Carver Owners Forum

After years of lake boating, and nearing retirement, I am closing in on the purchase of a 350 Mariner, with the plan of doing some coastal cruising as my spring and fall pastime. Going to look at a Mariner this week and I am getting really stoked about it. Gonna be hard not to buy it even if its deemed a lemon by the surveyor (not really). My wife and I have both taken day skipper courses in order to help prepare us for tidal games. Here's to another chapter and more adventures!

Welcome aboard. Hope it all works out for you. Sounds like great retirement plan

Welcome to the forum ....good luck with your new adventure.........

Welcome aboard!
If the surveyor gives a bad report, believe him and walk on to the next boat.
I know too many people that bought when they should have walked.

waybomb wrote:Source of the post Welcome aboard!
If the surveyor gives a bad report, believe him and walk on to the next boat.
I know too many people that bought when they should have walked.

Well, I wouldn't go that far! If anyone read Pascoe's surveys, NONE of us would have our boats and this site would not exist!!!

You have to know what the surveyor is looking for and what he is actually saying in his report. I know a good friend who has a very solid boat and the surveyor they brought in for a recent purchase just "trashed" the boat in his report. It is an older boat, but NO ONE in our marina (and we have several very seasoned mariners) would have faulted the boat on what that surveyor wrote.

Well, as I understand it, Surveyor reports are neither good, nor bad really. They are just a cold eyes accounting of what there is good and bad on the boat in question. It's still up to the buyer if they want to assume the headaches identified by the surveyor and to fix them or not, depending on their severity and if it makes the boat non-seaworthy. Then you have to check and see how deep your pockets are Once you have completed all of the necessary repairs and modifications, it's all clear sailing I might not have played in the salt before, but I'm no stranger to the fact that BOAT stands for "Break Out Another Thousand"

Welcome Aboard. Retirement and boating is something that goes well together. Wishing you a happy retirement when that time comes and many adventures aboard your Mariner.

Hoping that the survey and sea trial go well.

As to surveyors they have to be objective and include the good and possibly any bad in their assessments of boats they survey. In my case when I bought my 1981 3007 one of the last questions I asked my surveyor was: If you were in the market for a boat like this one would you consider buying it? In my case he said yes so that played a part in my going forward with an offer to purchase mine.

Welcome to the forum. And best of luck with your soon to be purchase.
Make sure you are there with the surveyor. Ask many questions, learn what he or she is looking at and don't be afraid to question him / her on findings. The surveyor is working for you. Yes, they may trash a boat, but they are, and should be a buyers agent. They can help you negotiate a better deal, or tell you to stay away if the boat needs more repairs than worthwhile for a particular boat.

Well! Very disappointing look at a 350 Mariner. Is it just me or do any of you actually clean things up when you are trying to sell them? I could live with the fibreglass cracks in the deck under the windlass, likely from someone driving through a stuck anchor without using a snubber and letting a cleat absorb the punishment. And you know that you are gonna find evidence of a leak here or there, but when someone has to leave the top hatches and the portholes open just to let the raw sewage smell out of their boat and can’t even be bothered to sweep up the floor in the salon, I gotta say ENOUGH!! I realize that there are hoses that can crack and allow a foul smell to eminate from the bowels of your boat, but how do people live with that? Replace the damn hose! This boat smelled like there was sewage pooling in the bilge areas of the boat, far more than a cracked hose. And for this you want 90 thousand dollars!! I’d sooner make way on a stand up paddle board. Very disappointed in having driven over 12 hours return and having taken 4 ferries, to see that boat. If anyone has a line on a GOOD used Carveer 350 or 370, I would like to see them. Not sure where to go with this now. Sure seems to be a lack of quality used stuff out there. Scammers trying to pawn off hurricane Irene boats imported from the East coast also a major concern. Sorry for the rant so early on.

Yup sounds about right.....wow 90k for a 97 like that.. ...I think we are giving them away out here, real nice ones 2001 and up, turnkey for about the same money. The broker should pay you for your time...
Sometimes takes years and then you can get lucky with the next one.....again good luck and hang in there, the hunt is sometimes the best part....