Berth Conversion

I'm in the process of buying a Grand Banks 42 classic, with the two berths in the master cabin. Has anyone here done a conversion to an island queen, or have knowledge of such?

Welcome aboard. I am not familiar with the tanks in that boat but that would probably be the biggest issue. Then just a bunch of woodworking.

Thanks for your reply: If your referring to the fuel tanks, I'm not sure why they should be an issue, can you explain?

Larry

If there are tanks under the split berths they would have to be moved or have new ones made that would fit under the new queen berth. Could be an easy job or a real PITA. Depends on what is there and the size/configuration.

No knowledge here of what is under the split berths, but I do know that the water tanks in a split berth 42 are out in the lazarette. A recent thread on that 42 showed a queen in the aft cabin, with the doors out to the aft deck opening onto that queen. So you would lose the ladder to the doors out, and probably would learn to hate not being able to get in from out back.

Our gb36 was converted by the previous owner to a single queen, we never missed the stairs to the back deck, we did open the door on nice days for a great breeze through the boat.
Hollywood

The two berths probably have drawers under and more storage port/starboard the same as on the GB36. The limitations are whether the island queen has walk around at the foot. Layouts I have seen show different head and closet layout(shorter) to allow that.

We are contemplating reworking our aft bed setup too, different boat though. Under our bunks are all storage except the port side does have the exhaust hose running through it.

My Concorde 41 has the twin berths and the two 160 gallon fuel tanks are under those. Moving those would not be practical. If they were leaking and needed replacing I'd go with one queen size tank on center line and the bed above it, but they're not. Stainless steel so not likely to ever need replacing.
The isle between them is wide enough that I was able to extend one berth to a "double" size mattress and installed more drawers underneath the extension. There's enough isle left to get around. That leaves one side of the double still up against the hull. I'd rather have a walk around on both sides but it's the best I could do. The wood work was easy to do, it's all laminate over plywood and I was able to get more of the same stuff.
I assume the GB has natural wood paneling which wood be harder to match. If there's nothing much under the existing berths the change wouldn't be too hard, and probably a lot of the old wood could be reused.

I have a 42 classic with the dual bunk set-up too (one queen, one full in the aft). The island king is the only check box my boat didn’t have when I was looking/bought. I investigated converting to the island king, it’s very possible and just woodwork.

I don’t use the aft door/escape opening, typically I leave the canvas on it as the seals run multidirectional and often leak in a hard rainstorm so special access to that door/escape opening (post conversation) wasn’t an issue with me.

Now, back to your original question, the reason I didn’t implement the island berth is I’ve actually come to like the twin set-up better after I started using the boat. I find it’s not that uncommon that I have buddies with me more often than not on a cruise vs a spouse. With the twin it’s a much better set up. Matching the woodwork has always been in the back of my mind too…

My suggestion would be buy the boat, use it a while and then make a call on the conversation. You may hear a few “I can’t make this damn bed….” comments in the meantime, but an answer of “working on it” may be better than “I wish I had left it alone…..”.

Just my two cents….

You could cover the new berth with vinyl if you don’t have a lot of woodworking experience. It will cover a multitude of sins if you use foam backed vinyl.

Comodave said:

You could cover the new berth with vinyl if you don’t have a lot of woodworking experience. It will cover a multitude of sins if you use foam backed vinyl.

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Good God man its a Grand banks not a SeaRay!
Have you no shame!
Hollywood

Boldventure said:

I'm in the process of buying a Grand Banks 42 classic, with the two berths in the master cabin. Has anyone here done a conversion to an island queen, or have knowledge of such?

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I have a GB 36 with that double/single set-up in the aft cabin. We would much rather have a center-line double bed so my babe didn't have to climb over me to get out and pee in the middle of the night, but that's the deal. And we wouldn't dream of having someone else sleeping down there with us. The single on the port side does no good except to act as the bosun's locker for rope and lines, life vests, emergency supplies, blankets, dive stuff etc. It has drawers under. I read about a guy in the NE who removed the single port berth and built in a wood stove over there, with a Charlie Noble to go thru the aft coach roof. We're in southern California so no need for the stove but I thought it was a good idea. You could retain most of the "bosun's locker" space, and have the warmth of the stove. The heat might be a little intense for us in Santa Barbara, but otherwise I like the idea.

We just did ours about 3 months ago. the mufflers run under the beds, we took the dresser (under the rear escape hatch) out and saved the sliding drawers and the face of the dresser, relocated it to the port side using the end of the closet as one side, and reinstalled the dresser face the sliding drawers. we built a bed frame to fit a queen size from finished plywood turned across (port to stbd) putting the head against the stbd muffler box with part of one side butting against the bathroom wall (maybe 14"). At the foot end of the bed we were able to install all the drawers (except the map drawer). We can walk around both sides of the bed. we installed house flooring and put a transitional piece where the bathroom door is (did not floor the bathroom). We used 1/8" finished to cover the remaining top and sides of the muffler boxes. stained all of it. I had strips of cherry cut the same width as the existing side (bow to stern) boards and installed across the aft bhd (where the dresser originally was). stained everything and are putting coats of polyurethane, haven't finished that yet. we bought a "bed in a box" mattress, love it. This way open the box in the stateroom and you don't have to drag a big mattress thru the boat. Let me know if I can answer any questions.

Obx, would love to see some pics.

