Converting from 2 single beds to a full

[rswirtz]

38 FBDC here, Has anyone removed the dresser from the stern wall and converted to a full/queen size bed? I saw Alan's state room and they had a double bed where the port single was and still had the SB single in place. It was nice on his 41' but his aft bulkhead was a little different design. Any info on a project like this for me, a newbie would be great. I'm a good DIY guy and the project list continues to grow. (But I love it !) <Ozzie and Harriet we ain't, so the double bed would be desirable> Thanks, Rick

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I've seen it done on several 53MY's, but they don't have any fuel tanks under them like yours do. On the 53, many have converted the port berth to an athwartships queen and moved the dresser to on top of the stbd berth. This leaves a small seat in from of the dresser. I doubt you could put in a centerline queen because you have the 2 fuel tanks under those bunks. The easiest way would be to extend one bunk and make it wider and leave the other one alone.

 

[rswirtz]

Exactly what I was thinking.. The question is has anyone done this in a 38, and what are the snafus and how did they do it. Yes, a centerline is out of the question (bummer), need other ideas... Thanks rick

 

[Starman]

Rick,

On Boss Lady, there were originaly two twin beds ( what was Hatt hinking back in the day....LOL ? )

We are going to build a queen bed on the port side, and a dresser with a bench in front of it on the stb side.

Like everything else though, we have changed the entire layout.

 

[Boss Lady]

We still had an air gap requirement at the school dance too! LOL

 

[Starman]

haha !

 

[Walter P]

Several problems with adding width to either port or stb berth. #l is that the wider bed becomes just about impossible to make up neatly unless your arms measure about 60 inches. #2 is that you lose dresser space from the center line dresser. Benefits are obvious..... both items above are negated and all the additional benefits of a more up to date arrangement. (Not to mention if you're still young enough it saves a lot of wear and tare on the carpet between the berths). Another major benefit, IMO is that the potential resaleability is enhanced and can possibly bring in a better price.

Regarding the actual job, many years ago I contemplated doing the same thing on a 1973 43' DC. After much investigation of what needed to be done, it really is not as big an undertaking as you would think. Keep in mind that the magnitude of a project is very relative to the conception of the person as to what's a big job and what's not. It's true that the fuel tanks need to be freed from the bottom tabbing so that they can be brought together - Very important that they be re-tabbed and/or fastened down mechanically. You will need to totally remove the dresser from the stern and build new dressers and night stands. Be sure to leave sufficient space from the sides of the new bed to the front of the dressers otherwise you won't be able to install and remove drawers.

As I previously stated, it was a long time ago and I was thinking of doing this on a 43 DC which I believe has a slightly wider beam. Worse case is one good size dresser either port or stb and perhaps a book case or something else on the other side.

What a great opportunity to have a truly custom master stateroom. The important key here is that the woodwork MUST be high quality or you may end up with a disaster. If you are pretty good with tools in your hands go for it otherwise hire someone (check samples of their work) or forget about it.

Walt

 

[TedZ]

On our 43DC, Joanne and i and the two dogs (Maltepoos) sleep in one of the twins. Works great! Spoons!

A centerline queen has been done...i've seen pictures, but i don't know the name of the boat(s) and i wasn't observant enough to see how they accessed the steering, rudder posts, swim platform bolts, AP pump etc. Working on those from under a bed between fuel tanks doesn't sound like much fun, but there has to be a way.

Ted

 

[Trojan]

I have been looking at many boats with the queen bed. I have the 43DC with the twins. Like Ted said what or how are you going to service the steering once you place the tanks in front of everything. My thoughts were if you make an extension on the starboard twin the same size as the other twin. You could then place both mattresses side by side. The reason for this is you can then hinge the extension and fold it up out of the way. This way you can still use the dressers and still service the steering. On the other twin frame you can build an insert to sit on top, making a storage area. If you use the port twin then you must walk around it. This to me is the least invasive and can easily be returned to it's original configuration. You will have ruffly 2.5 feet between the double and the twin and still be able to use one half of the dresser. I think. You could use a full queen and just leave it down. But it would be a pain to check or work on anything. You can place one of the space foam pads on the beds and not be bothered by the crack in the bed.

