I just bought a 2005 Carver41 CMY it does not have autopilot currently. I am looking at a Raymarine EV-200 Power Hydraulic Evolution Autopilot T7015 I am not sure that this will work with the boats Hydraulic steering . Has anyone had any experience with this system or has anyone installed any of the New Evolutions Autopilots by Raymarine that can give me a recommendation.

I am trying to stay with all Raymarine electronics.

Thanks for the add! We have a 2008 36SS. We bought it new on Lake Winnipesaukee NH and moved it to Boca Raton FL in 2010. Moved again to Cape Coral FL in 2016. We love this boat! We love it in spite of the multiple engine problems we've had with the Volvo Pentas - including initial warrantied issues when it was new. In fact, we are currently down an engine and in replace mode.

Looking forward to sharing experiences and learning from this group!

I’m in the market for a boat. Saw many boats. I keep going back to the Carver 380 Santego. It has a great price along with excellent amenities. The 454 is easy to work on, general maintenance would be a breeze and all parts are less than half of a diesel. So I see a lot of perks.

But... I’m constantly being told not to get a Carver. There are claims of thin hulls that easily break apart in rough seas. Claims that Carver uses low quality parts in order to keep costs down.

From reading here most everyone seems very satisfied with their Carvers. Im on the West Coast and seas can get rough at times. I will occasionally go 60 miles off shore. Most the time I’ll use it to go to Catalina island.

What is your opinion of your Carver? Have you had hull issues? Quality issues? Safety issues? How do they handle rough seas and what exactly are rough seas? 2’, 5’, 10’ or more? Would you buy another?

Please help me make a decision on a boat! Thanks

I recently purchased a 356, the bottom paint is all there and looks to in good shape. I don’t know when it was painted last. It was used mainly used in freshwater rivers and in Charleston Harbour. The boat is currently on the hard so I could have it stripped and repainted prior to me bring it home to Central NY. Should I have it repainted now as I will be spending about a month or so in salt water bring it home? Or should I wait till I get it home back in the freshwater before repainting?

Hello,

I have a 2000 Carver 396 aft cabin, that has sliding saloon door and separate sliding screen. The track and wheels on the screen have become so fouled it does not easily open or close. So I need to remove the door and then screen to clean the track and probably replace the slide wheels. The question is how to best remove the sliding door. Referring to the attached pictures (), I think the following will allow me to remove the door, but I'm not sure:

(1) remove the two sets of two screws from the top of the door to release from the top track wheels.

(2) remove a set of screws (looks like 3 or 4) along the bottom of the door to release from the bottom track wheels.

(3) the door does not look like it would have room to lift out unless the trim piece at the lower left of the foot well is removed; it appears to be removable with a single screw (and cutting the caulk).

The above is hoping that the seat above the door, the cabinet to the left of the door, or the stainless rail to the right of the door do not need to be removed in order to remove the door.

Any experience, ideas and tips appreciated.

Thank you.
--Jim

I am the proud owner of a new to me 2001 Carver 356 Aft Cabin yacht. It is currently on the hard in Charleston SC and I will be bringing it home to Central NY in the spring of 21. I’m going to be doing some work on it prior to bringing it up. It needs some interior work in the front birth, a new ac unit installed in the salon, new hot water heater, and new carpeting. We will also be installing new mattresses. The ac unit and hot water heater was included in the purchase. I am excited and looking forward to refitting the boat, but I have lots of questions. I am very mechanically inclined and can’t wait to get started on it.

My Carver 26 (recently bought, discovering many things) seems to have an Insta-trim boat leveler pump. The red cover is still there, but the bottom white part (reservoir?) is missing and I noticed a sharp corner in a pressure line... So that one has a disappointing history and does not work any more.

My question; is it worth to replace the pump or should I install a different type of trim tabs control (no pump, manual position, different brand pump)

general question: how does the trim tab and the heckdrive position trimming work together?

We will seldomly be able to go so fast to get her into plane but when I'm at it (overhaul everything) anyway, I'd like to do the job well. Within reasonable cost.

Any tips welcome.

About our fuel tank: A carver 26 fly-bridge (1991 or so) , originally 2 petrol engines in it, after crossing the ocean to Europe, two Diesels were fitted.

The fuel tank is a 111 gallons 'skyline industries; model 46870-00' aluminium tank. In my boat this one is filled with diesel fuel. Unfortunately, some doofus seems to have spilled diesel fuel along the side (I suspect when trying to take out the fuel level meter, which requires removal of a fuel line) so the boat stinks.

Recor filters fitted with the transparent bottoms, pretty messy so that's to be cleaned soon. These may be originally there when the petrol engines were fitted?

Is this the original tank? is there a bilge pump underneath? Is there a way to access the space under the tank (perhaps through the engine bay? there is water tank mounted in front (full at the moment, working on that) so can't see the bulkhead untill it is removed).

If there is no connection between engine bay and petrol-tank-area-bilge, would it be an idea to drill a hole to be able to flush that bilge?

All thoughts welcome.

Hi Can anyone help us with our just bought carver 3007 1981, it seems the engine cooling seacocks are stuck in the open position as is the head discharge seacock is too !
Any ideas how to free them ?
Many thanks

Hi, all! Last season (2019) we bought a beautiful 1993 390 CPMY. We'd been out of boating for a few years, the last being a 1979 35" Viking. This summer, with Covid, our Carver was truly a blessing as a safe getaway....truly a home away from home.

This lovely boat is perfect for us, but does not have a genset. I did not use the genny on our Viking much, but it certainly came in handy every now and then (When we sold the boat the Crusaders had 1300 hours, the Kohler less than 400.) We do most of our boating here locally for outings in the Detroit waters, but have thoughts about longer trips next summer, Lakes Huron, Erie, maybe even over to Lake Michigan. The boat will be stored indoors, but in the water, this winter, as she was last winter. Likely will come out for a few days in the spring for a bottom paint and transducer install; we've actually never seen the bottom of this boat. She was at the Detroit Yacht Club when we bought her in June of 2019. We moved her just north of Detroit into Lake St Clair both last season and this season, and the same is planned for 2021.

Thoughts on whether it would be an insurmountable project to install a generator?

-where did an OEM genny fit in this boat? It has Crusaders under the floor in the salon. I don't see how anything else would fit in there and still leave room for my mechanic(or me) to work.
-the electrical panel is labelled, but no switch, just a plug to fill the spot
-used or new, and cost?

Glenn