I posted the following elsewhere earlier today, maybe it will help:
Our old cushions were a soggy, heavy mess once wet and we had to endure that last year. They also were way to soft and non-supportive. We looked at the closed cell, but felt that it was too hard for extended trips when you spend day after day in the cockpit. We decided to try DryFast Foam from ......
http://www.foambymail.com/Hi-FlowFoam.html
....instead of the sheets listed on the above page we ordered it cut to sizes that we could then further cut to shape. We ordered that using the following link...
http://www.thefoamfactory.com/Merchant2 ... shape_id=1
We got one piece that goes in front of the traveler 3X12X66 for $42.08, 4 pieces of 3X11X32 ($74.80 total) for the back rests and 4 pieces of 3X21X33 ($147.28 total) for the bottom cushions for a total of $264.16 (free shipping).
Foam isn't cheap, but we really like this foam after using it for almost a month. It is firm with a ILD: 60 LBS, but not near as firm as closed cell as far as I can tell. We used the firmest foam they had for the V-berth and cabin cushions called Lux-HQ with a 55lb ILD and really like it for those applications. The dryfast is just a little stiffer, but as you sit on it you kind of sink in a little kind of like memory foam, but don't go to the bottom.
The first days out we had dew on the cushions in the moring and it rained on them also a few times. Normally if wet we just turned them over and used the other side. They always dried very quickly. We would buy this stuff again and this is about the 3rd purchase from that company and we like them also.
One other key to the quick drying was that we used Phifertex Plus Vinyl Mesh Dupioni Poolside ....
http://www.sailrite.com/Phifertex-Plus- ... ide-L37-54
..that we got from Sailrite. We also wondered how it would feel since it is a vinyl mesh. We didn't sit on it with bare skin and the feel of it was fine for us. It isn't a cloth, but fine. It is open so you don't sweat on it and it helps dry the cushion great. We didn't know if we would like it or not so bought some really long beach towels that we could put on it if necessary. We never used them. When the cushions had been rained on hard we did turn them over and put the doubled up towel on them for a couple hours to keep our butts dry, but then took the towels off as the cushion dried. Our old cushions would of been wet for a couple days as you mentioned.
Here are two pictures prior to being covered and after....
and here are links to the two mods page......
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... -31-a.html
and
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... -31-b.html
....I'll have more info and construction pictures on the second page with text maybe by tonight.
One last thing. We really like having the multiple shorter cushions vs. the long ones. More options in how we use them. Some of the time we might only have one back one on one side. Ruth sometimes didn't like a back one at the tiller and I did working the sails. Also they are much easier to store below if we want to as they aren't as bulky. If it is going to rain and you want to make sure you have two dry ones in the morning you don't have to take as much below.
c ya,
Sum
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