Carver Owners Forum

Greetings All,

Looking for some of your experiences and feedback.

I want a Whaler (‘80’s vintage) as my tender/dinghy for my ‘89 3807 Aft Cabin and while I know I can make a 9 footer work bow or stern, I’m wondering if I could get away with an 11 footer or would it’s length & weight be too much.
Reason for Whaler over a rib is my wife and brother who will be with me most on longer trips are both non swimmers and none of us are as young or agile as we once were (lol). I think the designed inherent buoyancy and not having to worry about inflating/deflating in a hurry would give us all a bit more peace of mind.
I already own a 13 foot ‘84 whaler I use for fishing and short day runs and considered using it for a while but thinking the length and weight of it with the stern lifting platform I would need would be way too much weight and length across the stern’s beam…
I welcome your thoughts on all of this - 9, 11, 13? Thanks.

Have you considered a davit system that attaches to the transom like this. That should handle what you want to do I think.....just measure the weight of your gear to be sure. Remember anything on the transom/swim platform will become a lever and magnify the point load and weight effect depending on how far out the gear is mounted. Maybe not exactly this but along this idea.

https://defender.com/en_us/forespar-nov ... _yqo&gQT=1

I looked at that and think I would want a solution that would attach to the swim platform or a lift that attaches underneath and past the swim platform. Still considering the different boat sizes. Thanks for the input!