Ok, New to us 2004 466. Anybody else seen these issues?

Pre-purch Survey said -- "wet" around (1) anchor locker drains; (2) stbd side aft thru hull and (3) all over the port & stbd 'wings' of the swim platform.

So we took the boat to Zimmermans in Deltaville VA to investigate and repair.

On (1) - - I pulled the exterior clam covers off the drain holes myself. Stbd side -- NO SEALANT INSTALLED AT THE FACTORY OVER THE BALSA CORE BETWEEN THE FIBERGLASS OUTER & INNER LAYERS!!! What a crock.. They put a ton of sealant under the clam cover, on the outside of the boat -- NONE thru the hole and in to the inside of the anchor locker. Balsa was indeed soaked and I dug out at least an inch in diameter around the circumference of the hole. I filled the created cavity with wet-or-dry epoxy, let it cure, then applied sealant over that and under the clam cover and bedded the screws holding the clam cover.

On the port side -- since that drain was actually slightly higher from the waterline than the stbd side - it appeared no anchor locker water ever drained thru it -- and the balsa core -- also unemcumbered by sealant! -- was dry. I applied fiberglass resin over that, let it cure, then sealant over that and bedded the clam cover back in place. But note -- the surveyor's (and my, different brand) moisture meter said 'wet wet wet' all around and radiating from that drain location -- but the core was definitely not wet!

ok on (2) -- the stbd side aft thru hull -- output for the aft midships bilge pump -- again the moisture meters said -- wet wet wet -- around that thru hull and downward ;towards the waterline and radiating aft -- Zimmerman removed the thru hull (after I first removed the exhaust stack from the stbd engine!, to allow access to the thru hull squished into the hull in a slice between the fuel tank and the engine muffler) -- and they found the balsa core between the outer & inner fiberglass skins -- BONE DRY. Best anyone can tell, the meters were pinging on the actual bilge pump HOSE running along the inside of the hull! Plus other wire and/or vent hose running in the same area. Apparently the moisture meters detect things like that up to 1-5/8" 'deep' from the outer skin . Good grief. So Zimmerman dug out about a half inch of DRY balsa core around the circumference of the hole, filled the void with thickened epoxy, let it cure, then sealant over that and rebedded the thru hull, reinstalled the hose, I reinstalled the exhaust line (with new elbows and rubber joints!) yadda yadda.....

on (3) The moisture meters pinged WET on the tops, sides and bottoms of both swim platform 'wings'. The non skid top deck is a balsa core laminate, like the main hull decks; the sides and bottom of the wings are - solid fiberglass. Zimmerman reefed out all the caulking, top & bottom, of the joints where those wings meet up with the swim platform center section & the hull. Alot of that (original factory) caulk had broken seams and was discolored from water intrusion. They removed all the screws attaching the wings to the center platform and the hull sides. They removed the rubrail to expose the shoe box 'hull to deck joint' around the swim platform edge.

Approx 50% of the sealant was missing in the shoebox joint, especially in the wings. When they removed 1 set of 5 screws from 1 wing -- water came pouring out. No water came out of the the other wing but caulk was wet. Clearly -- water had been getting into the interior of both wings. The meters were reading water vapor/water/moisture on the inside of those structures. As best could be determined -- the laminated cores - i.e., the non skid decking -- on those cores, were not compromised -- it was simply water getting in thru the nooks and crannies of those (1) hull to deck joints (altho really hard to comprehend given the rub rail installed over that) and (2) the screw holes thru the wing sides and into the swim platform center section.

Anyway -- they resealed and reinstalled everything, used a heavy duty caulk called 3M Silpruf, and hopefully we are good to go. Those areas of the boat get a pretty good bashing from seawater when cruising , as you know.. its a less than admirable design IMHO shall we say! -- depending on caulking to withstand constant barrage of water -- but it is what we have to deal with on these boats.

If you haven't checked these things on your own (or similar) boat -- you might want to do so! They can become real serious problems if left undetected and unaddressed. Next area I have to investigate is up on the foredeck -- meters pinged around the windlass foot pedals, the forward edge of the front hatch and forward from there -- but the decks sound with hammer pretty normal -- so -- is it another false alarm? Or - real? Or, possibly a mixture of realities -- investigation will tell. I'll let you know.

