360 Carver Mariner 2004

Source: Paul R. Miller, Boaterslife.com

Yacht Name: “Knot on Call”

A lot of boat for a smaller price. The boat comes standard with A/C & Generator. The A/C is a little under sized for the salon. I have been very happy with the boat other then a few problems which the dealer is now taking care of.

Carver’s 360 Mariner is poised to become an all-time favorite thanks to its contemporary styling and distinctive single level floor plan. For entertaining, the cabin includes a generous, full beam salon and available sleeping accommodations for five.

As an added convenience, the luxurious head compartment includes a spacious walk-in shower.

From the Manufacturer

The Carver 360 Mariner has distinctive exterior styling and an incredible single level floor plan that makes it one of Carver’s all-time, most popular yachts. The cabin offers a party sized salon and available sleeping accommodations for six. Two integral fiberglass stairways lead to the flybridge which provides seating for eleven.

There’s also a wet bar, port and starboard lounges and aft four-wide bench seat, plus a control console with full instrumentation and full wrap-around windshield.

The 360’s huge cockpit gives you plenty of room to enjoy all types of water sports and entertain your family and friends. The integrated transom platform includes a stowaway ladder.

Cockpit/Helm

The cockpit will hold up to 11 adults with out a problem. It is one of things that I like about the boat.

The Helm seat is a little to far forward. I like to stand at the helm & have to turn the seat out of the way to do this. Visibility is great but some people will complain about not being able to see the stern while docking. This has never been a problem for me & I dock stern in.

The gauges tend to be a little hard on the eyes. The engine temp, fuel,volts & Oil pressure are contained in 1 gauge for each engine. I would rather have the gauges separated. It comes standard with a rudder indicator, I find this very helpful when in tight quarters while docking. You will find that space for electronics will have to be mounted to the left of the helm.

The helm station is on the starboard side of the boat. This gives you more room on the bridge but limits space for electronics. The boat come with a bimini top & camper canvas. I had bridge cover & seat cover made at the dealer ship.

Cabin

I find the cabin to be a great layout. The dinette drops down into a full size berth & the wrap around couch has a pull out sleeper. We have a 22 inch flat screen TV which is standard & DVD player as a option.

The Galley is another great area on this boat. Lots of storage space for anything you would need in a kitchen at home& plenty of counter space for this size boat.

It has a full size sink, 2 burner hot surface stove, Microwave, coffee maker Separate frig & freezer. All the wood work in the galley & rest of the boat is Cherry Wood.  The Cherry is nice but will scratch easy.

The forward stateroom had a queen berth which is great. The bed has storage under & in front.

The state room A/C is located below the storage area under the bed. There is storage overhead compartments on both sides of berth. There is 2 hanging locker on port & starboard side of state room. There is also a smaller closet on the starboard side. There is a phone jack, 2 outlet & cable jack in the state room. There is a door to the head from the state room also. The Head is fantastic, It has a real shower that you can use. Lots of storage here also. Vacu flush head, exhaust fan & outlet.

Construction

One of the pleasing items is the solid hull & stringers, nothing cored below the water line.

Maintenance is made easy by having great access to all of the systems. Engine access is made easy by picking up a hinged deck plate along with 2 removable plates, The removable plates should have been put on hinges because they are very heavy & not fun to move about.

The salon steps are on a hydraulic cylinder which is controlled by a button behind the dinette seat. This gives you access to the sea strainers & V drives. You can also access your 2 center bilges in the area. You have direct access to the fresh water tank monitor in the salon through a small floor plate. There is a larger floor plate next to the galley which gives you access to the fresh water pump, A/C pump, waste tank & forward bilge. You can access the vacuflush through a floor plate in the state room.

You will find all wire that you can see are loomed. I have taken a look behind the galley cabinets & felt that carver could have done a better job with keeping the wires wrapped& loomed.

Handling

Docking: You will find that a 10 mph wind will make for some good sport when docking. The boat has no keel & it shows this on windy days. If it is windy & I have to dock I take down my canvas to cut down on sail area. This helps. I found the boat to be under propped. I have 4 blade 20\” wheels but they need a little more pitch in them. You will find when docking that there is not enough bite.

On the open water: On a calm day I will run the boat with a little tab down to flatten her out. The boat is 18,800 with a full liquid load. Under way she is very responsive to the helm.

The boat will turn very tight id needed. Rough Water: Head on seas you have to use a lot of tab to smooth the ride out. The only problem is that she wants to bow steer when you do this. The boat has a very sharp entry fore ward on the keel but has less then 6* dead rise at the stern. Beam seas are not much of a problem, she will roll right over them with out effort. The boat is not happy with a following sea. I fin that I am always on the throttles to keep from airing out the wheels. The ride is a dry one. I have had little to no spray over the bridge. The boat over all will handle rough water but is more at home in a bay or lake.

Engines

I have 6.0 Crusaders @ 375 hp each. The mariner is by no means a fast boat. I cruise at 20 mph running 3600 RPM’s. Crusader states that the recommended cruise rate is 4000 RPM’s.

On a calm day I can run 25 mph. Burn rate at 3500 is 21 gph @ 4000 it is 30 or better. I would recommend the Crusader 6.0s as the best engine combo for this boat. I plane on half throttle with no tab. I am a firm believer in more HP is better.

On a small note: I had a small problem with anti freeze leaks which the dealer took care of. I had found out that this was a common problem on the 6.0s. The freeze plugs were leaking.