1993 350 Aft Cabin Question

Y2K996

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I am in the process of purchasing a 1993 350 Aft Cabin with 350HP Crusaders. Could someone with a similar vessel give me an idea of what I can expect for cruising speed and RPM, top speed, and fuel consumption? I have the survey and sea trial scheduled for next week and I was just curious as to what to expect. The boat is in Stuart, FL and I live in Cape Coral, FL so with Lake Ochechobee lock closures due to water levels at all time lows I am going to have to take her around the south end of the state. I am curious as to what kind of range I will have with it's 220 gallon fuel capacity. Also, any opinions on weaknesses or things I should look for in this model? Thanks in advance for any info Carver owners can share. In the past I owned a 1988 32 Mariner that I had many years of fun with.
 
I have a '99 356 Aft Cabin with Mercruiser 454's so basically the same engines. Cruising speed for me is around 18 knots at about 3200 RPMs. Fuel consumption varies obviously based on what you do, but cruising I would guess about a gallion per mile for my boat. Maybe a little less than that. I hold about 100 gallons more than you so I'm guessing I hold some more water as well. All of that equals more weight so you probably will do a bit better gas mileage-wise. I don't find any real weaknesses with my boat. It does catch a lot of wind though, but I knew it would before I bought it. I also wouldn't take it out in really rough stuff. We were out in 5s to 7s which isn't much for the ocean and I don't think I need to do that again if I can help it.

One thing to amend - You have slightly more HP than I do (350 vs 330) so you may cruise a little faster, but you may also get worse gas mileage. The 454's lost some HP when they added electronic fuel injection according to Mercury, but they gained efficiency.
 
I've got a 91 Santego 38 w/ Crusader 454s rated at 330 each. I think the two boats weigh similar. Crusing at around 19-20 knots and 3200 rpm yields about .75-.8 mpg. Drop it down to hull speed, around 6-7 knots, and it's almost 2 mpg . . . we spend the vast majority of our time at hull speed (around 1200 rpm) both because we're enjoying the ride and saving fuel . . .
 
Got the boat back to Fort Myers Beach a couple of weeks ago. Got 0.57 NMPG over the 300NM trip while averaging 17 knots. Had to do the last 30 miles on one engine when one of the oil hoses was cut by a pulley. Gonna have my mechanic look at both motors soon.

I have a TV antenna on the electronics arch and a cable input at the stern by the power lines. Assuming this was installed at the factory, would anyone know where I might find the switch to change from cable input to antenna input? Right now the cable connection is active all the time but I would like to be able to switch to the antenna when I am on the hook.
 
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