Stunning Gulfstar
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The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Capt.Bill11
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Stunning I'd not the word I'd choose.
Wasn't that boat for sale a while back and there was a thread about it here?
Wasn't that boat for sale a while back and there was a thread about it here?
sunchaser
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What's not to like? It has a pilot house which TF members seem to prefer, it has a cockpit, rooftop dinghy storage, large swim platform, always fade blue, aft stateroom and galley up.
But is it a single or twin?
I agree that it's butt ugly.
Now I have a question that I've thought about. A friend wants to buy a bigger boat and is looking at a Carver Mariner. Here's a photo of one.
I'm sorry but I think this is one of the ugliest boats ever to hit the water. If any of you own one, I'm sorry, and I'm sorry if you're offended.
Now to my question. If a friend of yours was relatively new to boating and was about to buy a REAL ugly boat, would you share your opinion with him, or would you just keep your trap shut?
Now I have a question that I've thought about. A friend wants to buy a bigger boat and is looking at a Carver Mariner. Here's a photo of one.
I'm sorry but I think this is one of the ugliest boats ever to hit the water. If any of you own one, I'm sorry, and I'm sorry if you're offended.
Now to my question. If a friend of yours was relatively new to boating and was about to buy a REAL ugly boat, would you share your opinion with him, or would you just keep your trap shut?
Capt.Bill11
Guru
I agree that it's butt ugly.
Now I have a question that I've thought about. A friend wants to buy a bigger boat and is looking at a Carver Mariner. Here's a photo of one.
I'm sorry but I think this is one of the ugliest boats ever to hit the water. If any of you own one, I'm sorry, and I'm sorry if you're offended.
Now to my question. If a friend of yours was relatively new to boating and was about to buy a REAL ugly boat, would you share your opinion with him, or would you just keep your trap shut?
kthoennes
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Big white tennis shoes on the water like that Mariner will never win a marine elegance award in my book, but now that we shopped like crazy and bought a big floating clorox bottle ourselves, I've come to appreciate the utility and space and comfort of some of the designs. That Mariner always looked a little like an orca to me, although after looking at a lot of those on our shopping odyssey, they're like being trapped in a fiberglass cave. They almost feel like an express style boat down below even though they're not. We were pretty big Carver fans and we wanted to like them, but we dismissed those Mariners pretty quickly.
Now the 2015 Carver C40 we toured at the Newport Boat Show last month, that was a different story. That may be our next boat, in a few years after somebody else eats some massive depreciation.
Now the 2015 Carver C40 we toured at the Newport Boat Show last month, that was a different story. That may be our next boat, in a few years after somebody else eats some massive depreciation.
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FF
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A classic ROOMARAN!
GregBrannon
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When I first started looking at big boats 8 or so years ago, I shared my thoughts about the boats I was interested in with my marine mentor, someone whose thoughts about boats I respected. I'll admit now (reluctantly) that I was taken in by the floating condo concept, most not significantly different in appearance than some of those above, and I shared with my mentor the glossy brochures I'd picked up at boat shows and sales events that featured those designs.
Rather than telling me the boats were ugly, which I'm sure was his initial thought in most cases, he urged me to list what I wanted the boat for and what I planned to do with it, determine the designs that were appropriate for my plans, and become smarter on what boat designs had characteristics that fit. I made my list, and as I studied and became more aware of boat designs that fit, my concept of beauty changed.
To sum up my experience, my concept of "beauty" in boats was influenced by my understanding of the boat's fitness for my intended use. Perhaps the boat your friend is about to buy is beautiful to him or her, because it fits well. Perhaps s/he doesn't know enough about what boat design fits well to truly judge which boats are beautiful.
For someone "about to buy" an ugly boat, it's probably too late. Trying to talk someone out of a purchase when they're already in the heat of the battle may get you uninvited from future cruises or dockside bar-b-ques and cocktails. Who wants that? But if your input is requested, rather than insulting your friend's concept of what they think makes a boat beautiful, point out why you think the boat might not be appropriate for the friend's intended use or urge him/her to keep studying boat design to determine which boat fits its intended use.
Some of those ugly boats have some of the best flowing interiors that I find I enjoy. They are still ugly on the outside though.
Most folks can't separate the issues, so one is best off keeping quiet. I'd hate to offend by telling you what I really thought about the presented designs.
