Lee cloth fabric choice

[Tillsbury]

Phifertex is excellent for this. Make rope bags from your leftovers

[geoff3nebel]

What is the purpose of a lee cloth?
Quite simply to enable you to stay in your bunk without hanging on for dear life.
More important than choice of material is its attachments.
Strong cotton canvas or old sailcloth are excellent. It should go the full length of the bunk and be deep enough to prevent you from being thrown out. It must be strongly made. The usual eyelet in the corner is fine for static load, but if you are thrown against them the eyelets will pop out and the cloth will tear. The corners should have a strong resemblance to a storm jib clew. The lanyard attached to the eyelet in the reinforced corner holding the lee cloth in position must be fitted with some sort of quick release attached to its securing point towards the hull or strong point to allow you to escape from your bunk and dash to the cockpit. The lee cloth should be secured well under where you lie on the mattress.
I hope this is helpful.

[KiwiKen]

Originally Posted by MoorOrLess

I like the canvas (sail cloth from old sail is a great idea) Permanently fix in place along the bottom (lay them under mattress when not used). We found pockets on the outside very handy. On bunks that we’re difficult to climb in/out with the lee cloth up, use a snap shackle to attach the line holding the lee cloth up at lee cloth end.

I would recommend 8 or 9 oz sailcloth, that won't let you down and is more than strong enough.

[LakeSuperior]

We used Sunbrella and paid close attention to the upper attachment points. We designed the bottom so that it laid out under the mattress about 1.5 body widths so no hardware was needed. You body weight on the mattress kept it secure. They were well utilized and worked well during the four lows that passed by us on the Halifax to Ireland route.

[Paul Elliott]

I used a tight mesh fabric, the same stuff that's used to make line bags. We sewed a lufftape along the edge that goes under the sleeping cushion and screwed a matching luff foil under the cushion where the bench meets the cabin side. This way we can remove the leecloth for storage or repair/replacement. This is an extremely strong attachment.

I would be hesitant to just use a person's weight on a mattress to keep the leecloth in place. On our boat we sometimes do stupid things like flying a spinnaker in squalls, and we occasionally end up on our side. But regardless of how you sail your boat, the leecloth should protect you in the extreme cases, not just the uncomfortable ones.

I have reinforced grommets at the top edge of the cloth, that are lashed to the overhead grab-rail and some pad-eyes I installed on the fore and aft bulkheads. We use lines with snap shackles to the padeyes, and rolling hitches for tensioning. Obviously the attachment points will vary with the boat layout.

Using this method we can tension the leecloth to elevate the bunk cushion on one tack it the heeling would otherwise be uncomfortable.

We also sewed pockets in the inside and outside of the lee cloths, for temporary storage of incidental items. This has proven to be quite handy.

I had my "canvas guy" make these for me. The time and materials were quite reasonable, since there weren't a lot of fancy curves or tight measurements.

[chouliha]

We used something similar as Paul mentioned above. We bought the material at a marine swap meet. Was told it was used for tramps on cats. It’s cool, comfy to lay against, slightly stretchy and does let airflow thru.

Using phifertex you are laying against plastic and i would assume not so nice when it’s hot and steamy in the tropics



If you are sailing in the tropics having good air flow around you when trying to sleep is critical to a good rest

Good luck

Chuck
Jacaranda

[SVTatia]

All good replies and strength and ventilation are important.
I made a huge mistake not researching this enough when I had mine done. The most inportant feature to me now would be no stretch.
Sumbrella would be my preference but I would still sew webs to hold the person in when the bunk is on the high side. If the cloth is streachable, the person would lie on the cloth like a hammock. Not good, I know.

[Dockhead]

Sailcloth. From a well worn beloved old sail. That's what we used.

[kristjan]

Fabricland and most fabricland have 10oz canvas or close to it

[kristjan]

But I use leeboards now when I can

[liferaft]

Another source for screening and other marine grade fabrics is Vaughan's Fabric & Supply in Portland, OR.

Back in the day when I used to race sailboats cotton was tried on one boat. It was a disaster, shrinking when it got damp. Stick with synthetics.