39' Carver 396 Motoryacht Owners

First off , with his boat and the standard sofa instlled in the salon, you can't even get all 4 hatches up without having a couple people help to manhandle the sofa out of the way. Can't just slide it over to the other side of the salon to lift the hatches up because of the design/dimensions of the salon. The shaft glands are a bear to get at, as well as one of the raw water strainers and various ouboard filters. Even with Crusaders which are easier to get at things then Mercs in my opinion, it isn't pretty. They must have Thought things through a little better on the years/model you're looking at.
 
Also...Carver has used dripless shaft seals since the late 90's early 2000's...so, no need to really get to them too often
 
dripless seals fail on occasion so the use of dripless seals in a location you can't get to is a recipe for disaster.
 
Yeah, one important fact about the dripless shafts is that they are lubricated
by cooling water (raw) from the engine and there may not be a seacock on
the hoses. If so, a break in the hoses will result in water in the bilge. Granted
its a very small amount and your bilge pump should easily handle it for
a long time, but still, any potential for water coming into the bilge unabated is a
source for concern. I don't know how often those hoses should be change, I'd
imagine every 10 years or something like that. Maybe sooner for extra safety.

Does anyone know if any of the manufacturers publish any service information
for dripless shaft systems (I'm not sure if this topic is MFR related or is better off
under "Engines, etc.")???
 
if a dripless seal fails, the needs to be pulled out of the water and the propshaft disconnected from the trans and coupler removed. I don't think I'd want to change a dripless in the water.
 
Is this a top heavy boat, meaning wind really sways her? She is tall and that concerns me.
 
She'll catch some wind, but the diesels will help with manueverability. As far as stability...she's a pretty solid (little rocking side to side) boat. Rides like a dream, and she's fairly heavy...just under 30,000lbs with gas engines. We've never had any complaints about how they handle or ride
 
Greg:
We too are looking for a 396...I visited with the broker on the one in VA. and he indicated it has been laid up for a year, without running..In decent condition, needed buffed and wax and engines serviced due to long lay-up...Canvas/glass needed replaced..Which have you viewed? I live in Texas, have viewed 3 here....Thanks, Ken
 
quote:
Originally posted by antiqua

Greg:
We too are looking for a 396...I visited with the broker on the one in VA. and he indicated it has been laid up for a year, without running..In decent condition, needed buffed and wax and engines serviced due to long lay-up...Canvas/glass needed replaced..Which have you viewed? I live in Texas, have viewed 3 here....Thanks, Ken

Click to expand...


We looked at 2 in Hampton, VA, a 2000 and a 2001. You looked at one in Hampton too?
 
No, just visited with the broker..Viewed the 4 here in Houston.. 3 gas and 1 diesel..Any thought to gas or diesel in your hunt? The forum here is rather debatable on the subject..

Capt Ken
1971 53' Hatteras
 
I had a 40' aft cabin and my neighbors had 40 aft cabins as well. They all were built within a couple of years of each other. I had 502 Crusader gas, they had 370 Cummins diesels. I ran about 70 hours a year. I cruised at about 16 to 17 knots. They cruised at about 21 knots. One diesel ran about 50 hours a year and the other about 130 hours. All of their maintenance was done by the diesel dealer. I did my own. I would not have been able to maintain diesels- no skills.
Just on the dollars I think I did OK. The routine maintenance, a maintenance contract, and a couple of very minor problems on the low hour diesel blow away any fuel cost advantage he had. I think the higher hour boat did better than I did and could justify the original extra $XX,XXX.outlay. If you buy the 396 I'm sure you'll be happy. Good luck.
 
there is a 396 a few slip down, and i don't really understand why they didn't put an opening
on the side so that you could step down on a finger pier. To get off the boat on teh side, you
need to climb over the rail... unpractical and unsafe.

the only way off the boat, is down to the swimplatform... great if you have a floating dock,
not so great otherwise or if you have a dinghy on the platform.

they did add what is best described as a ledge along side the transom so that you can get to the starboard side
but that's best described as a "mother in law stopper".

i jsut dont' understand why there isn't an opening along the side, like Silverton did on its aft cabin of similar
size.

lousy design... Make sure you and your guest dont mind crawling on that ledge.
 
PascalG...That is a first model year boat...all successive years have side doors right by the wing doors
They saw their flaw and fixed it in the second model year. They also made the upper "platform" accross
the transom standard.
 
good! because i was really wondering what they were thinking :-) t he upper platform
is good feature though...

i always say that boat designers should spend more time on their boats than on their
computers!!
 
We inspected a 2000 and a 2001 last month and do not recall a side door on either, other than the plexi glass/plastic side doors for access to the bow/gunwales.
 
these are the wing doors... they are a great feature to regulate the amount of air you get on the aft deck.

but if the one you are considering doesn't have any side door, make sure you, your wife and guests can deal
with boarding hassles. it's a serious safety shortcoming in my opinion.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Summer Storm

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.
Click to expand...


I had a 2000 450 Voyager & loved the boat. It had 450 Cummins but was a little slow. Still, I bought another Carver this one is the 570 Voyager with twin 675 HP Volvos...This is a great boat & can cruise at 25 knots all day long. I hear comments about Carver not being a good sea going craft - not true. My only problem is in a following sea with the 5 ft swim platform the stern gets a little light if you're too slow. Plenty of power to deal with any conditions (within reason). I'm not by choice going into a major storm.
 
I just noticed, from photos, that this boat has one set of throttles/shifters. My guess is somehow the transmissions and throttles are built into one?

I did not notice this when we looked at the boat, just noticed it recently.
 
Yes. I just bought mine (396). A little adjustment is needed to manage a dual level shift verse the 4 shifts of a Hatteras. I find it very easy to dock and manuever the boat.

Ken
2004 Carver 396ES
 
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