Carver Yachts

I have a friend looking at a Carver 455. It has Volvo engines with around 600 hours. He plans on cruising the ICW and Florida coast. Maybe the loop in the next couple years.
I don't know anything about the Carver other than what I've read online.
Anyone here have any first hand knowledge on this line of boats?
He did want something that would cruise around 15kts is the reason for this type of hull.

Thanks

A Carver 455 is one of those "lot of boat for the money" type boats. Lots of space, fast cruise, does most things well in protected waters.
The maintenance history of the Volvo's would be worth looking at closely.

Personally I like the style of the Carvers. Tons of natural light from large windows. If I didn't buy a trawler, I probably would have wound up looking at one of these. My only problem is I like to cruise the ocean and needed something a bit heavier. I'm not a fan of a Volvo engine. I guess in time I would learn it, but I agree AusCan. Look at the maintenance record and have a survey done.

I don't know much about the Volvo. I have Cummins and love them.

AusCan said:

, does most things well in protected waters

Click to expand...

exactly....protected waters!

There are Carver models I like and would own, Voyager for one, but others I wouldn't own on a bet. I also would not buy a boat that had Volvo diesels. I've heard/read too many bad things about the Volvos to make me want to buy one.


Now before you Volvo diesel owners start ranting about how wrong I am, please don't shoot the messenger. I've never owned a Volvo diesel powered boat so have no first hand experience.

I own a Volvo. No problem. If it has a Volvo you can negotiate a lower price-maybe.

Don't dwell on brands! Dwell on maintenance!

A well-maintained Carver could, arguably, be better than a poorly well-maintained (insert band x here). Same with the motors. Face it, you are doing the loop and you will rarely be out of sight of land, out of range of the internet, or more than a short drive to a marine store. Find a boat you like and make sure it has been kept up. Period.

What Tom said above!

I'll add something...

Those that think that a Carver, or a Searay, or a Bayliner, or a Navigator, or (name your production boat brand here) are only suitable for protected waters are 100% WRONG!!!!

In my harbor at Seward Alaska we have a mix of pleasure boats...A georgous Carver, more than one great Navigator, A Searay or three, and several, no make that many Bayliners.

Our harbor is less than 20 miles from as unprotected waters as you can get on this planet. If the earth was not round you could see Hawaii, Japan, Australia, and even Antarctica I think from the mouth of our little bay.

Yet all of these boats operate in these "unprotected waters" at will. They do so comfortably, and safely, every day.

So lets get off the "Carvers in only protected waters" soap box, because those of us that actually take our boats out in the open ocean every time we leave the dock might have a slightly different opinion.

ksanders; said:

I'll add something...

Click to expand...

Well said, Kevin.
The good folks of Sointula and other west coast settlements got there in row boats.

I owned a Carver 440 ACMY that I think is similar to the 455. Check the hull design to be sure but that was one heck of a boat. Solid as a rock, easy to maneuver roomy and performed well at 18-20 kts or 9 kts in trawler mode. decent engine acess even with the big Cummns Cs . At 38000# it needs decent power to run at plane and 15 kts would have been a bit too slow for real planing on my boat.

I too call BS on the protected waters comment. However after decades of coastal cruising I dont go looking for trouble. Not all years and models of the same brand are equal. That goes for Hatteras, Carver, Bayliner, Viking et al.

Would buy another in a heartbeat.

Today's Carvers and build process little resemble those of a decade or more ago. As noted by Bayview, the year and model are very different within the Carver brand itself. The Marquis line adds another wrinkle.

And then how does one choose to use the vessel yada yada? I can tell you the older 55- 60s are with very poor sight lines from the lower helm. But steering from down below is not this size range's primary mission.

As a VOLVO owner for over seventeen years: "Run from them as you would the plague." VOLVO has the worst customer service in the industry. As for Carver, or any other boat, I would want to know if the hull is cored below the waterline.

IMHO the "That brand boat won't do well in open waters" kinds of comments come from guys who are (a) afraid to be in open waters in ANY kind of boat short of an ocean liner; or (b) own one of the brands designed more for ocean crossing.


Growing up on Lake Huron we thought it was great sport to be out on 4' and 5' waves with a 16' Thompson boat with a 50hp Johnson. Today it seems there are a lot of people with "big" boats who would be afraid to take their "big" boat out in those waves.

ancora said:

As a VOLVO owner for over seventeen years: "Run from them as you would the plague." VOLVO has the worst customer service in the industry. As for Carver, or any other boat, I would want to know if the hull is cored below the waterline.

