Carver Owners Forum

So the title kinda explains it, but I got to wondering how far back you can go and still not rebuild the entire structure. This meaning stringers/tanks etc. How are these boats holding up. Obviously it would matter who owned them but in general how are they withstanding abuse.

We were talking the other day ( the boss and I , she said no !!!! ) and I am now perhaps considering a 28' Riv or Mariner from the 80's, probably the riv ( easy trailer )....kinda like going back in time... ,,..something to run thru the Trent, back and forth.......now I know these hulls real well as we had them but it has been a very long time. Maybe just an idea/pie in the sky from not boating for a while and next month we will come to our senses.....

Let's hear some opinions on " Can you go back".......

I have a15' Glaspar Avalon. But it's in new condition.
I have a 1964 Barron flat bottom. It's still good too.

Age has not much to do with the longevity although it does not help. A good friend of mine purchased a 37' Maxum Express cruiser. Stringers and transom were rotten. Boat is a 2005.

That being said I have never purchased really old as the oldest was a 1993.

I had a 72 Trojan. Glass hull but the rest of the structure was teak and mahogany. I rebuilt it because the decks were compromised, but the hull and stringers were SOLID. The hull wasn't really much thicker than my (later) Carver was, but that thing plowed through water like a tank or bashed some good waves when you were up on plane. SOLID hull and structure.

It's all about how it was taken care of. If somebody let water get into it or let water sit in it for a while, then a very new boat could be in pretty bad shape.

My first glass was a 1965 Pearson Cabin Cruiser built by Grumman. This 28 footer was heavy! Single inboard.
I had the original literature and they spoke about the 'wonders of fiberglas; no longer do you have to wait for your boat to swell.'
I had the cutout for the windless and it had to be close to 1" of fiberglass (top/bottom) sandwiching wood in the middle for the deck.
She was a great second boat; my first being a 1961 wooden 23 foot Chris Craft Sea Skiff with a lapstrake hull. Although she was wood, I didn't have to wait for it to swell because she was tight. I did get a little too close to the Center Island Reef aka 'Rocky Point' and she went down.
But that's a whole nother story!
Wouldn't mind owning her now!

I own a 1985 Carver Voyager. Aside from a few repairable items like a deck escape hatch replacement and a soft spot in one of the aft deck engine access panels, boat is solid. Very little moisture in the stringers for it’s age and no soft spots or blistering anywhere on the hull or deck. I was shocked when I had it surveyed, so much so that I went and bought my own moisture meter to confirm. It will probably need engine rebuilds in the not to distant future as it has roughly 1250hrs a side but who knows. Even if it did need engines I would do it bc this boat is perfect for me. Still lots of them around too. I know of at least 6 voyager/mariners in that 1980’s era for sale on kijiji in Canada right now

The first boat I bought was a 1969 searay srv190. I bought in about 1982ish. Had a buick V8 and ran like heck. It would pull up three skiers with 4 people on the boat. It had an OMC sterndrive, with a very small, very expensive electric motor to lift the drive. The drive was fine, but the motor failed every couple years to the tune of about $300 back then for the part only.
I sold it to a friend that still has it and runs it often.

I guess I worded the title a bit wrong, should maybe have said recently. I have had a few older boats one of which was, notably a 78 F32....always wanted one, oddly enough picked this over a Bert, much nicer interior !!, this one had rebuilt engines, new stringers full length and I still had, decks to fix, tanks to replace and a brand new vacu flush etc etc. It was cheap though.
Now I have always liked that kind of restoring, did it with boats/cars, we had a 2 year old 83 28' Mariner that I pretty much had to restore, and it was only 2 years old when we got it.....
I can't do the heavy work anymore and we tried to get mechanics but it was almost impossible to get people with attention to detail and respect. So if we ( the boss and I ) thought there was still a chance to find something we may have another try...... ....

I would like to hear from the people who have lately bought older 1980's 28' Mariners/ Rivieras and what they have had to replace to make them useable. See the thing is , not everyone can afford newer boats and these ones still provide a window into boating with a decent sized vessel at a reasonable initial cost. So to all the folk that come here for advice and help with their older boats, how about some help/info for bud.

I purchase a 3297 1988 and it’s been sitting for years in the PNw
It was a free boat and My intention is to bring it back to life
I’ve always been concerned with stringer rot
Did Carver have issues with the stringers in the older boats
Twin crusaders inboards so working on this is not going to be easy

Fwiw, I have a 3697 that sat outside uncovered for 10 years. There are no issues with the hull or stringers.
Took us 2 years to bring her back to life but it's been a great boat. We haven't used it much since i was still working plus bought a large storage building that we were working on for 2 years. Only 300 hours on the 350hp Crusaders.