Carver Owners Forum

One thing i would recommend for whichever way you mount is to drill holes abit oversize and fill with epoxy so that none of balsa core can get wet and rot. And drill through it where needed .my handles are bolted with a backing plate to the deck as the company designed them.. I actually had enough room to reach them on my 405 from inside the boat while replacing my water heater. Not easy but I did, the other side through access behind the head.both areas I could squeeze into. I was going to use the other method i speak of if this didnt work. Now if I was to redo I would drill a access hole up from the swim platform bottom directly below the handle socket mounts as to install the backing plate and nuts on the bolts and a extension on my socket wrenh to tighten them . then install a screw down plate with 4200 and again covering all wood with epoxy before buttoning it up. you would be ready to go I've noticed there's quite a bit of torque on these depending on how different people pull them selves out of the water I don't believe just screwing to deck would be strong enough. I used The included backing plates and have had no issues. I can tell you they are awesome as far as getting into and out of the water my wife especially thinks so and with the better boarding ladders we've installed it's made a huge improvement.

Boat looks great! What product did you use for the bottom paint?

I used Blue Water Marine Paint Aqua Shield, Water Base Ablative, 45 Copper
We're in fresh water here and it's been effective for the last few boats. Very thick that's for sure. I bring it to a paint store and they rattle it up for me right before we apply it.


Also, finally in the water and was able to use the backup camera. Totally makes backing in 10x easier. I reversed the image so the port finger is on the port side of the monitor. Fingers come into range, line up and back right in. Barely even needed to turn around to look. Made docking a calm talking exercise instead of someone shouting up to the helm SIX FEET!!!! TWIST IT!!!! THREE FEET! WAIT TOO FAR!!! BACKKK!!!! NAILED IT!!!! haha

Had some free time over the spring while I wait for a trans rebuild. The cushions for the dinette were pretty ratty, so I bought new foam and fabric and remade them. I also found an air assist table leg so I can just flip a couple levers and push down the table with one hand. It's a touch too short, but for what I paid the tradeoff was worth it. Our old table leg was a pita.

Also picked up some Infinity Vinyl Flooring to redo the carpet in the flybridge and aft deck. First I laid out a template, then brought it home and cut it out in the driveway, then added a binder to the edge. I will say the binding was a bear to work with. The back piece took two people to manipulate through the sewing machine. It looks much better than the slab of carpet we had before. The flybridge flooring was super old and turned to dust every time you stepped on it. Much nicer now. (haven't added snaps yet so some of it isn't perfectly aligned yet...)

Over the winter I took the aft cabin canvas home, bought a sewing machine and learned how to make a new enclosure. Best money I've spent on a tool. I redid all the panels in .040 vinyl, and new sunbrella.
(not all snaps are installed in the images, so it might look a little baggy, it's not.)









Not all the panels have all the snaps installed, that's why it looks a little baggy in these photos.

Nice job.......

Nice, very nice.

I like that vinyl flooring. What kind of sewing machine did you have to use to get the binding on there??