Ok, I'll be back at the boat this week and take some

Oh, the conversion to a queen birth would be awesum, I am in the process of buying an 87 36 Grand banks Classic and that would be way better than the current setup, we are actually going to the Boat haven yard for haul out and survey on the 18th of April
Did you do the conversion yourself or have it done ? any info would be helppful,
thanks
Ray

Ray, Give it a season as is before converting to a queen. When we bought this boat we thought the same way, not anymore. Another sound sleep last night.

I will as I will need to attend to more critical systems if need be first, however I have just recently sold a boat that had what I call a coffin berth in which case you had to literally snake out around your partner and 2 small dogs to go pee and not fun, so will review the 2 bunk layout in the 36 this Sunday and take many pictures,
Thanks
Ray

hollywood8118 said:

Good God man its a Grand banks not a SeaRay!
Have you no shame!
Hollywood

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Not everyone has the ability to do first class woodwork so using vinyl might work for them. Besides sometimes getting something different than complete teak looks nice and can brighten up a dark wood interior. We just went from a completely teak interior trawler to an express cruiser with a brighter interior. So far we love it but didn’t realize that until we had the boat for a bit. But now we love the brighter interior.

GB 42 Aft Cabin Layout

When we purchased our boat three years ago we also thought a centerline queen would be ideal but after using the boat with a double and a large twin find we like the layout we have and the flexibility it gives us when kids and grandkids are aboard. We normally give up the aft cabin to guests and kids with mom and dad in double and one or two kids in the large twin. Put the left overs in the salon and retreat to the vee berth for a good night's sleep. When alone we enjoy the large dressing area between the two bunks in the back. Wife takes the double and I take the twin. Works out great. Of course we are in our 80's so that may make a difference!

had an ocean yachts 40+2 trawler yacht for 26 years. aft cabin had a single to stb and a queen to port. i converted the single to a "dresser" and a small hanging locker.
fun project. ps there were only 2 drawers under the single as i remember
let me know if the pics don't make it - i'll send separately
skipperguy@aol.com

let m3

Hi All – I’ve been wondering this same thing; and it has been part of the checklist when evaluating boats. The “crawl over your partner to get out of bed” scenario is the issue for me. My wife says one berth is the preference (so that’s the preference for me, as well ).

So… in addition to reconfiguring from two berths (or one off center) to a center arrangement… Has anyone thought about creating some sort of “sliding” bunk? Something that normally sits to one side… but could be slid to make room on both sides. It would not need to move much… maybe a foot… just enough to make it possible to shuffle out.

I have a 1968 GB42 Classic with the configuration you describe. There is no tankage under the berths in the aft cabin, only drawers.

Passagemaker had two articles (the first was a cover article, in 2017 https://www.passagemaker.com/lifestyle/noahs-work, then a sequel in 2019 https://www.passagemaker.com/cruiser-reviews/grand-resolve) about Eric Paulsen who did a refit of this same model year GB. He converted the twin berths to a queen size and I visited him while the work was underway (I can connect you with him if you private message me). He did the refit in Colorado then relocated the boat to San Diego.

I think the advice from dz1drwww above is worth considering. I cruise with my spouse and we've come to really like the original set up. The aft cabin is incredibly spacious and beautiful as designed, and ergonomically optimal. Live with it a while and see what you think!

Cheers,
Gus

tpfbdf said:

So… in addition to reconfiguring from two berths (or one off center) to a center arrangement… Has anyone thought about creating some sort of “sliding” bunk? Something that normally sits to one side… but could be slid to make room on both sides. It would not need to move much… maybe a foot… just enough to make it possible to shuffle out.

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A good friend has exactly what you describe. Not in a GB, but it would likely work OK there too. His is athwartship, when slid back, is against the back wall and the stb (head) side. When pulled out, 10-12" room at the back wall, 12-16" at the fwd wall. 24-30" at the port side (foot).
I haven't seen the mechanism, but given his talent, it is likely elegant.

We have the double bunk setup on our 36'. The center queen was, too, the only check on our list we didn't get. Now 5 years in we find the double bed set up works fine. We tend to sleep in the forward cabin where there is better flow through ventilation while on the hook or mooring as the boat settles into the wind....We use a anchor bridle so we don't hear the chain on the pulpit roller anymore. The aft cabin we use for our den, if not on the flying bridge, for reading, music as you can stretch out. The saloon settee is not too conducive to stretch out for two. And when I snore....I'm relegated to the aft cabin so we can both slumber in peace.
Works for us!
Best regards
Mike Dana
Third Reef
36'Grand Banks Classic Hull#819
Potts Harbor Maine
207-720-0531

Thanks, Hollywood, for the ?

We have an ‘83 GB 42 classic with the two berths in the aft cabin. There are no tanks under the bunks, just lots of storage with very deep drawers on the starboard side and good drawer space on the port side. We utilize the far outboard area which is a little harder to reach for spare parts that we are not likely to need to get to often.
Although we sometimes wish we had the “centerline “ queen, the usable living space between the bunks is really hard to beat. Plenty of room for dressing etc.
I would echo the sentiments of some of the others that you live with it for a year before you make a change.

Here are some pictures of a converted 1978 GB42. I believe the wall that holds the door to the head may have been angled to create space to get around the foot of the bed. Whoever did it seemed like they were proficient with finish carpentry.

Beautiful!!!! Simply stunning conversation…..