Most folks can't separate the issues, so one is best off keeping quiet. I'd hate to offend by telling you what I really thought about the presented designs.
BlueYonder
Senior Member
Now to my question. If a friend of yours was relatively new to boating and was about to buy a REAL ugly boat, would you share your opinion with him, or would you just keep your trap shut?
I had a friend who was buying his first boat. He and his wife had settled on a boat that has the reputation of being an "ugly duckling". I told him to walk down the dock, turn around and look at the boat. If he didn't think it was the best looking boat on the dock, he should reconsider. He called me a few days later, horrified at how close he came to buying the ugliest boat on the dock. He said all they really looked at was the great interior and never really looked at the boat from the outside.
Nomad Willy
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Moonstruck
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I had a very close friend that bought that model of boat with gas engines. It was against my recommendation. The inside was cavernous and well finished. No helm below. The bridge had a sit down helm that put your feet out in ahead somewhat like driving a bus. Since the bridge was the only helm station it needed a protective enclosure that FF calls an oxygen tent. When it rained in Florida it was a sweat box. So, an air conditioner was added. With the wind up the boat could be almost unmanageable to dock. At cruise it burned 2 gal per mile. When my friend passed away his wife virtually had to give the boat away. For a dock condo it would serve very well.
Northern Spy
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Oh hell yes I would tell them. After all we are friends, and if they did end up buying it, I couldn't fake it forever.
I can easily look past physical ugliness in nature. But ugly boats are designed and built; not born.
Friends don't let friends buy ugly boats.
One man's queen is another man's sweathog.
Personally (YMMV), if it gets me from A to B safely, at a reasonable cost, and I can safely keep maintenance costs minimal, I don't give a damn what it looks like. I've been on some gorgeous boats that I'd not take out of the slip for fear of never getting back.
I ain't pretty, and my boat doesn't have to be, either.
Personally (YMMV), if it gets me from A to B safely, at a reasonable cost, and I can safely keep maintenance costs minimal, I don't give a damn what it looks like. I've been on some gorgeous boats that I'd not take out of the slip for fear of never getting back.
I ain't pretty, and my boat doesn't have to be, either.
I wouldn't tell them it was ugly - but I'd sure as hell point out how insanely dangerous it would be go forward on that boat with any kind of motion. I'd encourage them to think through operating in our conditions (rain and drizzle). And I'd ask them what they thought of a boat from the same builder that was 10 years older - because that's what their boat might look like 10 years down the road.
Keith
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Is your wife the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world??? To YOU she might be. And a lot of that beauty comes from what is on the inside. That Carver Mariner is an ugly boat. I do understand what Eric is getting at....it does have some sort of weird artistic value. But Mariners, in general, have always been the ugliest boats on the water. With that said, the entire boat flows very well. You can go from the cockpit up two steps to a sidewalk that gives you access to the fairly large fly ridge and you can keep on walking right up to the bow. Unfettered access to all parts of the outside of the boat. Not many boats can claim that. The interior is not bad either although a one couple boat. Anyway, I don't think I could own one. But I tell y ou what, my area is littered with these things. Probably because we had the number one Carver dealership in the country here for awhile. But they are EVERYWHERE!!!
Capt.Bill11
Guru
It's not the best looking boat in the world after all they have done to it. But launching the RIB shouldn't be a problem with that nice big davit. (Other than I bet the boat leans a fair bit when the RIBs dangling off the side.
).As to the freeboard, if you're talking about the height off the water of the swim platform, that looks just fine to me.
kthoennes
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To many owners their boats are like children or family members, heck, we even give them names - so like people's kids, I'll agree that your daughter is beautiful even if she's a hideous hound. You don't insult a man's kids or wife or boat, even if they do look like gargoyles.
I agree with some of the comments on function over looks too, and not just because we own a clorox bottle right now. In my mind even a small dumpy sailboat looks prettier and sleeker and more nautical than our tennis shoe, but having spent weeks on pretty modern 40-something sailboats in rain and cold and summer heat - well, I'll enjoy the tennis shoe with seven foot headroom in both berths, stairs instead of a ladder down, big salon windows instead of slits, and admire the elegance of those more nautical boats from afar.
