Fully cored hulls??

[km1125]

Are there any of the Carver models that have fully cored hulls?

I've done some poking around and see a bunch of other manufacturers that have used it over the years (most notably Sea Ray since the early 90s) but haven't run across a Carver model yet that I've found fully cored. I had always thought my old 3607 had cored sides in the hull or superstructure, but found that wasn't the case when I put some holes in it (intentionally). It certainly had cored decks and swim platform, but that's to be expected and pretty normal.

What about the other models? Any that are known to be fully cored hulls?

[waybomb]

I believe everything Carver did after 86 was solid resin/glass at and below the water line.

[tomschauer]

I had an 88 Montego that had wood encapsulated stringers. But the hull was glass. So I'm not sure when they went to all glass below the water.

[km1125]

I'm not referring to stringers, although that's an important consideration. I'd be surprised if there weren't wood bulkheads that extended below the waterline after 86, but don't know for sure. But I'm really just interested in the hull bottoms.

[Cooler]

There were a couple pre-86 models that had cored hulls, basically the < 25' entry models. Those models were built for independant lake use, and not designed for any big water. When Carver was originally started, the founders were commited to solid hull, hand laid construction. They were well aware of the potential structure challenges of wood coring, and had no interest in challenging that quality for weight or cost to build. Sea Ray, on the other hand, took a long time to learn that lesson, as they saw a lot of transoms falling apart in the late 80's and early 90's. I am not dissing on the SR brand, they have built a lot of great boats. Unfortunately, they sometimes succumb to pricing / performance pressure. The heavier the vessel, the slower it goes, and the fuel burn dives. BUT ... be comforted with the solid hull you Carver cruise on! er

[Cooler]

On a side note, Carver did use encapsulated plywood for stringers. The important thing to note here is that plywood was soaked in resin prior to glassing over. If you measure moisture content with an infrared meter, there is a possibility there will be a high moisture reading, because the meter can not differentiate between wood and resin. The intended design is placing the strength of the stringer on the FG. That is also one reason the inside hull is painted gray. That gray paint will show stress cracks very easily, if there is any structural compromise. There are always exceptions to consider. There is a 04 Four Winns Vista 32 for sale in my storage building. The survey showed the boat almost perfect, except for high moisture readings in the very forward section of the stringers, about 4 feet. Buyer walked. Surveyor quoted 15K to repair. I really like Four Winns. I feel kinda bad for the seller, but I am keeping my mouth shut. If I didn't love my Mariner, I would buy it. er

[tomschauer]

I can say for my 1988 Montego that the wood in the stringers was definitely structural and not resin coated. The glass encapsulating it was probably 1/4", maybe a bot more. I had to replace several feet to keep my starboard engine from falling out the back of the boat.