New member; considering purchase of '94 39 Aft Cabin Cockpit - any tips?

[boatingbob]

Hi All!

Considering making offer on a 1994 Carver 39' Aft Cabin Cockpit Motor Yacht w/twin Crusaders. Very clean boat, engines very clean, recent tune, rather low hours (300hrs). Any thoughts? Here are my concerns:

1) Is this boat too big for gas? I know the venerable Tollycraft 40 Tri-Cabin is about 3000lbs heavier, and they pretty much all had gas motors, and there are a lot still on the water today. I plan on mainly running it at hull speed for economy issues, with the occasional sprint on the plane to clean out the carbon.

2) Hull OK on these? The (in)famous yacht surveyor David Pascoe has no love for Carver. He talks about their cored hulls, but from the owners manual, this hull doesn't appear to be cored. No bluewater cruising for us; we're strictly inshore types.

3) Any other potential trouble areas I should look for and have my surveyor really look for?

It's a lovely boat I'd love to have, I'm just worried about the 'unknowns'. My last boat was a 30' Tolly Sedan with twin Mercruisers, and that boat did just fine for us.

[waybomb]

Welcome aboard.

I had a 1988 42 aft with gas. I would guess for an inland small lake, it would be fine. Not so much for Lake Michigan. If that boat had twin 450-500 hp diesels, I would still have that boat. Loved the boat itself.
When you get caught in weather, it is not fun to be out in an underpowered boat.

Now, a 39 may be fine with gas engines. I've never had one, never piloted one. But if anybody with one says they'd wish they had some more power, I'd be looking for one with diesels.

As for Pascoe, I take him with a grain of salt. Sure, a Hat or a Viking is a better boat; it better be at twice the money. I don't know of any Carvers breaking apart because of poor build. I do not believe Carver has built a cored bottom since early 80"s - I could be wrong on the date, but it's been a long time.

[AaHubb]

Hi there boatingbob. I have a slightly newer version of that boat, just a different name. Mine has the Cummins 210hp diesels. They provide plenty power around the docks but not so much at cruising speed. Top end is around 20mph. Most of the time I run 8 ~ 10 mph. A sea trial will help you decide if the gassers are adequate, I suspect they will be ok. No real concerns specific to this boat just normal for the age. I would have an engine inspection done separate from the boat inspection as 300 hours is almost to few, really check the exhaust risers and heat exchangers for corrosion. Those can be repaired/replaced but best to know upfront plus you could negotiate a reduced sale price. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
..Aaron

[boatingbob]

Update: survey went well, financing's approved. Looks like we're getting this Carver. After crawling around it with the surveyors for the last couple of days, I'm really impressed with Carvers. Looking forward to sharing pix with you, and picking your brains for tips!