39' Carver 396 Motoryacht Owners

Back in October, the wife and I purchased a 444CMY which is basically the 39 with the cockpit area. We absolutely love the boat, the room and the way it handles. We have cummins 370 engines and all the amenities. The room is incredible. We fell in love with it as soon as we stepped on it.
 
Joe,
Was that the 444 from Haverstraw. Owner had a hard top put on it about 2 or 3 years ago...
 
Yes that is the one. Only had 190 hours on the engines. Owner moved to Florida. we absolutely love the boat and all the room. ran up the hudson in October and it ran like a dream. Can't wait for the summer and a trip to Newport.
 
Owner used to winter store in Penny Bridge. Beautiful boat. Wife and I have been considering something like that next time around. We like the cockpit as well as the aft cabin. Great live aboard. The hard top really added a look to it. Wish you all the best with it and enjoy ...See you soon on the river...
 
Butch
That is exactly why we liked it. We are going to be Grandparents in about 6 weeks and this will allow us the room to have everyone with us. The former owner added the hard top, the bow thruster and many other options. the live aboard room is tremendous. We look forward to seeing you on the river.
 
Have you had her in rough seas yet, say a 3+ foot chop? That's the one negative I hear about the Carvers, you gain cabin space and sacrifice a smooth ride.
 
Keep it on your list. I travel over 400 miles each year with a dock mate who has one. He and his wife on their boat, me and my wife on ours. Our roughest crossing of Lake Michigan was from Sheboygan, WI to Frankfort, MI. Most of that trip in 4' to 5's just off the nose. We all slowed and had to patiently take a little beating. He came through with no problems; as he should. The knock on old Carvers was that they tended to pound because the bottoms were a bit flat. Probably designed that way to -increase interior volume, get up and stay on plane more efficiently and, maybe, give a little dryer ride. I don't think that is the case on the 39. Anyway, I've spent enough time riding around on it to know it doesn't slap in most conditions. The aft deck can comfortably seat four, any more and we break up into two groups - girls on the aft deck boys on the bridge. We pass hors d' oeuvres up and down. As I recall the interior compromise is that there is no banquette.
Check where the pump out cap is. On my neighbor's boat it is right under a rail and he had to fabricate a pvc fitting so the pump out guys could hook up. Good luck.
 
The hull on the 396 was a completely new design derived from the 450 Voyager. The design is a bit deeper in deadrise using multiple running strakes for lift. Chines & strakes use a nice inside radius to help easily deflect spray and help make the ride more comfortable by removing some of the jarring when encountering head seas. Overall the 396's I've run, handle sea conditions fairly well. The prototype boat was a bit on the heavy side so the following hulls moves to reduce the overall weight were taken. If you have any more questions feel free to ask, I was with Carver design during the 396 project and other projects.
 
Hi Don! Nice to meet someone from the Design Department! That must have been
an interesting job. How long were you with Carver???
 
Hi Pete,

I was with Carver in the late 80's into the 90's and then again in the late 90's for a few years before heading on to custom yachts. Pretty much the newer aft cabin 396,506,466,346 etc. projects I was involved in as well as the voyager series and others. It is sure something to see the different methods each designer/architect brought to Carver. From hull design to new design ideas. It was great to be able to create and add to the legacy. Each time I see one of the boats I've worked on and the contributions I made gives me a good feeling. It's nice to see people enjoying the boats. I did quite a bit of the interior layout and some of the exterior design as well as FRP components & interior joinery. It's sad that Carver doesn't give the naval architects involved inhouse credit for their work. They've had some very talented people in there. Jim Ginter, Rick Hyer, Jim Kyle, Jim Douglass, myself and others have all but moved on.

Don
 
We have not been on one yet, just photos to date. We hope to get on one or both this weekend.

There is a 2000 and a 2001 for sale in our area. 2000 is powered with Cummins, 2001 with Volvo diesels. Layout/design was, is there a difference in the 2001 and 2001? Power wise, is one more efficient than the other or more reliable than the other? What burn rate (GPH) can we expect out of this boat?

Is the bow stateroom queen or full size, aft cabin bed? I am 6'3" so bed size is usually an issue.
 
BD.com has all the number for fuel burn. I could be wrong but the Cummins have better economy everytime I compare
 
quote:
Originally posted by MrsRobinson

We have not been on one yet, just photos to date. We hope to get on one or both this weekend.

There is a 2000 and a 2001 for sale in our area. 2000 is powered with Cummins, 2001 with Volvo diesels. Layout/design was, is there a difference in the 2001 and 2001? Power wise, is one more efficient than the other or more reliable than the other? What burn rate (GPH) can we expect out of this boat?

Is the bow stateroom queen or full size, aft cabin bed? I am 6'3" so bed size is usually an issue.

Click to expand...


Don't rule out the older Carvers. I'll bet Overboard comes up for sale in the next couple of years.
 
All we can say is wow, what an impressive boat. We looked a 2 this weekend, a 2001 and a 2000 and we are impressed.
 
Greg, get down in the engine room and get a good look at accesability to things like filters, strainers, packing glands etc. My brother has 35 something late 90s Carver Aft cabin. I can't believe how poor his engine room access is! He can't get to the stbd raw water strainer, can't access the packing glands for the shafts or rudders easily and can't change the outboard stbd fuel water sep without being a contortionist. Repairs on his boat take a lot longer and are more expensive because of these issues.
 
Greg S.,
Are you by any chance talking about the Carver 355 AC?
 
That's it Arnold. Terrible access. Nice boat and runs well but the engine room access is non-exitent.
 
I checked all of this while we were on the boat and access is great. The entire salon floor comes up in 4 sections (no screws, handles or anything to mess with), which allows access to both sides of the engines and the genny. The rudder packings are accessible from a floor hatch in the aft cabin. Well thought out IMHO.
 
I alway thought the 355/356 was a pretty accesible ER. Like the 396, there are 4 hatches in the salon floor that give top access to everything in the bilge. I've even crawled in front of the engines to replace impellers...I'm 6'5, but on the thin side.
 
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