Click to expand...

I would agree, but I only owned Volvo gas engines. There CS stinks and I'd never own one again, but the diesels seem pretty good overall.

As for the Carver, it's probably in the same class as the Searay, Silverton, Bayliner and Meridian. All fine boats, but you can spend more and get better quality... we all know that. I wouldn't mind owning any of them and got real serious over a Carver and a Meridain once.

And, yes, good maintenance is probably more of a deciding factor than the make of boat.

Carver has been around in one iteration or another for 60 some odd years and have had some excellent builds but, like most, yes even OA, NH, Selene, Bla and Bla, there have been periods of lesser QC.


A good surveyor is key.

GFC said:

IMHO the "That brand boat won't do well in open waters" kinds of comments come from guys who are (a) afraid to be in open waters in ANY kind of boat short of an ocean liner; or (b) own one of the brands designed more for ocean crossing.


Growing up on Lake Huron we thought it was great sport to be out on 4' and 5' waves with a 16' Thompson boat with a 50hp Johnson. Today it seems there are a lot of people with "big" boats who would be afraid to take their "big" boat out in those waves.

Click to expand...

I have to agree. There is Coastal Cruising and there is Passage Making. Unless we're talking about Kady Krogen, Selene, Nordhavn, etc, then we're talking about Coastal Cruisers.

As a coastal cruiser, a Carver will handle more than the crew will. But then again, we used to go out in a 28 ft express in 8+ ft seas when far more suitable boats stayed tied to the dock. Many of those trips were made with friends who own Carver aft cabins (36 & 370). No Problems.

I met someone last week in the keys that takes his 41' carver to the Bahamas all the time. He said pick your days and go. Never had a problem. He also had Cummins in his boat.
My friend who is looking at these carvers said thanks for all of the replays. He now is looking at carvers with Cummins power.

Shrew said:

I have to agree. There is Coastal Cruising and there is Passage Making. Unless we're talking about Kady Krogen, Selene, Nordhavn, etc, then we're talking about Coastal Cruisers.

As a coastal cruiser, a Carver will handle more than the crew will. .

Click to expand...

No truer statement was ever made!

The key here is to pick a boat that will do what you want it to do, at a price that doesn't keep you working so late in life that you don't have the time to enjoy it.

I would rather be out cruising in my Bayliner, than working through my 60's to pay for my Nordhavn.

Because for most of us, that is the real choice.

The more I look at the voyagers with the Cummins the more I like them. And I'm not in the market right now.

Our first big(ger) boat was a 1983 Carver 3207. That was a good boat. That boat was an excellent learning/teaching boat for me, and we sold it for a little more than we paid for it (not counting the nine zillion dollars we spent on upgrades while we owned it...)

I agree that there's nothing wrong with any of the large production models. For the same money I can get 8, even 10 years newer with more modern methods and materials.

That said, and this is me personally, the character of most smaller builds (joinery, ER details, hardware, etc) make them something I be proud to own instead of just satisfied with. I just passed on a Carver for exactly that reason. But it has nothing at all to do with being seaworthy.

BDofMSP said:

I agree that there's nothing wrong with any of the large production models. For the same money I can get 8, even 10 years newer with more modern methods and materials.

That said, and this is me personally, the character of most smaller builds (joinery, ER details, hardware, etc) make them something I be proud to own instead of just satisfied with. I just passed on a Carver for exactly that reason. But it has nothing at all to do with being seaworthy.

Click to expand...

Good point, and getting an 8 to 10 year newer boat is worth a LOT. And sometimes it's 20 years. My Mainship price wasn't a lot different than a Grand Banks, Kady or Nordhavn that was 20 years earlier. The Mainship is not the quality but that wasn't the goal to have a passage maker vessel.

And, there's nothing wrong with the older boats either, but as a general statement they will require more maintenance... or a lot of work to get them "modern" with new appliances, etc.

Heck, my airplane is 40 years old, but it's a Beechcraft (Grand Banks, Kady or Nordhavn quality in the airplane world). And, yes, I spend a ton bring it up to speed and now it's very low maintenance, well equipped and a great toy. And one can do the same with their boats.

Just a matter of choice....