I agree with some of the comments on function over looks too, and not just because we own a clorox bottle right now. In my mind even a small dumpy sailboat looks prettier and sleeker and more nautical than our tennis shoe, but having spent weeks on pretty modern 40-something sailboats in rain and cold and summer heat - well, I'll enjoy the tennis shoe with seven foot headroom in both berths, stairs instead of a ladder down, big salon windows instead of slits, and admire the elegance of those more nautical boats from afar.
By way of a followup to my earlier question, this friend and his wife and I were at the club today. I sat for awhile with them and told him my thoughts about the boat and explained that at some point they would want to sell it for a different boat.
I said the Mariner is so ugly it could take years to sell. A friend of mine had one and it was on the market for over for years before he found a sucker, errr, I mean a buyer.
I said the Mariner is so ugly it could take years to sell. A friend of mine had one and it was on the market for over for years before he found a sucker, errr, I mean a buyer.
Lostsailor13
Senior Member
F'ing mess
Regarding the Gulfstar in the OP...
He has added a lot of weight up high, and he has added a lot of windage. I would bet that he did that without any consideration to how it affects the handling and safety of the boat. I am not interested in buying boats that are overly-modified, like this one, on that basis alone.
Beyond that, I would bet that he thinks this boat is now worth way, WAAAAAY more than an average Gulfstar 43, because of all of the "improvements" he has made to it. Except that it is not. When he tries to sell it, people who are not interested in a Gulfstar 43 are probably not even going to look. And people who are interested in a Gulfstar 43 will take one look and say to themselves, "My God! What did he do to that poor boat!?!"
Unless you understand and accept that, when it comes time to sell it, you are going to have to practically give it away, making extreme modifications to a boat like this seems patently foolish to me. If you want all of those amenities on your boat, buy one that has them designed in. Don't buy a nice, basic boat and then turn it into a Frankenstein's monster!
He has added a lot of weight up high, and he has added a lot of windage. I would bet that he did that without any consideration to how it affects the handling and safety of the boat. I am not interested in buying boats that are overly-modified, like this one, on that basis alone.
Beyond that, I would bet that he thinks this boat is now worth way, WAAAAAY more than an average Gulfstar 43, because of all of the "improvements" he has made to it. Except that it is not. When he tries to sell it, people who are not interested in a Gulfstar 43 are probably not even going to look. And people who are interested in a Gulfstar 43 will take one look and say to themselves, "My God! What did he do to that poor boat!?!"
Unless you understand and accept that, when it comes time to sell it, you are going to have to practically give it away, making extreme modifications to a boat like this seems patently foolish to me. If you want all of those amenities on your boat, buy one that has them designed in. Don't buy a nice, basic boat and then turn it into a Frankenstein's monster!
psneeld
Guru
I always get a chuckle from many posters on TF.
The guy on the boat next to me is looking for another boat and has described something similar to in the OP.
Some people don't worry about all the small stuff often mentioned by the more extreme views on TF as to seaworthiness, beauty, safety, etc...etc....
Look at how many new wave production spaceship type boats are sold compared to old "salty" trawlers. An old salt down the dock from me is actively seeking one right now as a live aboard rather than "trawler" type boats that aren't modified at all and cheap. Willing to pay 2X as much for the same length (obviously not interior volume) boat.
So have fun bashing others boats that will probably sell just fine when the time comes.
Many of the boats I love to look at are not the ones I would actually own.
Plus seaworthiness for a boat that hardly ever leaves the ICW or loop and mostly lives in marinas is hysterical. Many of the snowbirders and coastal cruisers on the East coast I talk to maybe will go to the Bahamas, but mostly they rarely even see the ocean.
The guy on the boat next to me is looking for another boat and has described something similar to in the OP.
Some people don't worry about all the small stuff often mentioned by the more extreme views on TF as to seaworthiness, beauty, safety, etc...etc....
Look at how many new wave production spaceship type boats are sold compared to old "salty" trawlers. An old salt down the dock from me is actively seeking one right now as a live aboard rather than "trawler" type boats that aren't modified at all and cheap. Willing to pay 2X as much for the same length (obviously not interior volume) boat.
So have fun bashing others boats that will probably sell just fine when the time comes.
Many of the boats I love to look at are not the ones I would actually own.
Plus seaworthiness for a boat that hardly ever leaves the ICW or loop and mostly lives in marinas is hysterical. Many of the snowbirders and coastal cruisers on the East coast I talk to maybe will go to the Bahamas, but mostly they rarely even see the ocean.
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