notice his pretty new pirate collar...I think it suits him:-)

The bed saga continues...

It's so much nicer sleeping on a "stable" bed since Bob added the hinges, but this presents a new problem in itself.  Now, the "sleeping platform" is so heavy it's difficult to swing into position, not to mention both cushions have to be moved out of the salon before it can be put into place.  This means it's not only heavy, but a cumbersome task every evening to set it up and every morning to fold it back into place. 

One of the Coffee Club guys suggested drilling a hole in the lower outside corner (inside when the beds flipped out of the way) and inserting a piece of line (rope for you land-lubbers~lol) so there's a handle to help with swinging the bed out.  I'm going to go one step further and put a "handle" on both corners.   I'm not positive that this will be that much help, but anything to keep my "large" bed is worth a try.  I'll let you know how it works out:-)  Otherwise, I think I may have to remove the hinges and see if I can't come up with another way to hold it in place...

Sleeping space is essential...

Putting in the foot braces

So we gave up the quarter berth to Max and Bert since Bob and couldn't both fit (we are too tall and I kept loosing foot space) and Bob and I have been sleeping separately on the settee's in the salon.  We are not happy with the arrangement, to say the least.  Today, we are extending one of the settee's with a removable brace system  and adding a piece of 1/2" plywood to have the bed slide out at night so we can sleep together again.

Sounds easy...right?  Well, it isn't!  There's actually only 3X5 of actual floor space to work with in the salon.  That means piling everything up on one settee to work on the other and Bob and I both bumping into each other as we attempt to work.  (Sounds like my friends story is now coming true for us~lol)  Add to that, I'm a girl.  Pretty obvious I'm sure, but I didn't "measure twice and cut once".  We are having to saw off 5" of the plywood since I measured the size of the settee cushion and NOT the actual space we needed to fill.  Oops:-(  Since we have no power saw here, that means Bob has to hand saw the extra off the plywood (not fun when sick).  Throw a confused German Shepherd (Sara) into the mix and it's a mess.  What we thought would take about an hour with Home Depot doing the actual cutting has turned into a 2 hour project.  Guess I'll measure twice next time...

Now that the board is cut, the braces are in place, all we need is a piece of foam large enough to cover the "new" bed.  We forgot to take the measurements to the store with us.  Grrr.  It's hard thinking of everything when you are just too sick and way too tired.

Edit:  So our neighbor suggested simply cutting down the quarter berth cushion that's in storage since it's already the proper thickness.  Since all the cushions need replacing, that seems like the easiest thing to do for now.  We are going to have to have all new cushions made sometime soon, since the foam was not the highest quality when they were made and they are all so "compacted" now.  When we do, we'll have a new quarter berth cushion AND the needed extension cushion for the new bed made then.  Now, if only I knew of an easy way to cut the foam...

Discovering the measurements are all wrong



Head Braces installed

Working in a tight space

Bob...fixing my bad measurement

Semi-finished bed