All,
This is this first time I've had a boat that has not been trailered and where I can do all the work to it myself.

I'm really put out with the way the marina has treated me and I'm wondering if this is just normal and it is the new way things go or should I be as as angry as I am?

The situation:

The 356 needed a bottom job, so back in February I got put on the books to get the job done late April early May. Well I ended up dropping it off on the 13th. I called and asked if they were ready for it. They said bring it on. I was told it would be a week job weather pending. A week went by and I watched the weather they only had rain one day in that week. Then another week went by with no rain and low humidity. Called me on Thurs before Memorial day weekend said it would not be done. Had to Cancel my friends and my week log vacation that I planned. Then I get a call yesterday and they said they have STARTED the work on my boat and it will be done Saturday. I'm put out because this is my new toy and they have just been sitting on it for weeks. In addition, they said it would take a week for the paint to cure properly. Now they job can be done in 3 days an there is an 80% chance of rain for the next two days. Were they lying to me about the curing or are they doing a half-assed job? I'm also that they can't manage their schedule properly.

Ted

My name is Doug Stevens and I live very near to Ft. Smith, AR. The AR river is navigable from the Mississippi river thru AR to near Tulsa OK. I'm retired and pushing 70 years old this summer. A long river cruise is on my bucket list but I wanted a vessel that was trailer able instead of confined to a marina. My 1978 Carver Santa Cruz is in very good condition and I should have it in the water by the end of July. I bought it from a local who had a for sale sign on it in a public sales area.

I would be very interested in what generator that other Santa Cruz owners are using if they have one installed.

Doug Stevens

Hello all,

This winter I installed a Seakeeper 9 on my 2003 Carver Voyager 570. The stabilizer is as far back as it can be on the center line in the engine room. This was pretty much the only location available and also seemed like a good location.

Fast forward to this spring. The boat which has always been a little stern heavy, especially when full of fuel, went into the water with about 1/3 tank of fuel. It sat a little stern low but nothing worse than I'd seen previously.

This spring I also noticed that I wasn't able to make maximum RPMs on the engines nor was I able to hit the 30ish knots I'd previously been able to achieve. I had my props tuned this winter so that represents another variable. Once the boat went in the water I went about reconfiguring some of the weight on the boat. I added a set of spare props and located them as far forward as possible and on the starboard side to counteract a little bit of port list, likely coming from my dinghy.

So, this weekend I filled the boat with fuel. That was an addition of about 550 gallons of fuel which is just over two tons of fuel. The fuel tanks are located about two feet forward of the front edge of the Seakeeper, but overall still pretty far back in the boat. With the tanks full the bottom of the swim platform is just touching the water. A protractor shows about 3 degrees stern low.

The Seakeeper weighs 1,200 pounds, the structure added for it is about 300 pounds and there's probably close to 100 pounds of ancillary gear for it.

I've added 1200 pounds of sand to the bow to try and figure out what it's going to take to regain the trim on the boat. The sand is located under the front berth in the VIP which is pretty darn far forward. So, the question is, how much more weight do I add? I am nervous about putting too much weight in one specific spot as well as just adding more weight to the boat overall. I'd definitely welcome any insight.

Thanks
Ben

Hi guys,

Any idea where I could pick up new covers for the salon entry courtesy lights? They have the dome where the light sits inside and the on/off switch. I need to replace 1.

Thanks!

Chris

I just purchased this model and would like to hear from others on the good the bad and the ugly. Anything would be helpful at this stage of the game. From various internet searches it seems like these were made from 2005-2008 with a couple of new hulls floating around marketed as 2012's. Mine is a 2007 with Volvo D6-370's and a Kohler (Yanmar diesel) generator.

Thought I would share a quick video I did from Memorial Day weekend. Really happy to have our boat boat back in action my boat looks tiny tied up with the Hatteras and two Sea Rays to my left.

https://youtu.be/QvY0VlBycKs

Long time boater but gas and express cruisers in the past. Just upgraded to this fine yacht from a 1997 3255 Avanti. Pretty much loaded to the gills with all the electronics, bow and stern thrusters. Huge SS Carver anchor with all chain rode. Twin D6-370 Volvos.

