Carver Owners Forum

I am a rookie boat owner with a Chaparral Signature 30 and we are having a blast. My ultimate goal is to retire as a live aboard and travel. I am very interested in the Carver 405 and 444. I am comparing these to trawlers like a Mainship 430. Now it looks to me that a Carver 405 or 444 is more of a coastal cruiser.

So my question is, even if I were to add a custom 100 gallon fuel cell, what is the potential range non stop with a diesel set up? Preferably twin Cummins. I know there are variables but I'm looking at a rough idea fully loaded with a speed of 8 knots on the ocean.

Secondly, do these boats do well in open ocean vs a trawler or am I a fool to even consider this?

I'm kind of thinking a Carver would be great for Great Lakes cruising, the Loop and following the coasts and the Caribbean. If I want to get to Europe, I'd need a trawler.

Problem is Carvers are just so dam sexy!

Thanks

Well personally I have a 1998 405 and it is perfect for everything but I might be a little biased
I have my boat on a 30000 acre land locked lake. It was in the Gulf of Mexico, but I hated dodging crab traps everywhere we went.
Great Lakes or the Loop would be perfect for the boat. Like yourself, I looked at the Manship and even Silverton boats, but the companies have gone out of business and parts were harder to find, not impossible, just not worth it to me personally.
So you are on the loop and something breaks, odds are you can have something overnighted and only be down a day or two with a Carver. You could be down weeks with the other two. Just my opinion though.