newbee

bradley39482

Cadet
Joined
Jul 24, 2015
Messages
23
hey ya'll
new to this forum, came across it, and saw some very good post. i have recently purchased a 36 ft carver, aft cabin 3607, i have 2 350 crusader engines, i test road it and she seems very sea worthy, and she was very well taken care of under covered wet slip, in fresh water. im taking her down to salt water, in GOM, anything i need to do to make her ready for salt water or change? she is a 1982 model. no leaks in hull, dry as a bone. no oil leaks, i can work on gas engines, have very good knowledge on 350's, had many chevy trucks, LOL. purchased the boat for my family to be able to have fun, and enjoy each other.

thanks for any advice
kindest regards
Brad
 

jbcurt00

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
Messages
24,829
Lets.move this over to boat topics where anyone experienced w big cruisers and going from slipped freshwater to saltwater use can give you some advice

Welcome to iboats
 

keninaz

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Dec 15, 2010
Messages
448
Congrats on the boat purchase. You picked a great boat for a first one and I am jealous. Many things to learn about boats for a newbee so asked away. I would also hope your boat has a VHF radio and that it works well. Learn how to use it. apply for your license and hope you don't need it. You need to become familiar with WX channels, regular communications channels, like channel 16 in most areas and emergency channels. Do not count on a cell phone!
And many manufacturers today have GPS devices for depth finding with maps and charts built right into them which will help you navigate. Remember that 14-16 miles is your horizon.
Just some cheap advice for a newbee if you are going into salt water, keep the shoreline in sight until you are well acquainted with the boat and it's behavior in rougher waters. The sea can get rough in a hurry with winds and tides and you may need to head for shore.
 

bradley39482

Cadet
Joined
Jul 24, 2015
Messages
23
thank you for the kind words Keninaz, also sorry for posting in wrong forum, learning my way around.
 

bradley39482

Cadet
Joined
Jul 24, 2015
Messages
23
I've been around on different forums reading about carver boats, especially the 3607 models, and there were not a lot of good post on the boat, I"m getting a feeling i may have done wrong, I'm still waiting on the inspection review from the boat inspector, and yes i know i did it @$$ backwards, but whatever the inspector finds," if not totally major problems" i can repair the problem. i have read where the 3607 is not a very sea worthy boat, that it cant handle 4 ft seas, and that the hull is paper thin and any kind of bump from an object could puncture hull, now this draws a concern, since it will be me and my family on the boat, i know she is 20 yrs old,"1982" and yes degradation of the hull is expected, but they were talking about 1997 models built like this, me and my family were going to use it to cruise the Gulf of Mexico, keeping within 10- 20 miles of the coast, cruise the ICW Alabama to Florida , after reading some post my concerns are a little high, i have purchased an EPERB, dingy , it has VHF radios, and depth finder, i purchased navigation for it as well. the throttles seem a little sticky when i ran it, and the steering is hydraulic, and seems a little tacky," like the hydraulic pump is cutting in and out when turning" kinda stiff. i did not find any oil leaks, engines need a little coke-sing to crank, and i know they are old chevy's so that is to be expected. I am worried about this hull, any advice yall can give would be greatly appreciated. Or any advice on anything with the Carver 3607 36ft twin chevy 350's i would greatly appreciate.

kindest regards
brad
 
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Grub54891

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
5,908
Them 350's should start without any help. A pump of the throttle in neutral they should fire up. could use some adjustment or a carb rebuild. I personally wouldn't worry about the hull,unless someone smucked it before and it has an unproper repair. As far as steering and throttles,the cables could be getting sticky,the best cure is to replace them.
 

JoLin

Vice Admiral
Joined
Aug 18, 2007
Messages
5,146
Bradley, who is inspecting this boat? Hopefully, it's a licensed surveyor. Right now, you need to take a step back and let the surveyor do his job before you buy any more 'stuff' for the boat. Frankly, you have me more than a little concerned. What is your level of boating expreience? Is this your first boat? Have you taken any boating courses through either US Power Squadrons or Coast Guard?

Your plans seem ambitious for a new boater with a big boat in unknown condition, with sticky throttles and engines that need 'coaxing'. Slow down- you can't correct the fact that you bought this boat with virtually no clue to its condition (not smart), but you can wait now and figure out what to do after the inspection is completed. If it checks out okay, then fine, go ahead and get it into good operating condition. If it doesn't, take a lesson and don't start throwing good money after bad.

Nothing wrong with a Carver for the type of cruising you have in mind, but you need to be aware of its limitations in terms of seaworthiness. No, it isn't a Bertram, but it'll do it fine in fair to semi snotty sea conditions.

My .02
 

bradley39482

Cadet
Joined
Jul 24, 2015
Messages
23
thanks JoLin, yea I'm waiting on boat inspector, and your right, i was a little ambitious, I have a Seaman's U.S. Coast Guard License, and Marshall Islands Seaman's License, with ETR endorsements, also have OPETA water survival and harsh condition License from U.S Coast Guard, and marshal islands. I worked on a boat overseas and now in GOM. But that doesn't mean I know everything I need to know about smaller boats, or that I'm any kind of expert, and yes your right, I should have stepped back, and took a breath, but my gut feeling when i drove her and listened to the engines and checked them out, and felt how she handled, and the checked the Hull, told me she was well taken care of. but as in any used piece of equipment, there are going to be problems. there is going to be a learning curve, I know, and I'm not going to press my luck, until I can feel confident in the boat. your right experience comes from trial and error, just hope not to much error! "sorry for the misspelling, Coaxing"
 
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bradley39482

Cadet
Joined
Jul 24, 2015
Messages
23
thanks Grubs
i appreciate the the advice, when i checked the hull, from within, there were no cracks or bulges, and i saw no blisters on outside. but what I was worried about was the thickness of the hull, have read some articles on hull structure on carvers and not too many good things said. I was just wanting some feed back from Carver owners on their hull, water line and below, problems if any.
 

JoLin

Vice Admiral
Joined
Aug 18, 2007
Messages
5,146
Well, you certainly aren't the 'newbee' you came across as in your original post. You already have more experience and 'book learning' than I ever will.
joyous.png


Carver hulls aren't 'paper thin', so I wouldn't worry about that. I do believe that some older Carvers had balsa-cored hulls, so they need to be checked carefully for water infiltration around any through hulls below the waterline. Balsa is a very light and strong coring material, but it turns to mush if it gets wet. I don't know if your boat falls into that group.

I love my Carver. It's roomy, comfortable and very well appointed for its size. That's always been Carver's strong suit. There's nothing wrong with the boats themselves, but they're essentially designed for inshore and near-shore use. They tend to have a shallow deadrise and simply aren't 'blue water' boats like Berties and Trojans. That said, I've had my Carver in some fairly rough conditions and i'ts never given me cause for concern. Here in the Great South Bay (Long Island) we tend to get a short frequency 2-3 foot chop that'll pound the heck out of you at planing speed. It isn't comfortable, but the hull takes it fine.

You already know more than enough to keep an eye on the weather, so if the boat's good I expect you'll do fine with it.

My .02
 

redneck joe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
10,200
My carver is solid glass only a couple years older than your albeit a different animal.
 
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