Lets see your CARVER pics

You do very nice work. That floor is beautiful. The carpet looks great too!

Carver 444 - 2001

Our 2001 Carver 444

Awesome boat. I love the 444. An beautiful 396 made a little better.

My Carver

My 506 in Rochester Harbor!

Nice boat. Looks like a more updated version of my 466

What do you have for engines?

She has Cummins 450c's--I love them! My first diesels....

Seeing all these bigger and newer boats makes me envious, but I'm comforted by the several people who have assured me our 3807 was a good choice as a "first boat". Still, after spending the endless winter refreshing this boat mechanically and cosmetically, in anticipation of the upcoming boating season, I'm ready for something bigger and newer!

The 3807 is a great boat. You will love it.

Flooring

May I ask where you purchased the T moulding? I am going to replace my galley floor and your hatches look great!

Thanks!

Carver38, the 3807 is a fantastic boat. I almost bought one years ago, but the dealer knew I was hot for it and kept the price too high. I luckily came to my senses before I forked out what he asked. The following year I almost did the same thing with a 4207 and just before signing papers on it, my wife took a "quick look" at a 47 Marine Trader that she really liked and they wanted to unload and made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

Your 38 has lots of room, good performance and handling, and there are lots of them out the for support and questions. It's a timeless classic!

Thanks for the reassuring words!
Interestingly, my "buying" story is very similar, except I was hot for another boat and the seller knew it, and felt I would ultimately pay what she wanted, and I probably WOULD have, as it WAS a beautiful boat and a "good price".


A "good" price.....but then my 3807 came along, and the seller was HIGHLY motivated and understood I was hot for the "other" boat and ready to buy it unless he made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

He did. The rest is history!

Do I ever regret not spending the additional money and buying the other boat?

Well, I could say it's too soon to tell since I have no real boating experience yet, at all, let alone with my own purchase. I bought at the end of the season and winterized almost immediately after the purchase.

But the reality is, while I don't know boating and I don't know boats, I sure know a great deal as opposed to a good one, and with ME, the "great" deal will trump the "good" one EVERY time!

I did my homework and knew what both boats should have brought in this economy and in my locale, and boat prices are indeed regional.

I could have bought the "good" deal for approx. 20% less than an average price for that boat, and I bought my boat for more than 50% less than the average deal. And yes, that's apples to apples, condition and equipment and every other factor considered.

So, while the 3807 wasn't my FIRST choice, I am indeed very happy so far with what I step aboard and call my own now, especially after a winter of redecorating cosmetically and refreshing mechanically. (Same things I would have had to do on the other boat.)

I'm very pleased to hear that the 3807 is a good boat! I certainly see a LOT of them for sale!!! It makes me wonder a bit that the prices are all over the board for the same year and gear. But I guess that's a reflection of the seller's motivation level. My 3807 seems to be a bit of a rare example with it's cummins diesels, although it was a retrofit right after the initial purchase. It left the factory with gas engines, but the original owner, who I bought it from, negotiated as part of the deal, a swap out of the gas engines and genny to diesels, with an agreeable to both parties cash difference. That was a big part of what swayed me to the deal......I was only looking at diesel equipped boats and I had written Carver off because all the ones within my price range and area I was willing to travel seemed to have gas engines, and then MY boat popped up! Everything just seemed to align in the stars so that this would become my first boat! Who am I to flaunt destiny??

(I just wish it was another 10 feet bigger!....but then, from what I can see, that's a common thread among boat owners, right?)

I didn't realize it was diesel. That makes it much better. I had a 355 with cummins and loved it. Fast and fuel efficient. For a boat. We did get 10 foot itis after 5 years and bought our dream boat. A 450 carver, and you may too. But I'm glad for the times we had on the 355. We couldn't afford the 450 then. Now we can. The cummins are awesome engines. You will love them.

I'm hoping that the diesels will make the 3807 a bit more capable in the ocean, since it appears to me these older Carvers were more lake boats and/or dock "condos" than anything else. While I don't intend to lose site of shore while traveling, I do NOT want to be limited to ONLY being safe on the inter-coastal.

