richinct

My BIL just bought an '89 Carver aft cabin I think 32' with twin 350. I guess he got a good deal on it, the sale is pending survey so that is good. He is 1200 miles away so I haven't seen the boat. Looks good in the pics, fresh water boat. He plans on running it back 450 mi on lake Michigan. what kind of fuel burn can he expect?

Bertram42

Thats a long run for a gas powered boat of this vintage. Many of these boats were used as dockside condos and have not had much recent running. Hopefully he will do his due diligence, clean the tank and filters, service the engines especially the cooling system, pumps, hoses and belts. This dream cruise could turn into a nightmare.
These older boats are best bought close to their new homeport.

simpleanswer

2~4 MPG... Google Wagner boat transport, he is up and down the east coast. Very reasonable prices, you maybe able to get a good deal on a pick up if he's already In the area, his trailer is self loading hydraulic tuning fork like set up, pulled by a semi. If your driving it back by water not really a big deal, a good survey will find most issues, make sure they do a hull thermal scan and a temp reading on the exhaust manifolds, and fluid sample test on the trannys, keep some basic tools on board. Does this boat have borgwarners velvet drives?

haccpguy

24 gph at about 23-24 mph is my guess. On a plane cruising, about 1 mpg best case .

chuck34

My brother used to have one. If I remember, he cruised around 17 knots and I'm guessing he maybe got 1 mile per gallon.

Buoy Scout

32 aft cabin? I'd plan on .75mpg. You'd be very lucky to manage 1 mpg in real world conditions. Sea state affects mileage significantly, and you can't control that, so you need to plan conservatively.

805gregg

Carver are mostly considered junk, and without diesels, resale will be low. Better to spend more and get a boat from a top manufacturer that will hold it's value.

Parski

I've had 2 Carver's and liked them both. (26ft and 28ft sedan bridge Mariners - older models - before the large cabin door structure that prevents the captain from seeing the pier when he's backing into the slip) A lot of room inside, large bridge, but not much cockpit space. That's why I went to the Mainship Pilot 30 (for sale) on Kent Island, Md. Make sure the surveyor checks for water in the stringers. Some of the limber holes, which allow water to flow through the bilge, weren't properly encapsulated with fiberglass, leading to rot of the plywood stringer.

Studman

How does this help with her question?
All she asked was what gas mileage to expect.;?

simpleanswer

I have two boats close to that size one is a regal 1990 360, twin 454, velvet drives, it gets aprox 2 mpg. the second is a 2006 cigarette topgun 38, twin 525efi, bravo xr drives, it gets 1 mpg. let me explain how bad a real one mpg boat is, when i put it in, where i put it in for a test run, i run 7 miles to the first mile marker, 13 miles to the last and 15 miles past that and back in. I burn around 70 gallons of fuel in less than 1 hour. Now my regal easly gets twice that, cruising much slower. but it is hard to see how a boat with twin 350s would get worse mpg than a boat that is bigger using twin 454s. I would get sea tow, then run it. If it breaks down, tow it back to a marina, and get it fixed or transported home. Also I have seen boats that are 1970s era that are in better condition than boats in the late 2000s all because of the condition there owners kept them in. This boat your Bill is going to buy for you may be one of the nicest boats around in its era. Also boats havent changed very much in the last twenty years. Same bottom hull molds, almost same drive systems, different interiors, and electronics. Now they have sensors for everything, and sensors that go wrong always, prime example.... map sensors... One last thing if they are paying for a survey, the surveyer is going to tell you if it is junk or not, he will test everything, thermal scan of the hull, chem test of the tranny fluids, snake camera threw the hull, compression tests of the motors, exhaust manifold temps. fiberglass condition, everything. 4 hours of digging through it, knowing what to look for, and giving a real value. Then like everyone does you can counter offer if it doest check out perfectly. Again best of luck on your purchase, Hope it works out.

richinct

He is buying it mainly for floating cottage with an occasional fair weather cruise on lake Huron. He is not into heavy fishing.

chris commander

Lot's of these boats around my dock, got a friend a few boats down from me who has one, but it almost never moves. Once in a while I'll hear him say "we're going to take the boat out...yep, gotta get a pump out (one mile down river)." I'd expect .75-1 MPG at about 17-20 mph. I find those boats to be a little under powered with small blocks so you gotta run a little more RPM, which means the secondaries will be open. I'd want to stay near shore for several running hours to get the kinks worked out before crossing the lake. Old boats up north tend to fair better than southern boats do to the six months of cold dry air sucking all the moisture out each year. And do to the fresh water, manifolds and risers are usually only replaced do to improper winterizing. The common issue with these boats is water in the fuel and filters, if the boat has drainalbe water-separating filters he can drain them while out if need be, I've had to do it a few times.

SeaJay

He will spend about $2,500 give or take for fuel. He may be able to have it shipped for not all that much more money, and avoid being stranded in the lake if some sort of problem developed during the trip, which is not completely unheard of.

richinct

I think he wants to make it more of a vacation/adventure than just transporting the boat. He may change his mind when he realizes how much fuel he is going to use. This is his first pleasure boat but he was captain of a torpedo retreiver at Andros and then a tug captain in Tampa for quite a while so he is no stranger to boats.

muskamoot

Did you mean gallons per mile?

simpleanswer

The op sent me a link to the boat, Very nice, Not even close to junk!!!!

Thalasso

What makes you think it's a female?;?

simpleanswer

bil = brother in law

Rick1632

By whom, people who own skipjacks?

Nothing wrong with Carvers as long as you know that they're floating RVs and not offshore or rough water vessels. Twin 350 chevys push mine to 30 MPH top, 25 MPH cruise at 3k rpm sucking 25 gph, and 1.5 MPG at 7 MPH 1100 rpm.

You're hard pressed on the Great Lakes to find any 32 cruiser with diesels. As for resale, a 1989 3207 has about exhausted its depreciation. Hold it for a few years and you may lose a few thousand.

I wouldn't attempt a 400-plus mile Great Lakes crossing in my 3207 unless the extended forecast was for perfect weather. 2 feet or less. Not that it's unsafe ... it's just torture in that hull.