Just finished the Sea trial last Thursday with a Volvo specialist on board and hooked everything up the the Volvo Vodia machine. Everything checked out better than new so to say. Boat is a single owner since new on a land locked fresh water lake so pretty much pristine all around. We officially own her since Friday and am now waiting for them to find time to take her apart for transport and reassembly on the St Laurence River. Hoping to be in the water towards the end of June or better. Waiting for approval for the official name change hopefully this week. Home port will be in the 1000 islands region in Prescott, Ontario.

Desperately need a generator specialist to work on my Onan. My marine mechanic has done his best but is struggling, frustrated, busy and I don't want to miss another season. There is one guy in Orillia but I've been warned by several boaters that he's a real crook. Any recommendations are welcome. Major problem is the starter re-engages periodically after starting. So far, new control board, starter, solenoid, starter relay, temperature and oil pressure sensors. Onan 3.0 MAJB marine.

Can anyone recommend someone? I will remove it and deliver it if necessary.

This past week I launched my Carver for the season. Of course it would not crank as the battery that I knew was weak last season had died. I tried charging it with my battery charger but to no avail. I had to purchase a new battery. The batteries in the boat are/were NAPA Group 24 Deep Cycle batteries. There are 2 of them. I bought another NAPA Group 24 Deep Cycle to replace the dead one.

Battery #2 I also placed on my charger. When you first put a battery on the charger it does a battery check then charges if needed. The 2nd battery the charger went into check mode and within a few seconds the led gauge on the charger lit up and showed that the battery was fully charged. I had intended to buy 2 new batteries but the NAPA store only had one in stock. Since the 2nd battery seems to be in good condition I am going to start the season out with it and see how it holds up.

The location of the batteries is between the engines on this boat. The aft battery was a chore to get out because of its location so that is why I decided to replace a Group 24 battery with another Group 24. There is no way that I could muscle in or out a Group 27 or 29 where the aft battery is located. The forward battery is located far enough forward that I can easily pull out or place in.

Now to my question. If the remaining battery that I have decided to keep on should need to be replaced could I replace it with a Group 27 or 29 battery? Is it OK to mix battery sizes in this application. Can I have 1 Group 24 battery and one Group 27 or 29 battery working with the Group 24 battery. Or is it best to keep both batteries the same?

When I had my Bayliner 3055 Ciera all 4 batteries were the same Group 27's and I never had any battery problems.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Hi all, my name is Don Hasten! Proud owner (18 months) of the "Infinity" a 2001 Carver 396 Aft Cabin with Twin 375 HP 8.1G Volvo Penta gas engines. Took a year to solve the phantom starboard engine alarm, long story, but got it resolved. My wife, dog, and I made a day trip on Jan. 3, 2016 and on the way back in, a exhaust hose ruptured, setting off the FireBoy Fire Suppression System, all three CO2 Cabin alarms, all three O2 Cabin alarms, the dash mounted Halon Alarm and shut down both engines. We had a fire drill / abandon ship drill in all but a second and a half. Seeing no smoke from the bilge blower vents and collecting our selves and thoughts, we did stay on board, but was adrift and the dog was all tangled up in his life preserver. We were drifting into the shallows out of the channel so needed to start up the engines to stay in the channel. Started port engine with loud engine exhaust noise. Turn port engine off and started up the starboard engine which sounded normal. Got thing under control and underway on the starboard engine all the way back to the slip. Restarted loud port engine long enough to reverse into the slip. My wife was very frayed and upset so I told her that we had just had a very successful trip, every safety onboard had functioned to save the craft and us and were standing on the dock, dry. Just finished replacing all four exhaust risers, every inch of exhaust hose and both exhaust fiberglass tees going to mufflers, one manifold, and the FireBoy Fire Suppression System. Risers and exhaust tees are exclusive to the Carver 396 so these were special order parts. Parts cost near 4K but the vessels name is "INFINITY"! Good thing I'm fair at handling my tools and have a good friend that is a motor head that loves doing that kind of stuff. Labor cost was a couple of dinner and lost count on the amount of beer consumed. All is good now until the next thing comes up. I love the Carver 396. Well build craft with lots of room and all the comforts. She handles like a dream and does very little side drift in cross winds when docking. Our marina has finger pier on both sides that are 16 feet apart. With Swim Deck the Infinity is 15'6" beam, so it's a tight fit. With aid of back up camera to see the swim deck & finger piers, Were able to back it in with little to know problem.