On Saturday, 18 March 2000 04:00:00 UTC-4, Richard C. Belanger wrote:
Hi:

I have been looking at a new Carver 396. Looks like a nice boat, good
for the family, though not a hard-core offshore design. Everything has
been looking good until I went to http://www.yachtsurvey.com

David Pascoe has a post on Carver's that makes me feel I would be better
off lashing together some logs than getting a Carver. Needless to say I
am more than a little concerned.

He points out major problems in the fabrication of Carver boats - and
essentially says they are unworthy of any consideration.

We have been comparing Carver's to Maxum and SeaRay and have liked the
Carver's better - partly because they seem to be more solidly put
together. Some friends who have newer Carver's and cruise them heavily
have also had good things to say about the seaworthiness of the boat.

I hadn't considered the more hard-core boats like Bertram and Hatteras
since I believed they were completely out of my price range.

Any opinions out there? Would I be making a huge mistake with a
Carver? Should I just keep saving for a better quality boat? My
primary goal is cruising the boat in Massachusetts waters - based out of
Boston.

Thanks,

Rich

Hey Rich,
For what it's worth, here is my story and why I believe Carver's construction saved the lives of myself and 5 passengers.
July 08, 2016 on the south end of Georgian Bay, Ontario.
We were on our 1982 Carver 3007 Aft Cabin, cruising in calm seas and lightly clouded skies. Within a matter a minutes, we were in zero visibility, 5-6' choppy seas and a wind that was knocking us hard over. Watching our position on the chartplotter was the only way I knew where we were. Despite my best attempts at staying upright and out of the rocks, we ended up on a flat rock shoal where the boat was pounded severely for the next 30-40 mins. Every time the hull impacted, I expected to hear crunching fiberglass. All I heard was a sharp bang every time. Although the running gear was damaged, the hull came through with light superficial gelcoat damage. We later found that we had been caught in a Microcell with sustained winds of 62 kts!
Buy the Carver!