Carver Owners Forum

My wife and I are in the initial purchase stages of a 2006 Carver 36 MY aft cabin in Seattle area.
There is only a 217hrs on the twin gas volvo 5.7Gxi engines. The boat has been moored in fresh water in lake union.
What are the most likely items to be concerned and critical on?
I've read the drip pans of the ac units have draining issues?
The items i initially noticed are the starboard side swim platform is extremely close to the water line. The port engine starboard side exhaust manifold has rust stain from riser gasket area.
Only one engine bay light is working.

We plan to have a full survey preformed including haul out and inspection. We would appreciate recommendations for local surveyor? Haul out yard?

There is no bow thruster, we plan on having one installed after purchase and would appreciate feedback and recommendations to brand/size/yard to perform work in lake union area.

We are considering moorage at Elliott bay marina, any additional issues we should be aware of doing this?

We appreciated the bayliner forum feedback of our previous boat, 2003 Bayliner 245 5.7bravo3, which we'll be selling it this purchase goes thru.

Welcome from a former BOC member. Former is not the correct word as I still chime in there now and then Cannot really help you but I am sure other will chime in and get you some of your requested info.

That's a lot of boat to have small block engines. I'd much rather see it with 7.4's.
Also, before putting out big bucks for a bow thruster, see how well you can handle it without. I'm on my 3rd twin engine boat and never felt the need to have a bow thruster.

Welcome Aboard. Also a former Bayliner owner. There are a few members here who made the move from Bayliner to Carver. I too am a BOC member and still participate there. Most of my participation is here. If all goes well and you are the new owners of a Carver I would at least take the boat out a few times to see if you really need a bow thruster.

With twins you can do a lot of maneuvering and boat handling with just the engines and transmissions. I am not saying that a bow thruster would not be a great addition. It would definitely assist in boat handling.

Good luck.

Hi there and welcome. You will find rhis forum very helpful.
I have a 2005 Mariner and although the boats are not the same, they are certainly related.
The forward A/C unit on my boat does have draining issues as she is a bit bow heavy. I added a couple of nylon washers on the forward section of the unit to tilt it back a bit for better drainage. You can confirm yea or nay on that particular issue with your boat by taking a look at the pan. If it’s rusty, you have the drainage issue.
Regarding the manifolds. I would bet that on a 2006, if they have not been changed even though it’s a closed system, they are ripe for failure. Do a pressure test on the system. That will tell you for sure if they have to be changed immediately. My surveyor did not do the test and the replacement bill was on me and not the seller. Additionally, my recommendation is to also plan on changing the tranny oil and engine oil heat exchangers. My 2005 tranny oil heat exchanger valued at $140.00 failed and cost me a $5K tranny rebuild. I never thought of changing them.
I have 6.0 Crusaders which generate 750 hp. I am very happy with the power and efficiency. I had steered away from 5.7’s after reading a few blogs that suggested they were a bit under powered for my boat. Your 36MY weighs about 3,000 lbs more then my Mariner. I think (not sure) that 5.7’s generate a total of 420 hp. If that’s the case, I would recommend that you take that into consideration.
I think that bow thrusters depend on your dockage. I do have an aftermarket unit that was already installed on my boat (Volvo) and I am glad to have it. My home port has aggressive current and wind conditions, with little room between boats. I have found the thruster to be VERY useful. Your boat has a good amount of *windage* and the thrusters are likely to help. But as Rick mentioned, use it for a season and decide if the thruster is necessary.
I hope this helps and wish you all the luck.

If you have rust stains on the manifold, most likely it is coming from the risers. On a full fresh water cooled system, manifolds should last as long as the engine block as far as rust and corrosion goes. Risers on the other hand, need to be replaced at certain intervals.

Good luck with he survey and purchase. As others have mentioned, the 5.7's may be a bit under powered for the boat, depending on your use and preference. I believe the gxi's are 300hp each.
Even with 7.4's or 8.1s its not going to be "fast" so just make sure you run it a bit and its performance meets your needs.

Welcome aboard.

Find out for sure if this has been a fresh water vessel all its life. They should be able to look that up. The survey will tell you a lot but you should also have a mechanical inspection done. They will give you an opinion on the rust from the riser though I suspect it may be as simple as a gasket replacement if she's always been in fresh water.

The concern re AC draining is minor IMO. with a little work, that can be corrected.

Ask the surveyor his opinion on why she's leaning to starboard. There are a few reasons and some are of more concern than others.

As far as the engines having enough punch, it really does boil down to your boating style. If you just take your time puttering around and going to near by anchorages or ports, engine power isn't that big a concern. If you're a go fast everywhere kind of boater, then you may want to reconsider finding something with at least 7.4L engines. I don't know the body of water you're taking her to but if it's large and can blow up quick, you'll wish you had the power to get you to a safe port fast. You should also consider that if you ever plan on selling in the future, being under-powered might make it a tougher sell.

I agree with the guys in recommending that you take some time to get used to maneuvering her first before you consider the expense of adding a bow thruster. They are good to have in pinch under bad conditions and tight docking though. You'll find however if this is our first inboard boat that maneuvering is way easier than a sterndrive application.

No matter which boat you get, you're going to have to do some necessary repairs and some modifications to your liking. The plan here is to try and catch the items that will be costly and adjust the purchase price accordingly.

Good luck, we hope things work out in your favour. Please keep us posted.

Welcome to the forum and good luck going forward, hope to say welcome to Carver soon......

Per Buster and Viper, I used the wrong word when I stated manifolds. It was the 'risers' that had to be changed on my boat.