Sheets?

[Greatest Lakes]

Depending on accessibility, vacuum sealed bags for textile goods work quite well for keeping things dry, taking up less space and free from miscellaneous boat dust and dirt. Depends more on if you have access to power for a vacuum and if you want to leave the sheets out all the time.

[Jamme]

Has anyone tried merino sheets? Curious to know.
For example, https://www.merinowoolbedding.com/pr...sheet-set.html (note: I have no affiliation whatsoever to this or other brands)

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

I only sleep on 100 % cotton next to my skin , absolutely zero synthetics.

My boat is dry and the sheets are fine

Do you run the a/c?

I have the same issue as the OP in FL when not running the a/c. Turn on the a/c and it dehumidifies and all is fine.

I just put up with it as a very minor cost to get the view from the cockpit and coffee with nature every am.

[MicHughV]

I use these. They are dehumidifiers that I hang in the hanging lockers and elsewhere.
I'm constantly stunned by how much moisture they pull out of the air. There is a sealed container to store the water, probably about 2 cupfuls. It fills up remarkably quick.


https://www.amazon.com/Camco-44286-F...a-854021979009

[Don C L]

One thing I forgot, my anchor locker is pretty much open to the rest of the boat. I can open a panel to see the chain forward of the v-berth, it is not air tight. If I am going to be off the boat for a while I give the chain/nylon line a fresh water bath too and that seems to help keep the interior drier and smelling better too.

[ParL]

Originally Posted by Jamme

Has anyone tried merino sheets? Curious to know.
For example, https://www.merinowoolbedding.com/pr...sheet-set.html (note: I have no affiliation whatsoever to this or other brands)

Interesting! I currently use a merino terry-cloth tube as a sleeping bag liner (t is the same stuff that Woolpower used for their wool garments), and it is the nicest stuff I have slept in. Yes, linen or high quality cotton sheets are nice, and silk is kind of luxurious, but the merino is just plain nice. Fairly long lasting, IIRC I have about 6-700 nights in mine so far, and while definitely not new it is by no means even near worn out.

[PippaB]

On land I have somewhat expensive taste in sheets and love the crisp feeling the OP is missing. On the boat we’ve settled on microfiber. They wash easily, dry quickly, and have the least damp feeling of all the materials we’ve tried.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I use these. They are dehumidifiers that I hang in the hanging lockers and elsewhere.
I'm constantly stunned by how much moisture they pull out of the air. There is a sealed container to store the water, probably about 2 cupfuls. It fills up remarkably quick.
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-44286-F...a-854021979009

On a hot & humid day ( 92°F, and 90% R/H), there’s 0.00205 Lbs. Of moisture, per Cu, Ft. Of air.
So, a 15 x 10 x 6 Ft (900 Ft3 ) cabin might contain 1.845 Lbs (±3.5 US cups, 28 fl-oz) of water, in the air.

DENSITY AND MOISTURE WEIGHT PER CUBIC FOOT OF AIR AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY
➥ https://www.process-heating.com/ext/...ables1and2.pdf

[Shrew]

The moisture is from the ambient, humid air. We cover the bed with a medium weight comforter. We have friends who use a wool blanket. If there is a lot of dew on the deck at night, we'll close the hatch directly over the bed until it's time to go to bed. Your body heat will prevent dampness from forming over night.

Obviously, we remove the heavy comforter or blanket before we go to bed.

[goboatingnow]

I’m always trying to explain to my wife not to “ air “ the sheets like she would do at home. Ie she strips off the the top duvet. I’m convinced this just exposes the cotton sheets to humidity and salt air. What do people typically do

[pbmaise]

A hot boat is a dry boat. The heat lowers the humidity inside the boat so a good baking during the heat of the day will drive moisture out of the bedding. The mattress will store a lot of moisture that needs to be driven out. So be sure to roll any blankets back or completely remove during the heat of the day.

Also baby powder on your body itself is good.

Of course be sure to wash any salt water from the sheets completely, and this includes salts from your own sweat.

I was lucky to buy a vessel with a quality mattress. The mattress had a netting on the bottom side to allow air movement below.

[Cheechako]

You likely have wetness under the mattress. It's amazing how wet it can get under there from your body heat against the cold plywood which supports the mattress. I mean "soaking wet/standing water" in colder climes. Condensation from the cold salt water on the hull and radiating into the boat and against the mattress heat. We bored a pattern of like a hundred 1.5" holes in the plywood for circulation, it helped. I thought about mounting a computer fan in the cabinet to circulate air from the compartment under the mattress.

[MWhite]

The humidity issue has already been covered in comments, as well as keeping salt water out of the boat. Once salt water gets on anything, the salt absorbs moisture from the air and things will never be dry until you wash them well. On board our boat we stay away from natural fibers, more's the pity, because they stop feeling really dry after several years of cruising. Where your boat is matters: we were on the west coast of the US, Sea of Cortez, then Hawaii. I love a crisp percale sheet while on land and I tried this on board the boat to no avail. We now use polyester fleece, the thinner stuff, for both top and bottom sheets. It does not absorb moisture from the air so it always feels dry. And even in hot climates like Mexico, that little layer of air it holds between the body and the bed helps keep you cooler than you'd think. It's also easy to wash, easy to dry, and lasts a very long time if you get the good stuff. Because it's stretchy, I can get a good fit on the mattress and it holds. We keep a stash of 100% polyester top sheets just in case we need them, stored in vacuum bags.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by MWhite

The humidity issue has already been covered in comments, as well as keeping salt water out of the boat. Once salt water gets on anything, the salt absorbs moisture from the air and things will never be dry until you wash them well.

Agreed. We make a point to take showers after sunset to wash off salt and sunscreen. This goes a long way to keeping the sheets fresh feeling. As mentioned previously we've had good luck ensuring the bed and pillows are covered with a med. weight comforter. We also keep clean bedding in vacuum bags both for storage and moisture.

[Atcowboy]

Originally Posted by PippaB

On land I have somewhat expensive taste in sheets and love the crisp feeling the OP is missing. On the boat we’ve settled on microfiber. They wash easily, dry quickly, and have the least damp feeling of all the materials we’ve tried.

This ^^

I have a smaller (27') boat with me and two dogs, and I'm in Florida right now. Microfiber is the way to go. Unfortunately, they don't stay crisp for very long. The salt water (from me sweating) sees to that. I cycle the sheets kind of often, and they hand wash pretty easily if you can't get to a machine. They dry really quickly, also.

I think I have a similar thought process to the OP. My definition of "dry" is different on a boat then on land.

- AT