Hi from Wisconsin! Shopping for a Carver

[ColRon]

Welcome aboard and good luck in your search!

[WiscoBoater]

QR_BBPOST What's the budget? 1998-355 @ $80's and a 2001-356 @ $90's here in NY. Also a 2001-380 Santego @ $60's here too! May be a bit of a boat trip from NY, but what fun it would be hey!

I'm have a fairly decent range on budget...looking at boats in the $50-80k range...those would all fit, but as much as I would love to take the St. Lawrence/Trent Severn/Great Lakes tour, that's a retirement trip when we do The Loop.

QR_BBPOST Wisco - I have a 95 Carver Mariner 330. I have been thinking about making a change to a center console, but have not found "the one". Kind of in the same boat as you. Anyway, if this is interesting to you, PM me a phone number & I can send pics. It is stored in warm storage, so easy to see if you desire. Welcome to the forum! Great place to spend the of season, talking about boats! er

Thanks! I've looked in to the 330, but one of the main things we are wanting is two separate private staterooms.

QR_BBPOST If you’re concerned about overhang, you might want to scratch the 355-356 as they are both around 40’. The 366 that replaced the 356 might fit...several feet shorter

I have an option on a 40' slip, basically a first right of refusal, but yeah, I know for sure the 355 won't fit in my 35' slip. I LOVE the 366...and I could probably get by with the length and small overhang...but every one of them that I've looked at is out of my budget for this move up.

QR_BBPOST I'm in a 40' slip and even pulled back so I only have about 6" from the swim platform to the dock my 3
55 still sticks out well over a foot. So if your in a 35' skip you will be halfway across the fairway.

Yeah, probably 4' minimum overhang...that ain't gonna work! LOL

I can't get myself to spring for the 40' slip as long as I still have the Regal...who knows how long it will take to sell it, and if I have it all of next season, that 40' slip is money not well spent. We'll see how it all goes.

Thanks for the welcome messages all! I usually check in to the forums much more often, but the last 10 days has been crazy busy with work, dog stuff, and I got my little 9' mini tugboat that I built a couple years ago sold and had to work the logistics on that.

[WiscoBoater]

Double post

[tomschauer]

Best of luck with your search. I would make sure you don't get to hung up on slip size and end up with a boat that you aren't happy with. That is money not well spent!

[WiscoBoater]

QR_BBPOST Best of luck with your search. I would make sure you don't get to hung up on slip size and end up with a boat that you aren't happy with. That is money not well spent!

Completely agree Tom! Our goal is to still end up with something in the 355 size/layout, and if so, we'll make the adjustments we need to to get in to the slip we need for it. I just feel like I'm going to start the season with the Regal again...and that's fine...I just hate to spend money to get the 40' slip with nothing solid on a sale yet.

Very good point though...compromise usually leads to dissatisfaction when every single weekend of the season is spend in the marina.

[Mississippi Voyager]

If you don't need the full floating condo aspect of an aft cabin design, consider a Voyager model. My 320 Voyager is 32'2" and 35 ft even overall. It's sitting in a 40 ft slip in this pic. I'm assuming you are on Lake Michigan. While I love being on the Mississippi, I would love to be on one of the great lakes. (Our water moves, so if your engines go "South" so do you!

Did you find one? I really like my 1995 320 Voyager!

[WiscoBoater]

If you don't need the full floating condo aspect of an aft cabin design, consider a Voyager model. My 320 Voyager is 32'2" and 35 ft even overall. It's sitting in a 40 ft slip in this pic. I'm assuming you are on Lake Michigan. While I love being on the Mississippi, I would love to be on one of the great lakes. (Our water moves, so if your engines go "South" so do you!

Did you find one? I really like my 1995 320 Voyager!

We've shifted just a little bit in the last month or so...actually thought about going to a bigger express cruiser for a few days, but quickly realized that isn't the answer. I'm in a bit of a corner here with wanting an aft cabin boat and being constrained by the slip we have...so what we've decided is that we will limit our search to a 325/326, preferably a 326 because I will have to finance a little bit of the purchase and financing a boat older than 20 years can be difficult.

We still do plan to move to a 346/355/356 down the road, but for the time being we love the layout and extra versatility of the 326...now...to find one at the right time when the Regal sells...

[RGrew176]

If you belong to a credit union check with them for financing. A Credit Union financed my 81 3007. All they really needed to see was the survey.

[WiscoBoater]

My primary bank is a credit union, but they to limit the age to 20 years...I was thinking of joining the credit union that my wife uses. They may be a better option. I love my CR, but they are very progressive and I think I need a more traditional lender for this one.