Grand Banks 36 Aft Cabin

I am looking for a used trawler and the GB 36 classic seems as though it might be suitable. However, I'm not very keen on the layout of the aft cabin which has a small double bunk and a single bunk. Has anyone had any experience with modifying a cabin like this to a single queen size bed and how did it work out?

GB 36 redo.

If you go to the Grand Banks Owners Assoc. web site you will find much info and Photos on replacing 2 bunks with one queen.

Unless you are looking at a specific example, there are GB 36's out there that have island beds from the factory. Not sure if they are full queens though.

The photo is from one for sale in Campbell River BC that I looked at last year.

Thanks for the help. I saw on the GB Owners web site that such things exist and I now have a diagram showing the one island bed arrangement. The bed dimensions are shown as 75" x 54" which is smaller than a queen (80" x 60" approx) but bigger than the three berth arrangement on the Classic (78" x 47"). The photo you attached looks as though it may be custom, as the diagram I have still shows the ladder exit through a rear hatch. The other trade-off (at least in the OEM version) is that the head loses the shower, because the head is smaller to allow room for the walk around feature. I'm hoping someone out there found a way to modify the two bed arrangement while keeping the head unchanged AND the rear exit as well. Fingers crossed!

The GB in the photo in the previous post has a ladder that leads up to the hatch that you can just see to port of the berth. The ladder is normally stowed in the cabinet but can be deployed as per the last photo here (sorry it's sideways.)

You are correct about the head; the photo here shows the aft head. It has a shower, but it is a wet head, similar to the forward head.

In our search, we initially really liked the GB 36 but once we looked at the GB 42 we never looked back. Same basic layout, but much more room. Plus the aft stateroom usually has the island queen plus a separate shower stall/room to starboard and a head to port. The second photo gives a hint what the 42 aft stateroom looks like.

In the end we went with a Nordic Tug but came very close on a GB 42.

Pretty AND spacious! Not sure if I can stretch financially to the 42" but I will certainly keep it mind. Thanks for the advice.

You're welcome. When we were looking we found that by looking carefully we were able to find 42 (footers!) that were priced not that far apart from the 36 footers. There are lots on the market, so tend to be priced competitively.

Good luck on your quest!