Although new to this forum, I’ve already noticed how helpful and knowledgeable the members are. Will flattery get me anywhere? I hope so, as I need some advice.

The original owner of my boat appeared not to order the optional SS rail fittings. Or maybe he did. At any rate, the bow rail all uses nice SS fittings, however the ladder/bridge rail does not. I think they are some sort of chrome plated zink… the kind that deteriorates around salt water.

In my case, a Tee fitting cracked on the ladder. You can see the ones I mean in the picture below…. One each side of the cabin wall lamp. It hasn’t failed yet, but it’s only a matter of time.



Without thinking things through, I went and bought two new SS Tee’s. Oops! How do I get them on? The railing not only has bends so the fitting won’t slide on, but also teak steps in the way.

I have since discovered “hinged Tee” fittings, and even though they aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing (quite bulky at the hinge side), I am prepared to use them.

Another method would be to cut off the old fitting and then cut the railing, slide on a new non-hinged Tee, weld the rail back together, grind it smooth, and cover the joint by sliding the Tee back up to cover it. Although I have a MIG welder, I’m not set up for SS nor have I any experience welding it, plus welding thin-wall tubing doesn’t always go as planned.

Yet another method would be to cut the tube, slide on the new unhinged Tee, and pin it to the tube on both sides of the cut. It would probably work, but I suspect would lose a lot of rigidity, wear with use, get sloppy, and eventually fail.

I think I’m stuck with the Hinged Tee’s (the SeaDog line seems a little less bulky than the one I put in the picture above, so maybe it will look OK). Does anyone have any thoughts on the matter?

Now, as I’m posting about this, a related matter had come to mind. For some reason (no doubt a docking accident) the previous owner removed the stern ladder. You can see the type of ladder on another boat like mine in the picture.

My question is, how do they mount the steps? For the ladder, I could easily use two stanchion feet upside down, bolted through the pipe rail, and screwed up into the teak step. However I’m curious about it as that’s not the way the bridge ladder steps are mounted. I suspect a SS pin is inserted from the hidden edge of the step, through the rail and further into the teak, but not all the way through. I suppose if I ever break a bridge ladder step, I’ll find out, but does anyone know?

Thank-you for your time.

Does anybody have experience with removing engines from a Carver 374 Voyager? My starboard engine (Cummins 6BTA 5.9 M2 370 HP) aft-most cylinder is cooked. Need to remove the engine and either rebuild or replace the block.

Looks like I will need to strip it down to the block. The hatch is large enough to pull out the block. The aft entry doors are large enough/can be removed. But the distance from the cockpit to the engines is pretty large (about 10 ft) plus the salon floor is two steps up at the lower helm.

Not sure if a fork-lift / I-beam hoist can reach in and lift the engine out or if I need to set up a lift frame with an arm. I believe we're talking about 1000 lbs of weight or so.

Anybody who has experience pulling an engine on this model - your advice would be very much appreciated!

Anyone use solar panels? I was thinking about putting some on the hardtop of my boat looking at 4 of them @100 watts each with a controller. After adding a second refrigerator this winter on the aft deck I am hoping that solar panels could at least slowdown the discharge from these units while anchoring for a longer period of time. Thoughts?

I have a Lowrance Global Map 3500C on my 86 Mariner and the screen is going bad. I want to replace with an updated chart plotter. What are the best for my model of boat?

Hello all, I am new this forum and I am looking for some advise on my next boat purchase. I have been running a 28 Bayliner for the last 10 years and it is time to move up. I love the Carver CMY and the model I am zeroing in on is the 390 or 404 cmy. I cruise on Lake Superior in Minnesota. We love to fish and that is why I need the cockpit area. Trolling between 1.8 to 3.0 mph for hours at a time is how most of our days are spent on the big lake. We will make trips of 100+ miles for the week camping. I think I like the 404 with diesel motors because of longevity, cruising range and economy. However I could be way off and gas might be the way to go. Thanks all for the help and advise.

Getting ready to change the oil in both engines. Anybody have their go-to oil and filter brands?????

Thanks,

Rick

I am a new owner of an 87 Mariner 32 (3297). I'm in Toronto (out of water 6 months a year). I have read the manuals and read what I can on forums and I am still confused about what settings the switches should be on when charging (on shore) and when on the water. It would appear that carver says that shore power should via one bank of power at a time not both. I really don't understand if I should be on both when at shore, with shore power switch on and inverter off, then only inverter turned on the water to either battery bank one or two. Does the switches for 1-2-none-both matter when I am connected to shore power and not on the boat? There is little reference in the manuals as to which switch setting you should be on in different scenarios.

Does Carver or anyone have a boat wiring/plumbing schematic for a 1990 Californian 45? Cant seem to find any info on this model. Any help appreciated.

trying to find some factory bar stools. does anyone have two they want to sell or does anyone know where to order some from.

I’ve had one rather peculiar problem with my boat over the years, and I think I may have figured it out and to some extent, have resolved it. Basically, when my boat was about 20 years old or so, the hatch cover at the cabin entrance became soft with wet rot.

The picture below is not my boat, but the same model, and shows the hatch cover in an open position.



The cover was made of ¾” plywood with a white Formica top and varnished on the bottom. The edges were tapered and teak trim was added. The wood around the mounting plate for the gas strut became too soft and the strut fell away, mounting screws and all.

So I rebuilt it, saving the teak as it was in good shape. I used a new piece of plywood with hardwood veneer, and varnished it with polyurethane varnish. For the top, I used a piece of 14” white plastic; I think is polyethylene.

Much to my dismay, a mere two years later, I noticed the gas strut hanging down again, but this time something different had happened. The plywood was like powder held together by the exterior varnish.

Oh darn! So I rebuilt it again. This time I used 3M 5200 between the teak trim and the plywood. Yet, two years later, the same thing happened. The plywood turned to sort of a dust.

So I rebuilt it again, however this time instead of varnishing the plywood, I gave it a few coats of West System epoxy. Again, I used 3M 5200 to join the trim to the plywood, and even dribbled some epoxy in the screw holes for extra protection.

This time it lasted 3 years until eventually the plywood turned to dust. At this point, I was not only frustrated, but confused. But I did come up with a theory. The original cover had a Formica top, but my rebuilds all used this white plastic. It seemed to me that it was possible that sunlight was passing through the plastic and baking the plywood.

Now I suppose I could have tried to laminate some Formica to the plywood for my next attempt, but seeing I had the plastic, and didn’t know much about purchasing a small piece of Formica, I thought I’d try something different.

I decided to add a piece of Aluminum foil between the plywood and the plastic, shiny side up to reflect the sunlight from getting through.



Two years passed and it was still fine when I covered it last Fall. I fully expect it to OK when I uncover it this Spring. So…. It looks like I have found and rectified the problem. I’ll know for sure if it lasts a few more years or longer.

At the beginning of this post, I stated that I “to some extent, have resolved it”. Maybe I have resolved the plywood disintegration problem, but there’s another issue. The 5200 always seems to crack away. It appears it doesn’t like to stick to teak very well. I suppose sorting that out is as easy as trying another type of sealant. Any suggestions?


ps: I saw a picture of a boat like mine on the net; presumably newer, and it appeared to have a 1-piece fibreglass hatch (no trim either). Probably an upgrade by Carver, but not as pretty either. LOL.