Carver Owners Forum

Hi All-

Can anyone tell us what the keel is constructed of in our 1987 3607 Carver Aft Cabin?

Thanks so much for any help-
Robin's Nest

I'm not sure if the 1987 was the same as mine (a 1983), but on mine most of it was pretty solid fiberglass. There might have been a void in the middle, but I never drilled into it to find out. However, what I did find was that the last 2' or so was actually NOT structural at all and was hollow. It almost seemed like an afterthought by Carver and tacked on after the hull was complete. They did offer the boat with a single diesel, so it's possible that section was not added if you had the single engine option.

The only way I found out was when I removed all the bottom paint. I removed it with a chisel a little at a time, and when I got the that section of the keel is was noticeably not as solid as the rest. What's kind of funny is that I had owned the boat over 10 years at that point and the boat had never been blocked up underneath that section, or they would have crushed it with the weight of the boat. Every year after I found that it was hollow I would make sure to put a note on the winterization order that they NOT block the boat under that last 2' of the keel. Turned out, just two years later the guys in the yard didn't read the notes and put a block there and set the boat down and cracked the fiberglass. Their shop had to fix it all before it was launched again!! I was pretty mad since I had already warned them NOT to do that!