Hello to all!

I'm the new owner of a 1987 Carver Voyager, purchased last fall. She is my second Carver. My last one was a 1990 3607 ACMY that I owned for 7 years. I sold her when we downsized for retirement. I loved that boat!

One of the things I loved about the 3607 was how she handled around the docks(when the wind wasn't blowing!). As most of you Twin screw owners know, often you can make the boat spin on a dime just by leaving the rudders centered, the engines at idle speed and using the shifters to turn to port or starboard. Whenever I was in a harbor, I never used the steering wheel, I just used the shifters and the boat would work just like a zero turn radius lawn mower, even though she had an eight inch keel that ran most of the length of the boat.

So, when I started looking at the 28 Voyagers, I assumed that they would be at least comparable in handling to the 36 footer, especially since they are only around 24 feet long at the waterline. Looking online, I saw a video of a 28 Riviera spinning left and right in a tight fairway. I figured that it had the same hull as the voyager.

When I sea-trialed the Voyager, I let the owner pull away from the dock at the start, and let him handle it to and from the gas dock. I noticed immediately that he never used the shifters to steer. When we got out of the marina, I took over and she handled fine at low and high speed using the rudders, but I didn't check at idle speed, using the shifters. When we got back to the marina entrance, I let him take over(it had been 3 years since I docked a boat and I was nervous). He steered all the way in to the slip using the rudders. I thought about asking why, but decided not to.

So after we completed the deal, and I took possession, I was allowed to keep her at the slip for the remainder of the season. Due to weather, it was a few days before we left the dock for the first time. i spun the wheel and counted turns lock to lock and spun back half way to hopefully put the rudders in a straight ahead position. I put the port shifter in reverse to move her stern away from the dock as we backed up(dock was on the port side), but we went almost straight back. Once almost clear of the dock I put the port to neutral and the Stbd shifter back. This time the stern started to turn as hoped, but fairly slowly, so I put the port shifter forward to speed the turn, but there was almost no discernable change in the rate that we were rotating. For the remaining time that we cruised, leaving and returning to the slip, there was very little response to the port shifter, and only a little more on the Stbd. Handling her around the docks was a little bit of white knuckle! Nothing at all like my previous boat.

I set about trying to figure out what the issue was. I only had a few weeks before the season ended. I verified that the rudders were pointing where I needed them to. Right from the start, I figured that the engine RPM's were low at idle. I found that the port engine did idle a little lower than the Stbd. engine. My tachs(all four) were pretty unreliable, as 33 year old tachs tend to be and none matched up. I bought a digital tach and found that the port engine idled around 580 rpms and the Stbd. at around 650 in neutral, with the port dropping about 100 rpm in gear and the Stbd. dropping about 50.

Checking the V-drive manual, I found that you shouldn't shift at greater than 1000 RPM so I adjusted the idle RPM up to roughly 750 for each engine. There was very little improvement. At cruising speeds with the engines synced the boat tracks straight, but at dock speeds, there is nowhere near the control that I had with the 3607. Now that the season is ended and she is on the hard, we checked the rudders and props and they look fine.

Don't get me wrong. At the price that I got it for, I would have still gladly bought the Voyager! She's a fine boat and fits my needs perfectly.

The questions that I have are:

1. Are there any Voyager/Mariner owners out there, and what is your experience with steering at idle speed?

2. Any one have any thoughts on the RPM drop at load? Is it normal? Could it be carburetor issues?

3 Any other ideas/suggestions?

I was told when I bought my first boat that you never should use the rudders at idle speed and that it actually could be risky because of control issues. Now, I'm finding that I'm having control issues using the shifters. Does anyone have any ideas to share?

I'd appreciate your input...

Thanks,

Bill
1987 Carver 28 Voyager
To be renamed: Laurentide
Currently stored in Portage, IN
To be slipped this year in Whitehall, MI