Carver Owners Forum

I just bought a 2000 Carver 450 Voyager Pilot House and brought it home up the ICW in Florida. Now home, it's time to replace out-of-date, worn-out, and non-working items (not that a Harman-Kardon laser disk isn't a great option).
I'm looking for general advice:
Best place to buy general boating items
Best place to buy Carver specific items
Best place/way to buy/get replacement mattresses (at least one of my mattresses looks like a Civil War bandage)
Anything you would recommend
Etc.
After a two-day cruise home on the ICW all I'm really sure of is that 560 gallons of diesel is expensive and I hate sailboats (Ok, maybe hate is a strong word but between "Stay out of my wind" and "I can't handle a wake", they sure slow you down in the channel.)

If you have something to share I'd like to learn. Thanks

87MSS

Congrats and welcome aboard.

There's many on-line boat accessory retailers out there, really depends on what you're looking for. There's really very little Carver/OEM specific stuff on a boat. A lot of it is generic supplied by third parties. What you can't find at a retailer is usually available from the manufacturer that supplied the item to Carver. An email or phone call to Carver with your hull number is a good place to start as they can supply you with the manufacturer and part number information if it's something they don't have in stock. You can also use the search field here to look for threads about specific items or post what you're looking for and I'm sure you'll get a few recommendations.

Thanks for the response Viper. Let me ask a specific question. Have any suggestions about a new mattress alternative?

A quick 2 cents on best place to buy - yes, I am at least a little biased. Find a marine retailer in your area. These stores stock parts you most likely need, and generally have experienced boaters on staff. I am retired, but help out some friends that own a small store. Minimal hours, so it does not interfere with my boat passion. Working there is fun for me, cause it is just like hanging out at the marina. I always have people coming in looking for a product that someone told them was great, only to find out it was cheap. I have hundreds of experiences where customers came in and said "thanks for the recommendation - well worth the extra $5. Worked really well for me". There have been many times I saved a customer money, due to a mismatch of part or personal need. I never recommend a product I have not used, and that is typical of marine store owners. At the store, you can touch, inspect the item you are buying. Price might be a touch more than Amazon or online retailors, but there is real value to having the right part, the first time. Our season here is about 16 weeks long, so a 10 day delay is valuable. If we don't patronize the brick & mortar stores, they will disappear. Now for mattress question. There are a lot of memory foam or general foam alternatives. Just take a template of the shape of your mattress, and most foam retailers can cut to form. 560 gal of diesel would have cost $1,232 at my marina. Good luck! Hope to see you on the forum frequently. er

Congrats on the new boat,
I’ve used mattress insider twice and couldn’t be happier with their products. https://www.mattressinsider.com/
I also like Defender for general boating products, they have great customer service. https://www.defender.com/
Good lick with your new boat.
Pete

Welcome aboard!

Welcome to the forum...

Welcome Aboard!

Welcome Aboard.

Congratulations on your new boat! We've been customizing mattresses for boats, for years. Feel free to browse around our website, yachtbedding.com.