Carver Owners Forum

Hello! Let me start by saying I am not a sailor and am here because I very desperately need advice...if you're reading this and can't help but know someone who might be able to, it'd be greatly appreciated if you could pass this on.
The story is this: recently the subject boat came (more or less) into my possession--at least I have taken basic responsibility for it--and I'm trying to find out if it's even salvageable and if I can find it a home. I don't have the money or even the interest in restoring it (if it can be) and don't even know if it's worth having a survey done upon it.
But I do have an appreciation for beautiful (or what could be beautiful) things, and simply don't want to see this go to waste if someone can take it on. To simply put an ad out to have it towed off (it does have what looks to be a solid trailer) might mean that it's just scrapped and cut up...and I'd rather that was the last option. And I don't want to be forced into that.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Tim
ps/ these smiley things really, REALLY creep me out as I'm trying to write.

Welcome aboard Tim, glad you're trying to find a home for the old girl. Hope you find someone to take her on. Keep us posted.

You probably need to find someone local who is knowledgeable about boats, who might offer their on-site opinions for perhaps a 12-pack of beer. Mid-season that would be a very easy person to find, but off-season a bit harder. You probably know someone who has a boat and perhaps they are not the person, but might know of someone. Some of us would enjoy climbing around the boat and giving you a no-stakes-in-the-game assessment, you just need to find someone within a reasonable distance.

What do you KNOW about the boat? When were the engines(s) last run? Without some kind of history, it's not going to be worth much to anybody. One of the sayings about boats is "the most expensive boat can be the one you get for free", which unfortunately can be true.

When was the trailer last moved? Even if the steel (or aluminum) is good on the trailer, it may need tires and bearings or even an axle and brakes to be safe on the road, so that could cost a pretty penny to make usable too. Might still be better bargain than a more expensive used trailer, but another thing that needs assessment.

Welcome aboard.
Easiest would be to find a boater locally to check it out. I'm sure you could get something for it from an adventurous individual if you price it low enough. The alternative would be to spend money to scrap it.

First, do you have clean title for boat and trailer? If not, you may have to give it up for scrap. If you do, and are not looking to make a fortune, perhaps list it on CL or facebook marketplace for $500.00 It may find a good home.

I owned one of these boats (77 flybridge, model 2566) for 33 years, and eventually donated it to Boat Angel. The OMC drive was no longer affordably repairable. Boat Angel will take a titled rig and make it disappear, and even pick up yard bills in some cases (Mine did).

In good condition, this boat might be worth $5k-7.5k.. Nice boat, aluminum window frames, good layout.

As said, without clear titles, though, neither boat nor trailer can be operated or insured, so must be scrapped. But, if titled, if you were looking for a great hobby, and you had the skills and tools,and a place to work on it, and it was salvageable, it could be a very satisfying project. BUT.....you would need all three, paid labor would kill it.

The most important thing would be to have the cored-bottom hull and deck surveyed for water ingression. If wet, scrap. If t dry and sound then all other required repairs are pretty straight-forward, for a great DIY project!

For others to help you evaluate, you would need to thoroughly photograph the boat, maybe 40-50 pics, to the cloud or wherever. Restoration is generally just parts and labor, logically organized.

You would have to decide if you had the skills and resources to take this on, but if you did, when you got done....it would be YOUR boat!

Thank you all for your kind words and suggestions. To add on to my post, I DO have a clean title but haven't put it in my name. The boat was towed up from California before COVID as a project for a neighbor, purchased from his friend who later died in the Pandemic, so it doesn't have a great lot of history to find. The last survey was eleven years ago (I think? don't have the paperwork here) but how long it has been neglected I don't know. It has a 351W but while it was sitting some creep stole the carb off it so it has set virtually open like that--just a shop rag stuffed in it--for I dunno how long. The Penta drive casing looks like hell but I'm told by a part-time boater that it might still be good internally.
I got involved in this because I inquired about it since it was parked in dry storage next to my RV with a For Sale sign on it for some months and I was curious, looked for a buyer to help him out, and when none appeared right off he just asked if I'd take it off his hands. He said the trailer towed beautifully. My boat buddy said I should consider paying for a survey because that'd either be an attraction for potential buyers when advertising it...or determine if it was worth trying to FIND a buyer. I'm willing to pay for the survey...only because I can see that it was once and could be again a work of art. I'm a damned sucker.
But I'll advertise and see if I can find a generous boat person locally to take a look at it.
You guys are the aces as far as I'm concerned. Good boating to all of you.

To all of you good people...
Well, a friend of a friend--long-time commercial officer, now a restorer--listened to my tale of woe and told me without coming to look at the boat that if the engine and outdrive were running and sound it might be worth a shot...but if not, it was a scrapper. So I'm afraid it's a lost cause. I'll contact the suggested Boat Angel site to see if that's a viable option, but if it can't go there I'll try to donate it.
I can't thank you all enough for your kind help. Wish there could have been a different outcome on it--it deserved a better fate than this--but as the philosopher Schopenhauer said "sometimes reality sucks, man."
(this was, of course, IRV Schopenhauer; he was a guy who hung around the same watering hole I did back in NJ years ago)
Safe boating and many hours of pleasure to all of you.

You should post up some pics if you get a chance. If it goes to scrap, perhaps you could post the contact info of the place that's going to scrap it, and see if they are parting it out. There may be folks on here with similar boats or similar vintage boats who would be interested in parts that would fit their vessel.

The ONLY reason to scrap this titled Carver is water in the cored bottom!

Otherwise, everything is repairable/rebuildable..this is such a simple boat, but like mine, super nice configuration and size.