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Re: Want to purchase a Voyager
Posted: April 20th, 2018, 2:31 pm
by 3dognight
floating.53 wrote:Source of the post I bought my 2001 530 pilothouse last July in Virginia with the Volvo 580's. We brought it back to the great lakes with a blue water run from Norfolk to New York city and we averaged 24k and she did very well.
Wow, thats great cruise speed, what was the average GPH?
OR are you trying to forget?
Sound's like your happy with the 'Blue Water' handling?
Thx
Andy
Re: Want to purchase a Voyager
Posted: June 27th, 2018, 4:57 pm
by voyagerfan
Hi Jeff,
We own a 2000 Voyager 530, purchased used in 2007. Have done the Great Loop, Bahamas and many of the inland rivers with this boat and loved every minute of it. We have the Cummins 450C engines (now with 2400 hours) and they have been rock solid performers through the years. I know some owners prefer the larger Volvos, but we have never missed the extra 4 -5 mph that you might get at WOT with the Volvos. Just last month in calm water with little wind or current, a new bottom paint job, 75% fuel and water (and 10 years of accumulated stuff aboard) we did GPS-confirmed, 25 mph in our boat. You will find that unless you are planning on spending many hours in big water (large lakes/oceans, etc), the opportunities to get up on plane in this size boat are not very frequent - too many fishermen, docks, no wake zones, manatee zones, etc.
We have a full canvas/eisenglass enclose on our boat so can't comment on the hardtop. We spend about 80 - 90% of our time on the flybridge, but having the pilothouse to retreat to is especially nice in super hot, cold or windy weather. Our 13.5KW genset will run everything on the boat simultaneously if need be. We have 4 self-contained A/C units, one dedicated to just the master SR and it does a great job.
The Carver Voyagers are designed to be inland and coastal cruisers, but in over 1000 miles of open water cruising we never felt concerned for the safety of the boat - we had some uncomfortable hours holding on to things all day, but had no leaks, broken windows, structural failures, etc. The key is to not have so tight a schedule that you go out when you shouldn't.
Let me know if there is any other information I can provide you. I'm biased, but they're comfortable, reliable boats.
John
Re: Want to purchase a Voyager
Posted: June 29th, 2018, 12:03 am
by RGrew176
Nice write-up on your 53 Voyager.
Re: Want to purchase a Voyager
Posted: July 2nd, 2018, 7:22 pm
by Ehansen197
Hi all. I am new to this forum. Lots of great information.
I am looking at a 1999 Carver 530 Pilothouse with Cummings QSM-11 625hp motors that were recently rebuilt. Anything in particular I should look out for before the survey? I will use the boat as a coastal cruiser on the east coast of the USA with trips to the Bahamas and hopefully the great loop.
Re: Want to purchase a Voyager
Posted: August 11th, 2018, 4:20 pm
by Dani-lu
Lyndon,
Sorry for such a tardy reply. Been busy looking for a place to live in Florida and selling our home.
Thanks for the thorough reply. That is one huge salon! But, we definitely want a cockpit area, somthe Voyager is most likely the right boat for us.
We will continue looking, but need to get a ride on a 530, 560 or 570, to help me be sure we will like how this boats handles on plane, at trawler speeds and around the dock. I know any bridge boat will be very different than my express cruiser, but I think I have been on enough Sedans, to get a sense for how she handles. Time will tell.
Jeff
Re: Want to purchase a Voyager
Posted: August 11th, 2018, 5:24 pm
by 3dognight
voyagerfan wrote:Source of the post Hi Jeff,
We own a 2000 Voyager 530, purchased used in 2007. Have done the Great Loop, Bahamas and many of the inland rivers with this boat and loved every minute of it. ..................
John
John, Im also thinking of doing the Great Loop in 2020/2021 but have concerns on Bridge clearence. Did you have your arch hinged?
Thx
Andy
Re: Want to purchase a Voyager
Posted: August 19th, 2018, 12:03 am
by Dani-lu
voyagerfan wrote:Source of the post Hi Jeff,
We own a 2000 Voyager 530, purchased used in 2007. Have done the Great Loop, Bahamas and many of the inland rivers with this boat and loved every minute of it. We have the Cummins 450C engines (now with 2400 hours) and they have been rock solid performers through the years. I know some owners prefer the larger Volvos, but we have never missed the extra 4 -5 mph that you might get at WOT with the Volvos. Just last month in calm water with little wind or current, a new bottom paint job, 75% fuel and water (and 10 years of accumulated stuff aboard) we did GPS-confirmed, 25 mph in our boat. You will find that unless you are planning on spending many hours in big water (large lakes/oceans, etc), the opportunities to get up on plane in this size boat are not very frequent - too many fishermen, docks, no wake zones, manatee zones, etc.
We have a full canvas/eisenglass enclose on our boat so can't comment on the hardtop. We spend about 80 - 90% of our time on the flybridge, but having the pilothouse to retreat to is especially nice in super hot, cold or windy weather. Our 13.5KW genset will run everything on the boat simultaneously if need be. We have 4 self-contained A/C units, one dedicated to just the master SR and it does a great job.
The Carver Voyagers are designed to be inland and coastal cruisers, but in over 1000 miles of open water cruising we never felt concerned for the safety of the boat - we had some uncomfortable hours holding on to things all day, but had no leaks, broken windows, structural failures, etc. The key is to not have so tight a schedule that you go out when you shouldn't.
Let me know if there is any other information I can provide you. I'm biased, but they're comfortable, reliable boats.
John
John
Great writeup on your 530. Thank you for taking the time to be so thorough!
Jeff
Re: Want to purchase a Voyager
Posted: December 29th, 2018, 9:36 am
by golgi
3dognight wrote:Source of the post voyagerfan wrote:Source of the post Hi Jeff,
We own a 2000 Voyager 530, purchased used in 2007. Have done the Great Loop, Bahamas and many of the inland rivers with this boat and loved every minute of it. ..................
John
John, Im also thinking of doing the Great Loop in 2020/2021 but have concerns on Bridge clearence. Did you have your arch hinged?
Thx
Andy
Hi Andy
My understanding is the 19' fixed bridge is only downtown Chicago. If you exceed this, you can take the alternate shipping lane around the city.
Hinging your arch is an alternative if you're wanting to go through downtown, but it's not a necessity for the great loop.