I had a leaky hatch cover and cabin door when i got my boat. Also a lot of spiders getting in. So I've solved it with the following:
1. Door sweep on cabin door
2. Foam strip on hatch above door
3. Doubled over piece of vinyl srewed and glued down with spray-rubber over the hatch hinge.

These seem to work great keeping out the blowing rain. I'd be curious to know what other people have done.

Also does a good job keeping out spiders, but I still can't keep spiders from coming through little gaps in the window trim (which i've replaced recently), and I am always spider-bombing to keep the critters away.

I actually put these floors in 4-5 years ago when i first bought the boat, but I'm just getting to sharing them.

History: my carver 3207 came with nasty grover-blue shag carpeting on the floor, steps and bedroom side walls. The first thing i wanted to do was get rid of it. So I hired my buddy's teenage son for a bit of the summer to remove the carpeting, staples and glue residue. Tough job even at $15 bucks an hour plus free lunch, but he had a good time and did a great job prepping.

Flooring: I selected Brazilian cherry, prefinished, for the flooring. Also oiled hard maple for the trim, and birch for the bead board. Turned out great. The wood finish changed color (darker) after being exposed to sunlight, but once the sun moves around the boat for a bit it all normalizes. Looks great as you can see. Yes I was tight with my layout, but expansion has NOT been a problem at all despite the boat temp getting over 100 deg some days and below zero others.

Method:
1. I layed out all my panels with mitered solid maple. I made sure to put the panel boarders edge-on-edge with bordering panels so that they fit square and tightly against each other. I used flooring glue and a brad nail gun to put down the maple borders and flooring. Every panel that originally gave access in the boat still comes up.
2. I started at the front of the main cabin at stair's edge and then worked backward to keep everything square. I took the flooring all the way to the edges of the walls, which are curved by the way, very accurately so no shoe molding needed.
3. In the vberth I built a rail out of maple and put bead board on the lower side wall. Had to make shoe molding there because the sides are sloped to the floor.
4. In the aft cabin I glued bead board to the "steps" below the beds and created non-bordered panels with brass pull rings to access the 3 maintenance hatches.
5. I left the parquet flooring in the heads and galley as is. Only thing i did in the rear head was add bead board and create a top on the back "step"

Cost: Under a 1000 bucks for the "helper", flooring was under 3000. Did all the carpentry myself. I was originally quoted at 15k for someone else to do the job without much some of the detail I added in, and that was pre-covid. I'm sure it would cost over 20k now.

I was trying to figure out an inexpensive, elegant and functional solution to keeping my cabin doors open. The magnetic catches that came with the boat were weak and would let loose in rough seas. I didn't want a hook-and-eye method because then I would have to lean out of the cabin and reach around between the door and the entry well to fasten/unfasten. I found and tested out these strong magnetic catches and they do the trick! Won't come undone accidentally and you can close the doors in a pinch from inside the cabin when the rain starts.

I thought I'd share pics and some details of a freshwater head conversion which i did on my 1980's Carver 32.
Why the conversion? Especially at the dock, you don't want that nasty water coming into your toilets and stinking and sitting a while. I've converted to use freshwater from the nice clean water tanks (which i keep clean enough to drink from).

Key parts you will need (per toilet):
1. US Solid stainless steel 1/2" normally closed, 12V DC solenoid valve, $43
2. Watts 288A Anti-Siphon Vacuum Breaker 1/2" brass, $40
3. Momentary push button, 12V, waterproof w/ LED, $4.50
4. A few inches of Pex, some polyetheline braided hose, clamps, marine-grade wires, electrical connectors
5. Sharkbite Tee (3-way) fitting 1/2", $14
6. 1/2" MNTP threaded / push Sharkbite fitting, $9
7. 2 x plastic 1/2" MNTP threaded / 3/4" barbed fittings, $6
8. plastic 1/2" MNTP threaded / barbed fitting (either 3/4" or 1" depending on size of hose going to toilet), $3

Labor: 4 hours each toilet

Key steps:
1. SHUT OFF the raw water intake going to the toilets
2. If you have a raw water washdown, you will need to redirect the plumbing from the raw water intake to just go directly to the pump.
3. Connect the new momentary switch and solenoid to the power wires (+/-) used by the toilet flush. For the forward head this is relatively easy. For the aft head, the black wire ends in in the tall closet behind the portside bed. You have to run another black wire from the closet to the aft sink cabinet, and use a 3 way connector or crimp to connect that wire to the black wire going to the back of the toilet (for the pump motor) and the black wire coming from the circut breaker.
4. Connect the sink cold water supply to the solenoid BEFORE the siphon breaker
5. Tie up the siphon breaker as high as you can get it underneath the sink cabinet
6. Turn the toilet dial to DRY FLUSH and remove the dial
7. Disconnect the old hose from the toilet pump to the toilet bowl

How it Works:
You will have a nice blue LED night-light button that, when you press it, puts fresh water in the bowl from either your tanks or shore water. It is controlled by the same circuit breaker as the flush button. So I'll let you figure it out from there, but essentially you would flush until waste is gone, add some water while flushing to push it through, then add just water to put some in bowl and create a vapor barrier.

Hardest parts:
1. Pulling out the old hose from the raw water intake to the aft toilet. You need to remove the top of the portside bed and get in there and cut up the old hose to get it out of the cable ties. I suggest you just LEAVE IT ALONE and don't waste your time as I did taking it out. Cut the ends to get it out of sight and forget it. That was a bit OCD of me....

2. Getting the threaded plumbing fittings to not leak. Use teflon tape AND potable water system putty.
3. Working in small spaces under sink

I need the part number for the holding tank level sender. My mechanic ordered one and got a three wire plug. Mine has a four wire plug. The boat is a 2004 36 Mariner with a 20 gallon tank, later Mariners had a larger tank but the same height so I thin the sender is the same. Any helpwould be appreciated.

I have seen Carver use all group 31 deep cycle batteries (except for the generator) on their gas engines models, mine included. Two of them are used for engine starting and two are for the house. Anyone know why they used all DC's?

I am looking for a 6.5KW to 7 Kw Marine Gas Generator for my Cqrver 3608.
Would prefer a refurbished unit but a good used one will be considered.
Send me a note to jimsmessages@outlook.com

Hey all-

I have a 1995 carver Santego 310, with 2 4.3l Volvo penta GS engines.

My port motor is getting warm when I throttle up, just replaced the impeller.

This is my first boat, how do I use a garden hose to flush the raw water system, I think it has some seaweed in there.

Thank you for the help!

Hello,
I have a 1998 carver 405 aft cabin with 454 XLI. I've been trying to locate an engine service manual but haven't had any luck. Does anyone have any links or contacts for me to follow up.
Thanks in advance Tim

We have a '96 370 Voyager with hard wired Co2 detectors, which I replaced last year with Fireboy-Xinex CMD6 units. My question is; Are hard wired Co2 detectors connected in some way to the audible helm alarms? I thought the alarms on the Co2 units were self emitting and that wiring was only for power.

The reason I ask? Today after coming off plane with a tail wind, the helm alarms went off, but there was no loss of oil pressure or overheating and both engines were running fine. After 3-4 minutes, the helm alarm stopped. Once tied up and engines were off, I checked engine room and felt inboard elbows, manifolds and transmission housings and all felt normal but there was a faint smell of exhaust in the salon area where one of the sensors is mounted.

If the Co2 sensors are not connected to the helm alarm, any ideas as to why the alarm would go off?