32 Mariner info

It's generally not cost-effective to swap gas for diesel. It usually needs to include gears, shafts, genset, sometimes tanks...

Outlier instances exist where use-cases are favorable, but in general it's a lot of money and only increases the resulting boat value by a dollar and a half.

-Chris

We have all gone thru our first dream boat. Our first romance on the water.
I would be rich and famous now if I did not spend so much money on my first (or second, or 3rd, or 4th, or 5th,,,) dream boat(s).

I helped a friend convert his Bertram from gas to diesel. He could be much richer now also.
Couple of years later, he sold that rig for about 1/3rd half of what he put into it.
He did pretty good.

Buy your Mariner, replace the fuel tanks, replace the gas long blocks (don't rebuild), replace the ACs, every pump, every hose and clamp.
Then find insurance on your over priced, forty something year old, Carver
When your done and still have money, buy some fuel and go boating.

Switching to diesel is going to be expensive. It s not the engines and shafts and props but you will also need to get engine beds fabricated. The generator will have to be replaced as well as you can’t have non ignition protected equipment in the same space as the gen. Will there even be enough room to accommodate them? It a not like these boats have much room in the the engine bay to start with

yes less HP will help, a little.

there are plenty of diesel powered boats in that size range with shallow draft. And much better quality than these old carvers. And much better looking too although pretty much anything is better looking than a mariner.

Somewhat dependent on how much money you have to throw away... when you create a Frankenboat. If you repower with enough diesel to replicate original performance specs... you spend a lot of money, maybe end up with a boat that behaves decently (or not), and resale value (or liquidation value) won't increase much, if at all. If you repower with underwhelming performance as a target, you might end up with a boat that's inexpensive to operate... but still at significant cost (shafts, gears, props, tanks, genset, etc.)... and you still end up with not much resale value, and maybe only liquidation value. And by the latter, I mean you might have to pay a lot to junk it, part it out, whatever.

Compare to buying a boat that's set up from the git-go the way you want to use it in the first place. OTOH, running a planing hull at hull speed isn't always comfortable, depending on sea states, direction of travel relative to seas, etc. Sometimes the most comfortable choice is either get up on plane or wallow.

See next.

Wrong. Not even close.

Look at places with the word "Bay" in the name. Chesapeake Bay. Delaware Bay. Great South Bay. Biscayne Bay. Winyah Bay. Others. Or "River." Potomac. Choptank. Chester. St. Johns. Elizabeth. Rappahannock. Others. Or "Sound." Albemarle. Currituck. Others. Et cetera.

Nothing against hull speed; we run at that quite often. With decent fuel economy, even with significant horsepower... available, but not always being used.

And you can often run the big bays, rivers, and sounds at displacement speed.... or stay in port and wait for better weather.

Except for those times when you get caught out in it.

Carver has a decent rep for making the most of usable space. Good. That sometimes leads to access issues (not just with Carver), so the trade-0ff is that it might take you twice as long to fix anything... because the first part is about getting to the system (e.g., A/C)... and the last part is about putting the system back in place. Bad.

Not to worry, just keep shopping.

-Chris

Compare the Carver 32 Mariner to a Mainship 350/390. Another "Chevy."

Slightly larger, but not hugely so. Single or twin engine versions available. The Mainship with hardtop and full enclosure on the flying bridge gives you a whole 'nother 3-season living area, 4-season if you add AC/heat up there and depending on where you are. Enclosure on the cockpit would add even more usable space in cooler/wet weather, should that be useful. Additional helm at a lower station. Probably double the space of the Mariner, for not a huge increase in OAL.

Not a recommendation, just an example.

-Chris