Carver Owners Forum

I am looking to make a Mariner 350 a live aboard boat. My question is, has anyone installed a washer dryer combo into the boat? I'm thinking the area where the tv / ladder is, would make a great location. Thoughts?

My friend, not that you couldn't live aboard a 350 Mariner, but if you are looking for all enmities of a home, you may want to consider a Carver in the 40 to 50 foot range that has all that!-Mike

I have messy kids. Need I say more. lol I need more enmities.

Then I would suggest a 356, 390, 405, etc, two berths and a lot more room! Mike

If you have kids and plan to live aboard you most likely will want something a bit bigger with two state rooms as mentioned above. We looked at the 350 mariner, liked the open layout, but we have grandkids that join us most every weekend. We went with the 355 with two heads and two staterooms. We are very happy with it for weekends and a week here and there, but would not want to live on it with kids. The 404 has a bit more room, but I personally would need a 560 or bigger to live on with kids.
I am not a tiny house type of guy.

I believe you also asked about rough water on another post. The 355(6), 404(6), 396 etc. have a keel and no prop pockets. Still nothing you want to be in on 12 foot seas but will take heavy water a bit better than the Mariners.

tomschauer wrote:Source of the post have a keel and no prop pockets.

I've seen mariner's out of the water. They don't have tunnel drives and they have a "v" bottom. I have not seen the 355(6), 404(6), 396. What are you referring to as a keel? Like a sailboat? I'm new please enlighten me.

The 355's and up have a shallow, I believe about 8 or 10" keel. Yes, like a sail boat but not nearly as deep. It works on the same principal as a sailboat keel. Basically to rock the boat you need to move much more water (weight) than with a standard V bottom. It also helps to track straight in varying sea conditions and low speeds.

I thought I had a picture of mine out of the water but cant find it. If you look on yacht world you may get some out of the water transom pictures that will show you what I am talking about.

A friend of mine has a Holiday Mansion House Boat. He has a keel sort of thing. He has a protrusion about 8" deep by about 12" wide on the bottom of his boat. He said it's full of cement. Is this the sort of thing that you are referring to as a keel?

Here's how a Carver "keel" appears.
As far as I kn ow it's all fiberglass, maybe a few inches wide.
This pic is of our ex-4207

We have spent two summers living on board our 350 Mariner but its just my husband and I with two dogs. I can't imagine living on board full time with kids We have very occasional overnight guests and I usually can't wait to get rid of them so that I can reclaim my salon area!

As for the hull of the Mariner, it has a decent V shape at the bow but there is almost no deadrise at the stern and certainly no keel. It is certainly not a comfortable boat in even moderate seas for any length of time. I affectionately refer to it as the rubber ducky.