Hello All! Just purchased a 1994 350 Aft Cabin. The boat is in very good condition w/only 252 original hrs. and 30 on genset. Will have to drive the boat back in the spring as I live in central IL and the boat is in Cincinnati. Looking for some info about the run down the Ohio River to the Mississippi to the IL river. If anyone has done this trip and has some advise, please let me know. Will be leaving bout mid may? Thanks Dennis

Hello All! Just returned from a trip to Charleston SC, and Oceanside Isle NC. The Admiral and I were looking for prospects for winter season rentals to deal with our "love" for 6 month winters in Green Bay. Stayed at a hotel next to a marina in Charleston. Needless to say, went for marina stroll each day there. Did not see a single Carver in this >200 slip marina. Most were Bertrams, Hatteras, OA's, and the like. Lowest quality rated brand was Viking. There was also dry rack storage of numerous Center Console's, some of which were on the top of the rack structures. Must be 50 ft up so I wonder what happens when they get a tropical storm wind in the area. I did see 1 Silverton in a slip, but not sure if that was slip resident, or a transient. That one was just 46 feet, so pretty small compared to most slip residents. Was really surprised at the number of residents that would wash down their vessel every single day. Maybe therapy for them, but I suspect it is more saltwater environment driven. Anyway, decided we are going to target North Carolina for winter relief, probably in the Sunset Beach area. Temps do get chilly there in February, but nothing like GB single digits with subzero freezing wind chills, and 3" of packed ice in driveway. Had a great time and now the next step is finalizing a rental. Happy Holidays everyone! er

Hello, first time on the Carver site. I’m asking for advice on replacing the forward head shower sump drain hose. I don’t see any access to the hose at the starboard thru hull drain on my 3607. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hello! Let me start by saying I am not a sailor and am here because I very desperately need advice...if you're reading this and can't help but know someone who might be able to, it'd be greatly appreciated if you could pass this on.
The story is this: recently the subject boat came (more or less) into my possession--at least I have taken basic responsibility for it--and I'm trying to find out if it's even salvageable and if I can find it a home. I don't have the money or even the interest in restoring it (if it can be) and don't even know if it's worth having a survey done upon it.
But I do have an appreciation for beautiful (or what could be beautiful) things, and simply don't want to see this go to waste if someone can take it on. To simply put an ad out to have it towed off (it does have what looks to be a solid trailer) might mean that it's just scrapped and cut up...and I'd rather that was the last option. And I don't want to be forced into that.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Tim
ps/ these smiley things really, REALLY creep me out as I'm trying to write.

Would anyone know where I can purchase parts for a windshield on my 2001 350 Mariner?
Looking for a missing joining piece at the very centre of the windshield.
Any suggestions you may have will be greatly appreciated.

Mike.

Has anyone had to replace or repair one of the long side windows in the main Solon of a 396? I'm wondering what type of sealant would be best to use to re-install the window?

IF your curious...

This is what I ran into:

Port side aft window of the main salon tinting began to flake off and look unsightly
I removed the window only to find that the glue that held in the window was adhered to the black tinting and because the tinting had failed, the sealant in many places was no longer holding the window in place.

I have the window at a graphics shop now to have Vinyl installed

after the first of the year I should have it back and will begin the installation process.

Hi everyone, just bought this boat a few months ago. Can anyone give me advise on what oil and filters to use on my 1997 Carver 455 with Crusader 502XL series engines. They have approx 750 hours on them. Also, oil recommendations to use on the Koehler 10KW generator? Appreciate any help! Thanks.

Good morning all. I am desperate to find information on how to repair my 2001 570 Voyager. First let me say this a beautiful well maintained, updated boat with around 900 fresh water hours. The specifications are as follows;

Engines-Cummins QSM11 535s Serial # Port 35016246, Starboard 35015841
Transmissions- Twin Disk

My issues are:
1) Port transmission seems to have a vibration that throws the engine into limp mode and will not allow speed of more then 1400 rpm. Throttles are slow to respond on both sides and I have to move half way up to get response.
2) Starboard engine will not exceed 1800 rpm.
3) The transmissions do not shift into gear smoothly. Slight bump when moved into drive mode

Known and recent repairs and service calls:
1) The previous owner replaced the starboard transmission which may account for the vibration due to misalignment???
2) Both drive shafts, props, bearings and rudders have been replaced or repaired due to a cable wrapping around the starboard prop.
3) Local Cummins technicians were paid $1,500.00 to diagnose engines under sea trial to determine RPM issues. They were unable to get a connection to the ports during this service call. I never received a report, only a bill.
4) Local marina (who is a Carver dealer) maintenance crew is completely clueless and the above incident with Cummins has me suspicious of any repair crews.

Any and all responses and recommendations would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Anybody ever repair/replace the stairs that you lift to access your engine space (in my case, forward of salon)? Mine have been pretty Frankensteined by the previous owner, and are becoming a problem so just looking for anyone who has messed with them. I'm considering just finding a carpenter to build something from scratch but I'm afraid that if I rip out the old ones I'll never get it right again.