BILL

 

[UNIQUE_NAME]

i have the 38fbdc also and thought about taking on this project when we first bought it.
after taking measurements the centerline queen fell out of the picture. aside from the fuel tank moves and having to redo pretty much all the woodwork, the head on the stb side comes out to about the corner of the bed leaving almost no walkway to the stb side of the bed.
plan "B" was leaving the tanks alone and taking out 1/2 the dresser to make a double bed. this plan got nixxed because 1- it leaves someone pinned against a wall with very limited ability to get out of bed without climbing over/around 2- just took up too much cabin space for the tradoff. your left with a very narrow path between the beds.

as far as athwartships positioning, to have any cabin space left you would still have someone pinned against a wall, you would also have to rotate the tanks to an athwartships position. if you can circumvent these problems, (problems to me anyway) please post your solution as i would be very interested.

hope this helps

jim

 

[Trojan]

You would not be pinned to the wall if you sleep cross ways. But that is on the 43 not the 38. I'm going to work on my idea of a hinge or some type of joint that can easy be removed. Maybe a garage door track at each end of the bed. Where you could just lift and push on the bed and the bed and mattress would just slide or roll up the track up over top the bottom bed. But It's nice when the admiral comes to visit. WHAT! Just think of it, no cover steeling, no snoring in your ear, no cold feet, no arms in the face, no getting shoved off the bed, no getting kicked, no pillow crooks. Who's idea is this? Your going to ruin a good thing.



BILL

 

[UNIQUE_NAME]

trojan, i seem to remember a thread by angela along a similiar line (a temporary conversion bed) when she first bought the boat. had some good pictures and looked nice.

jim

 

[Walter P]

Guys, Check out the later models of the 43 DC. Beginning with model year 1979, they came with a center line queen, which by the way is a real standard size queen with no taper at the foot end making it easy to use off the shelf bedding. The steering is not a problem and in fact is probably easier to get to than the twin arrangement. As I said in my post yesterday it was many years ago and I can't remember all the details, but I do remember that several yards offered to do the job for me and one was a Hatteras Dlr. The cost was as I recall around 6 or 7 Grand at that time. I'm sure it's more now, but I suspect that many of you on this forum are up to the task.

Remember that the hull of the 43 DC and MY was made from the same mold and was used from 1971 through 1987. During it's lifespan it changed a couple of times, mostly suttle changes. Beginning with model 1979 it came with a port side dinette and even had a tri cabin model with model year 1980. The biggest apparent change was in 1984 with the MY version. My point is that re-designing the master stateroom is not only possible, but quite practical. The only question should be -- Are you up to the task?

Walt

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

I like Trojan's idea of the folding bed...

Seems that would be the easiest way to go. And one of my best friends is a carpenter and a boater so get him to look at it that way.

He has said in the past it would not be a "big deal" to enlarge the starboard side if we wanted to, but again, would lose existing drawer space, although we would get storage underneigh the extension.

He also mentioned using the lost drawer space by leaving the drawer fronts on but removing the actual drawers, which would leave a big storage place. He would enclose the area and place an access on the top. Then you could either place bins inside of it or even a small clothes rack to hang stuff.

Just an idea.

Not sure if we would then do something with the port bed as we have grandkids who love to visit and that would leave another place for one to sleep.

Course We might just do nothing as it's NOT BAD to have the Admiral on the opposite side of the boat at times

 

[yachtsmanbill]

C'mon! Make a double stacked mattress twin bed with a pull out frame. Sleep on the single solo or pull out the frame and flip one mattress over and you have a queen. Turn the mattresses 90 degrees and you dont even feel the split.
THAT, is a hollywood bed.
A competent carpenter like STARMAN can build the frame to look like trim when retracted so you dont even lose drawer space.
The toy boats with "beds on tanks" are another issue. A good reason to not smoke in bed. But what about friction static?
How about a murphy bed in the closet; my tenement roots must be showing.
ws