Measuring Bridge Clearance??

TomDempsey

Cadet
Joined
Nov 27, 2011
Messages
6
Long story so bare with me. Shopping for a Carver 366 or 396. Carver stats show bridge clearances of 17'-10" and 18' respectively. Bridge clearance (BC) on my current dock is 16'-6". Using these figures alone it appears neither of these boats will fit in my slip. Here's where the riddle begins. I have a dock mate who owns a Carver 346, and he fits in the dock. Now, I'm told that the 366 replaced the 346 model. They look identical and the length and beam are the same. He did have to install a shorter anchor light to clear the roof line of the dock. I'm told by the Carver guys that BC is measured from the highest structural part of the boat to the water line. Carver stats show BC on the 346 at 14'-4" which makes the 366 exactly 3'-6" higher. Can that be right? They look the same and the 366 is the redesigned 346. In Carver literature gives BC figures that say "including the arch". I talked to 2 different guys at Carver about this. The first guy was stumped and offered no explanation. The second guy thought maybe they had measured differently on the two boats....one to the arch only and the other including the radar, anchor light, antennas etc, but he didn't know for sure. So, is the true BC measurement from the arch to the water line, or does it include the anchor light as well? Anyone know if the 346 and the 366 are 3-1/2 feet different in height? I obviously don't want to buy a boat that won't fit in my current slip, but there seems to be a huge discrepancy in actual BC height and so far nobody has been able to explain it to me. Please help!!!!:confused:
 
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