Carver Owners Forum

Good day Carver Yacht people!

I'm looking at a 2005 41 CMY with the 375HP 8.1Gi engines and after what I consider to be a thorough search (2 Hours) I can't find anybody with opinions on if the 8.1's are a good choice for this boat. Seems to me like they may be a little anemic for a 41ft boat @ ~24K lbs. I could be wrong, it's happened before.
OTOH 750HP sounds like a a fair cop. Is there another advantage to the Diesels other than low end torque and reduced Fuel Burn? Should I buy this boat and just enjoy it, or should I maybe save up some more money and get the 44 CMY with the Volvo diesels? The price point is very significant, like 100K. The 41 is in awesome shape with what appears to be some choice upgrades, and lot's of new stuff. I hate to miss out on a great boat just because of a misinformed apprehension about the Gas motors. Also, I'm Gas engine mechanically inclined, and the Diesels would be a learning experience, but not one I'm unwilling to undertake. I learn fast and like mechanics.
As for use, mostly it would be Lake/River use with the notion that I might want to do the Tenn/Tom to the Gulf and go to the Keys. I think that would be the ultimate Retirement Gift to myself, and sounds like an exciting adventure. This would be my 4th boat, so I'm no newbie, but would be my first "Big" boat, and I am certainly not arrogant enough to think I know everything.
I'm really torn here, any help?

Thanks,
Jester.

Welcome to the forum........how many hours ?

There will be some others on here with the same boat so thy will have 1st hand knowledge about the specifics. However my carver 405 is gas. It's apx 41ft and 27000lbs. Apx weight and length of the 41. I boat on the Tennessee River. Imo and my circumstances the gas was the better choice. The diesel boats were way more money. I could not see the benefit for me. Yes I know about the torque and fuel burn. But didn't see the math working out. I also work on my own gas engines and would have learned to do what I could on the diesels if I chose them. I dont have any issues moving my boat around with gas and get on plane fine if/when i want too. No its not a speed boat and i find very few occasions i need to travel that way. I would think if your plans are local outings and weekends out is the diesel price difference worth it? $100000 buys a lot of gasoline, There's gas boats doing the loop too . So if you like it put a offer and sea trial it and see what your thoughts are then. Good luck with your search.

I own the same boat (2007) however with 370hp diesels. Like you said, diesels shine when it comes to fuel burn but they are very heavy. Gassers are easy to maintain and almost anyone with some mechanical skills can work on them, Diesels on the other hand need competent people which are hard to find in some areas such as mine. I am sure in Florida they are a dime a dozen.

That being said I do not see the boat as being underpowered with the 8.1 gas variety, our scoots along just fine on plane however most our travels are at hull speed. Diesels on this boat are actually quite rare in comparison to gas probably because this size/weight is still quite acceptable for 8.1 engines. Diesels are supposed to last 3-4 times as long however I cannot vouch for that as this is my first experience running french fry juice. I do have 1400hrs on the boat with no mechanical issues.

As long as your intent is not to travel at high speeds for a couple hundred hours every season/year, there is no real reason to look for diesels on this boat IMHO.

According to the add, 520 hours on the engines. I'm going to try to go put hands on it this weekend.

Thanks for all the responses. You've all been very helpful.
Sometimes you just need some like minded people to back you up, ya know?

Jester

DarkJester wrote:Source of the post According to the add, 520 hours on the engines. I'm going to try to go put hands on it this weekend.

Considering that, if you are slow cruisin they will probably be fine. The only thing is, resale will be lower when comes time to sell based on the hours on the gas engines, perception is everything to many.

Lets face it diesels are not all the same anymore. The older versions that lasted tens of thousands of hours were industrial type , low rpm, low hp , heavy frame.

My understanding of the new style high hp, higher rpm, light duty turbo engines are they don't last much longer than gas if beat on. You do get a bigger prop and more bite for docking control though.

Good luck with the viewing, be sure to try to get a engine survey and mechanic on the sea trial.

Good luck! Sounds to me like you're going to travel at hull speed a lot more than full throttle. If that's the case, those gas engines will be just fine. The additional cost for diesels, if you could find one with low hours, is not necessary. Also, you did not mention the brand of the engines. I am a big fan of Crusaders, and Carver used a lot of those. Keep us informed on how things go. Every once in a while, the actual vessel is not what the marketing material discloses. er

Our 36 aft cabin has Volvo (Chevy) 454’s and it moves along just fine. Your 8.1’s will be fuel injected which helps fuel mileage a little, but not a lot. The 8.1’s are a great Chevy engine, we had one in out 35ft motorhome and it was great.
We just poke along at 7-8 knots, because with full fuel tanks, full water tank, food for an army and alcohol, fuel burn on plane would be astronomical!
I agree with the Crusaders, basically the same engine, but far better marinized than the Volvo’s.
Just my opinion of course.

I Bought it! Gonna take delivery next week. Whew! What an experience.
Looking forward to figuring everything on the boat out and starting this chapter of my existence.

Jester

Hi, Jester,
Alastair here again. I just noticed that you bought your boat. Congratulations. I will list a few issues I had with mine that you may watch out for.
The thrusters are not in a watertight compartments although the thruster owners manual says that they should be. I had a main cooling hose break and got water in the thrusters and had to replace two motors. I could not get a waterproof housing for the thrusters so added two additional bilge pumps under them.
The serpentine belt cannot be accessed on the port engine due to the tray from the generator blocking the way. The Authorized Volvo dealer who replaced the belt had to cut a notch for access in the tray. My regular boat repair guy says the belt is half the size of the starboard engine which has never been replaced.
I have Twin 375 Volvo diesel engines. Sorry, I dont have the model numbers, I will e-mail them to you when I get back aboard.

Cheers,
Alastair