Greetings All,

Looking for some of your experiences and feedback.

I want a Whaler (‘80’s vintage) as my tender/dinghy for my ‘89 3807 Aft Cabin and while I know I can make a 9 footer work bow or stern, I’m wondering if I could get away with an 11 footer or would it’s length & weight be too much.
Reason for Whaler over a rib is my wife and brother who will be with me most on longer trips are both non swimmers and none of us are as young or agile as we once were (lol). I think the designed inherent buoyancy and not having to worry about inflating/deflating in a hurry would give us all a bit more peace of mind.
I already own a 13 foot ‘84 whaler I use for fishing and short day runs and considered using it for a while but thinking the length and weight of it with the stern lifting platform I would need would be way too much weight and length across the stern’s beam…
I welcome your thoughts on all of this - 9, 11, 13? Thanks.

Hey to all the 430 owner/captains out there. Im working on my fuel gauge and sending units. The gauge didn't work on any of the tanks. Come to discover that one of the PO's removed the wiring harness connecting the gauge to the tank selector switches. #facepalm... I was wondering if one of ya'll could take a picture under the helm the helm so I can recreate the wiring. Im sure I can create it on my own, but a picture would sure save me a bunch of time. Also could somebody take a picture of the aux tank sending unit? I dont think mine is grounded properly. Just a pic of the top of the tank with the wires connected would be awesome. Thanks in advance.

P.S. I removed my aux tank sending unit. It was corroded and I've ordered a replacement. I also tested the fuel gauge. It did not register correctly from 33-240 ohms so I ordered a new VDO gauge too. I have traced down the pink wires to each tank. Still need to test the 3 position switch, but i'll likely just replace it...if I can get it unscrewed from the dashboard.

My 2004 366 with Volvo Penta 8.1’s has been fresh water its whole life. Worried about the cost of new risers and manifolds, I have the marina pull the riser after survey and they sent me this pic but would not elaborate on weather this was normal/acceptable buildup and certainly no offer of cleaning. Pretty sure they’d be happy to add up the $$$$ to replace though. So again I turn to the vast body of knowledge, experience, and general wisdoms this group has to offer!
1. Is this “Normal and serviceable/acceptable”?
2. If not, can/should they be cleaned?
3. If yes, how? Could a radiator shop dip the manifolds and risers? Who does this work?

Well it keeps getting better.
After spending a couple months ironing out small issues after taking ownership of my 1999 445 I had it out for a full throttle run and extended motor today. When I got back in the slip and I had a "large" coolant leak. Didn't have time for true detective work. Anyone have to deal with something similar? I would like to narrow it down before starting the trouble shooting,
Thanks

Looking for a new cam for the 454 Crusader cannot find one at parts store anywhere part number is RH RA 050015.

Can anyone guide me to a replacement? Located in Charleston Tennessee but will drive or pay for shipping.

Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone got some time away and relaxed a bit. We have decided to move to Mobile AL on the ICW. We will be moving our Carver from Lake Lanier GA to Chatanooga TN so I can take a trip down the river systems (part of the loop) down to Mobile AL. where we will keep her long term in the Dog River in brackish water.

1) I have already installed flush ports on my Engines and generators for de-salting when we venture into the salt water which will likely be often. I did a video on installing the flush ports on my YouTube channel if anyone is interested (my solution was <$100 dollars per engine)

2) Once I have a new address in Mobile, I will add AIS (Garmin 800 Transceiver) to my Carver for the river trip and beyond

3) We will have Aluminum anodes installed as we leave Lake Lanier

4) Once we arrive in Mobile at our new home port - The marina has a boat yard that also does bottom paint. Any suggestions for the bottom paint (brand, type, etc.) being in both brackish and salt water mostly on the ICW and rivers in and around Mobile AL.?

Lastly, any suggestions for the change in venue, fresh water to brackish, anything I may need to consider? As always, any help is greatly appreciated. Hope you all like the video if you chose to check it out. We are looking forward to not being stuck on the lake albeit a large lake, still a lake.

Generators have been the bane of my boating existence. We had a new boat built for us years ago and even it had generator issues. In today's world I feel like technology has gotten to the point that the generator is no longer necessary to have heat, air conditioning, and all the other AC based loads we enjoy. I've had an electrical upgrade on my projects list for quite some time, but it was fairly low in priority since everything was working.

A few weeks ago the starboard engine wouldn't start and it sounded like a weak battery. I at least learned how the boat manages paralleling the batteries without switches, which is probably improper use of that term. The port engine started and then after a few minutes I was able to start the starboard. This makes sense to me because there is a two alternator/three battery bank battery isolator on board. Once port started, that alternator was feeding enough extra juice to "jump" starboard. Figuring it was a bad battery (it is roughly 3 years old which is all I seem to get here in Florida), I took the battery out to have it tested. It tested good. While normally people would be happy with that result, for us boaters it means that something more expensive is working against us.

I re-installed the battery and tried to start starboard. Slow crank and no start. Start port, wait a bit, and starboard starts fine.

I noticed once the engines were started, the volts were only in the 11.0 range. I had about 13.8 without the engines running. What I found was that the battery isolator is open from A1 to all 3 banks. A1 is most likely starboard. So when the port engine is running, it is feeding all three battery banks, but when starboard is running its alternator can't feed anything.

Diode isolators being pretty old technology, I went in search of something different. DC-DC converters or Argofets seemed to be the way to go. I called the local Victron dealer who put me in touch with The Yacht Rigger. We had a great conversation about what happened and what I'd like to accomplish. He quickly steered me away from Argofets since the ultimate goal is to go full lithium without a generator.

The goals of the project:
1. Run all house loads while underway using the engines. I already need to have two powerful engines running so why have to also have the generator running?
2. Be able to remain comfortable overnight during August in Florida without running any engines.
3. Retain or improve on existing redundancies.
4. A phased approach that doesn't result in any wasted new components, provides as much benefit as early as possible, and minimizes upfront costs.

The initial thinking:

• DC-DC converters now to address the battery isolator issue.
• High output alternator(s).
• Victron LiFePO batteries for house bank.
• Two Victron Multiplus charger/inverters. My requirements would need either two small or one large Multiplus. Two smaller ones are easier to work with.

The Yacht Rigger will be sending me a plan next week with more details. Once this project is fully completed, the generator will essentially be redundant and can be removed. Optionally, we could look at using Quattro instead of Multiplus and keep the generator, but I don't think that really buys anything. Not having a generator would make that space available for either more storage or more batteries.

So far this year is shaping up to have a lot of projects.

I am expecting to close on one of three Carvers before March 1. Looking at two 41 CMYs ('07 or '08) & one 43 MY ('03). Hoping to gain some insights as well as ask questions. Have had experience owning a 30' Chris Craft Express. Looking to dock in Chattanooga.

New to this size boat
Ran out my chain and found it to only be 175 feet long. Last few owners didn't do much with the boat. Wanting to replace with 300'. The current chain appears to be 8mm 1.5" links stamped LH. Local shop wasn't sure of the origin suspects its a foreign make.
Any recommendations for replacement that will be compatible on my windlass?

Had this link for quite some time now. Figured some of you may be interested in getting an original brochure. There are several to choose from, some are sold out. Most seem to come from dealerships and have a business card stapled to them. https://boatbrochure.com/collections/carver