Carver Owners Forum

My wife and I are in the final count the down (22 months) until full retirement. While we live in Nebraska, we already have our retirement home all set and waiting in Viera FL (about 15 miles south of Cape Canaveral, on the ICW). We 'practice' being retired down there for 7-10 days every other month or so.

Part of our plan is to have a 35-45 ft cruiser for ICW and eventually (after building up the skills) Caribbean island hopping. We've developed this 'thought' list after reading a lot of material on what to think about prior to buying a boat. Hopefully not too much - I don't want to get kicked off the first day for over posting. Researching the best financing and insurance options. Also slip hunting - it's a big boat for the area and we haven't found a ton of nearby openings.

I plan on doing a lot of forum reading and learning. Even if we eventually go with a different brand we're bound to still learn a lot.

- Pat & Paul

Cruising Area
Indian River
Florida Keys
Florida Gulf Coast
Intercoastal (entire east coast)
Bahamas
Caribbean

Type of cruising
Recreational travel
Day long runs, port hopping, moored/on the hook each night (with a few long haul exceptions when necessary)

Expected weather
Night lows of 40s, Day highs of low 90s (Heater and AC a must)
All sea conditions, though will strive to always seek shelter vice trying to navigate in weather

Hull Type: Motor Yacht, aft cabin

Quarters
Master aft cabin suite (with private head, separate shower)
Standard shape bed vice round (sheet availability? $$)
Guest v-berth bow cabin for two
Drop down table for two in salon, or fold out couch good to have
One common head. Separate shower stall good, but not necessary
Chart work area - guest cabin?

Crew
One 55 yo male w/ military experience (navigation, rules of the road, radar, radio, qualified submarines and Craft Master (100 ft twin diesel vessel)
One slightly older female w/ freshwater novice skills - no formal training
No major medical or mobility issues
Both have completed the Florida State Boater's Safety Course

Budget
~$30K down and have loan payments ~$1.2K/month, leaves ~$600 for insurance, slip, and build up of a ~$5K contingency fund

Brands
One thing that's confusing is looking at different years of the same model. It would be nice to be able to say Model X was made year ‘XX - ‘XXX and the differences were ...
Carver 404 Cockpit and Carver 44 Cockpit
Stairs from cockpit to sun deck
Carver 430
Nice, but has ladder from cockpit to sun deck
Carver 440
Nice, but no cockpit, no sliding glass door to aft cabin.

General
More fiberglass less wood interior
Flying bridge and internal console (would be great, but not necessary)
Full sized refrig/freezer
Davit, RHIB
Safe to walk around stern to bow - high rails, wide deck
Reverse osmosis system (great if it's there, add if needed)
Washer and Dryer, wait one year and decide - probably remove for more space
Generator
Radar
Chart table
VSat
VHF
External speakers/hailing speakers
EPIRB
Digital Charts (how do you do updates?)
Voyage Planning system (The Captain)

Training Plan
Basic Coast Guard
Six pack

Training Float Plan
Year One
Indian River Lagoon between the bridges
Indian River Lagoon Port Canaveral to Sebastian Inlet
Atlantic Ocean Port Canaveral to sight of land lost
Atlantic Ocean Port Canaveral to Sebastian Inlet

Year Two
Indian River - St Lucie River - Lake Okeechobee - Tampa - Key West
Key West - Bahamas

Year Three
Bahamas - Turks and Caicos - BVI - USVI

Year Four
Anguilla- St Kitts & Nevis - Antigua & Barbuda

Hope it all works out for you!

Sounds like a well thought out plan. Hope you can pull it all together. Best of luck with your dreams.

Getting into that 40+foot range, I'd be looking at big horsepower diesels.

From reading your plan there, it seems you are describing an aft cabin MY style trawler, you need the appropriate hull for the gulf and beyond......they are the only ones with the walk around decks that I am picturing .....I know this is a Carver forum but my two cents anyway. Diesel for sure....Spend some time every week or so and go look at boats, it will give a better visual of what is out there .....

Definately diesels - anything over 40 ft its never a regret. Keep in mind that every boat here is a planning hull, designed for effeciency at speed.

waybomb wrote:Source of the post Hope it all works out for you!

Thanks ... working at it day by day. Will be visiting a lot of area marinas this upcoming week.

Thank you all for the warm welcome and good insights.

If we've learned anything from my life exeriences, as well as reading and researching the boat purchase, it's that prior planning prevents pi$$ poor performance.

Diesels for sure. Looking at reliability and required maintenace, it seems the only real choice for the long haul.

The comment about a trawler hull is spot on. To be honest, a trawler is our first choice. Long haul economic cruising, inside helm option, thrusters, tender chocks and davits all point towards a semi-displacement trawler hull form.

What's keeping us away from a trawler? Unfortunately it'simply price. Dollar for dollar an aft cabin cockpit is just more in our budget. While I don't enjoy making trade offs on a purchase of this magnitude, to get on the water in the near future will require some compromises.

Continuing to move forward. Visiting a lot of local area marinas next week. Will also stop by the bank and look at financing options - their used boat loans (7-8% interest) are not an acceptable option. If they want my business they'll have to do better than that.

Credit unions.
Best bet for anything on the water.
First water property through a bank and a massive headache.
The last three water properties was like buying a car, that simple.
Boats are free and clear but they wanted to see if I needed any extra cash and they would secure with either of the big boats no questions asked.

Heck with banks.

Local marina locked in - not an easy chore because of size.

Financing locked in - now the easy part? Finding the Carver 404 of our dreams.