I'm docked in Atlantic City and I'd like to visit points north and south within a 300-500 mile distance both ways, staying along the coast. The original owner traveled to Florida and the Carolinas and professed to have no issues, but the boat was new then and he was an experienced boater.

Should I be concerned about taking the old girl out on the ocean if I keep land in site? Is that the trick or am I thinking wrong? Is it safer to venture further out?

Experience and knowledge is the key. The boat will be fine. You will have to pick your days with your boat, as will I. The diesels will help a lot.

The diesel is a great option if you're going to run it. Maintenance for oil changes, etc is considerably more expensive, but fuel per mile is less. The 3807 was on the edge of good performance with gas, so you should really be good.

Somebody gave some really good advice to another new boater recently and that was to use your boat for the first year before you decide what you really like. We have gone through a few evolutions in our boating, from day boating and sleeping in the marina to being at anchor almost every weekend, to me working from the boat at anchor during the week. I work by computer via vpn to my clients

Your boat has plenty of room, decent size and equipped galley, nice size cabin and head, and lots of socialising room. Not the biggest swim platform but if that's important you can enlarge it. I enjoy our larger platform because I like sitting at the water. I would love a sedan Bridge but to get the room of an aft cabin I have to go much bigger and out of my price range.

I boat in Georgian Bay, if you ever get up this way, let me know. I'd also love to hear about your first year on the water. It's very exciting!

I just realized that you, Carver38, are the same poster that I referred to on the boat first, customize later advice! I guess memory really is the first thing to go

Well I can assure you MY memory is absolutely on its way out.......just ask my wife how many times a day we play the "where's my glasses?" Game, interrupted occasionally by the "where's my keys " game!

It's true we did a lot during the winter, but it really needed to be done. There was NO WAY we could have enjoyed the boat without changing out carpet and upholstery from 1991, even though for its age it was in surprisingly good condition. But the key phrase there is "for its age". While it wasn't torn and filthy it absolutely was worn and dated, and not something we could feel comfortable using. So while it may seem we could have waited, this first season will allow us to enjoy the boat rather than be disgusted by it while out there on the water. And the electronics were also original gear, not to be trusted IMHO. So they had to be changed too, just so we'd feel safe out there.

Electronics is one of those very individual choices. There are so many good units out there at different price points with different strengths. I'm a fan of Furuno, I like their interfaces and their support. I despise Raymarine for my experiences with their products and support. Garmin sits somewhere in the middle for me, but I'm just not a total fan of their stuff.

My current boat came with a Raymarine autopilot. It worked okay and some features (namely the power steer option) didn't work consistently. Raymarine told me to upgrade the control head last year, so I did. Performance was better for a while, then not at all. Now they're saying upgrade the rest to the Evolution autopilot. I price that out for the 2 components I need and it's half the price of moving to a Furuno or Simrad so I decide to go that route. CMC Electronics, Raymarine's Canadian supplier is now telling my marina that they don't sell the individual components (despite my being able to find them all over the place online) and it's cheaper to buy the kit (which is over $1000 more).

I feel, JMHO,that piece-mealing a system like an auto-pilot up to date may be a mistake since some part of it will always be old and the next weak link in the chain. At least that's been my experience with my Harley's and things I've updated on those over the years. I know it's not the same but still......

The one thing I really do want to do that I haven't done yet is indeed auto-pilot and I'll keep it Garmin so it's truly plug and play with the rest of my package.

I'm going to hold off on the auto-pilot until next season though. I did what I needed with electronics for safeties sake but I don't think auto-pilot makes you safer...that's a pure luxury item, right?

I agree that piecing an autopilot with different versions isn't the greatest idea (look at my situation), but I do prefer best of breed products. I love my Furuno plotters and radar, and would like a Furuno pilot but it's just too expensive and it's really just a NMEA2k connection anyway, not exactly integrated.

An AP isn't really a safety device but I find it makes the trip more enjoyable and efficient. It drives much straighter than I appear able to do! The one function of the Raymarine is this "power steer" mode, which allows me to use the AP dial to control my steering. I use both shifters/throttle and wheel to navigate my marina and the AP dial makes it way easier. I can go from centre to hard over with a quick spin of the dial, and pressing it centres the rudders again. Much easier than the wheel!