Buying 2006 Carver 44 MY

[chetcuti]

New to the forum.
Considering buying 2006 Carver 44 MY.
Its a fresh water vessel, 256 hrs. on the Volvo D6 - 370 hp Diesel engines.
Planning on moving it to the west coast, Vancouver Island.
I'm not familiar with this model so has anyone had experience with the Carver 44, good or bad, trying to find a reason not to buy it?
For a vessel that's 11 years old, not many hours on the engines, is this good?
Moving the yacht, is it a big deal, I'm told the arch has to be removed ( bridge clearance with arch = 18.0 ft.), will this cause problems later?
Is this vessel under powered with 370 hp diesel engines?
The attraction is its a fresh water boat and I can move it to the salt water for 3 or 4 years without big problems from salt, then I would sell it?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated!
Guychet

[RGrew176]

Can't help you with your model specific questions but someone here will be able to assist. Hope it all works out well. Being a fresh water boat is definitely a plus for you. Good luck.

[chetcuti]

Rick
thanks for your input
Guychet

[Midnightsun]

I assume it is a 44 CMY (Cockpit Motor Yacht). That being said I do own a smaller version, although 1 year younger and same engines, a 41 CMY to be exact. The Volvos are not underpowered by any means in my boat and would assume they would be fine in the 44.

You simply do not remove the arch. The hard top, wing doors and entire bridge need to come off and then put back on which is a huge job. Depending on where you live and how much they charge, I would budget in a minimum of $10,000 and maybe up to $18,000 to have her taken apart and put back together. You will also need to consider maybe 2 loads for transportation as I personally cannot see getting the disassembled parts on just 1 truck.

Check out the pictures in the link of my signature, this will give you a good idea of the rather involved disassembly process. Which reminds me, I need to add a bunch of pictures to my album.

[Viper]

I agree with Hans. If you can't budget for that much and a contingency for expense overruns then don't even bother going any further. The amount of time and $$$ the reassembly process takes will be totally dependent on how meticulous the dis-assemblers are at labeling all the wiring and packaging/labeling all the fasteners. Some are hackers and will simply cut wiring that should not be cut just to get the job done quicker. This may help save you cash on the disassembly end but may cost more than anticipated later and cause some gremlins in the future. Hackers won't be very careful when it comes to separating caulked sections and will cost you for gel repairs later. Bottom line is make sure the folks involved at both ends take pride in their workmanship.

[chetcuti]

Viper & Hans,
Thanks for your input. Think I'm going to rethink the purchase.
Cheers
Guychet

[mjk1040]

Float it out there!

[bobeast]

I'd be very concerned about the low hours. 256 hours in 11 years works out to about 23 hours/year. Assuming even distribution, that's less than ½ hour per week. More likely however, those hours were put on in in the first year or so, before the novelty wore off, and the reality of gas prices set in. It may have well sat in a slip functioning as a condo for most of its life. That's really not good for the engines.

As far as transport is concerned, unless the boat is land-locked, I'd seriously consider following @mjk1040's advice. Hire a captain and have it transported by water. It would be much lower risk, and much less expensive.

[Viper]

Going by water from Alberta to BC is not an option. I agree about the hours. Non use is not good for any engine.

[chetcuti]

Thanks everyone for all your input, really appreciate it. My eyes are open!
Going to reevaluate! Cheers Guy