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August 2003 Newsletter

Water Leaks
Our Rendezvous are great places to exchange information.  Sometimes, the information exchanged needs to be reviewed.  It seems that two popular topics at the Chesapeake Rendezvous were cooking the holding tank contents with air conditioners or refrigerators and water leaks.  I’ve heard that the aromas from holding tank cooking can be lessened with good chemical treatment.  I also received an, uh, interesting note from someone who reported a difficult to find water leak.  Here is his letter.

Since last fall I have had a water leak in my forward bilge.  It came and went and it was making me crazy.  I couldn’t find where it was coming from.  I paid a professional mechanic to find it…….he couldn’t, but he charged me 8 man hours at $70.00 per hour to not find my magic leak.   

At the Carvers’ Owners Club cruise to Baltimore in June I was sure that the leak was coming through the hull.  It wasn’t!  The leak was from the pressure relief valve on the water heater.  It would only open when the water heater was hot.  When the water heater was off,  the leak would stop.

I made a bad call on the leak.  Sometimes the most likely thing is the last thing found. 

Please pass this information about the pressure relief valve on to the Carver Owners Club Members.  Tell them that the water in my bilge did not come through the hull and that the water was from the water heater. 

Now that the leak has been found and a new pressure relief valve was installed, the leak has stopped.  I now have nothing to fix or repair on my boat.  Everything is running correctly and I have nothing to do on my punch list.  It must be time to sell her and buy another one.  The thought of sitting on my boat and being able to read, or whatever, is overwhelming. 

Kohler Generator Updates
BOAT/US reports that Kohler was aware of the defect in its generators for some time. You may want to call Kohler for more information at (866) 866-4933.  One member wrote “Thank you for sending the web sites to me. I've already arranged for McDaniel Yacht Basin to do the updated version as soon as they get the part. It should be done this week.  (I have a SS elbow, but a black exhaust pipe.)  I did see the article in the BoatUS Magazine on the lawsuit over it. I have a 1988 boat, but the Gen Set may have been made in 1987.They apparantly added stainless steel to their 1988 models. There is a problem with the threads leaking fumes from the "Black Pipe" they used, even if it goes into a stainless elbow.”  One other note, the BOATUS article mentions that defective pipes may have been used in repairs for some time.  To be on the safe side, it might be best to have any affected models checked by a Kohler repair shop.

Buy Gas or Diesel
My beautiful and extremely kind wife is looking for a new boat for me.  We are involved in a discussion about whether or not we should get gasoline or diesel engines on the new boat.  Since we cruise a lot (over 1000 hours on our gas engines in 6 years), resale value and economy are issues.  I was given an article that gave a nice comparison of the two engine types.  You can find it on the web site at http://www.carverownersclub.com/clubnews/engines.htm   The article was written by Jay Nelson who describes himself as follows. 

“Boating is an avocation for me.  I sell boats for our marina, Stepps Harbor View in Colonial Beach, VA, on weekends and at boat shows primarily because I love boating and boating people.  I certainly don't do it for the money.  As we sell Silvertons (33 to 50 foot) and Rinkers (16 to 38 foot), we get the diesel question often.  I wanted to provide prospective boat buyers with something that would cut through some of the fog out there.  And, I really hate seeing someone spend thousands of dollars unnecessarily. 

”I researched the article for about four months over the winter of 2002.  I spoke to six boat manufacturers (Carver being one of them), three diesel manufacturers (Cummings, Caterpillar and Yanmar) and Crusader as source material for the article.  I also spoke with four marinas, including our own repair shop, that work on both diesel and gasoline repairs.  Hopefully, except for my stated opinion, the article reflects an unbiased view of the topic.  As you can image, there were several disparate opinions embodied in the research.

”As a side note, let me say that the Carver line is a very good product. They had their problems with hull blistering for a period, but that has long been corrected.  The product represents a good value for the money and has a lot of good design and engineering.  When we sell Silvertons we usually go head-to-head with Carver, for good reason.”

One of my joys in life is to know so many of you personally.  I try not to use the newsletter as my personal soap box, but I received two notes this past month that I have to share with you.

As many of you know, AnswerLady is really Sue Shilling and her husband, Jim.  I offered to change the name from AnswerLady to something else, but Jim didn’t see a real need to make the change.  Jim’s dad unexpectedly passed away on June 25.  The surgery did not go well, as they couldn't get past the first block. (Jim’s dad had several heart blockages.)  Jim and Sue add a great deal to the Club.  I am saddened by their loss.

Many of you also know Judi and Douglas Lehrian of Sweet Escapes.  I just saw the advertisements for the new Dark Chocolate Kisses Doug brought to the Chesapeake Rendezvous.  I received the following note from Judi – “ I am not sure how many of you know of the news--But our beautiful daughter Katie Elizabeth Sheriff died tragically last weekend in the Chicago porch collapse accident. We are devastated and taking each day moment by moment till we learn how to cope better with time and prayers.  stay in touch  we will need you all now  “  

Carver Dealers just concluded their annual meeting with some significant changes to the dealer network.  The Club is not aware of all the dealership changes that have taken place, however, here are a couple changes that have been announced.

Galati Yacht Sales is now the Carver dealer for Florida’s Gulf coast.  This covers from Pensacola to the Keys on the west coast.  Galati is a well known and respected dealer in Florida.  They have facilities in along the Gulf coast.  I’ve spoken to Galati a couple of times and they assure me that there will be a smooth transition for Carver Owners in their territory.  They are also considering sponsorship of the Florida West Coast Rendezvous this fall.

We understand that Stella Marine expanded its dealership to cover the Atlantic Coast of Florida.  Stella Marine has been a Carver dealer for years with a nice reputation. 

Finally, the State of New Jersey is now served by Staten Island Boat Sales of New York City.  Staten Island Boat Sales is the largest Carver dealer in the world. 

Cracked/Broken Rudders

We are still trying to get additional information about the issues raised with the cracked and broken rudders previously reported.

Featured Boat
This item in each monthly newsletter shows unusual or innovative uses, decorating ideas, or cruises.  Submit your boat to be featured by contacting Events@carverownersclub.com 

Alabama Rendezvous

We’ve had to postpone the Alabama Rendezvous.  Logistical problems will not let us hold it in September.  We are trying to reschedule the Rendezvous as soon as possible.

Florida Rendezvous – October 10, 11, and 12 South Seas Resort, Captiva Island

The first advertisement for the Florida Rendezvous ran this past weekend in the Florida Mariner.  We are trying to line up sponsors to reduce the cost to the members who attend the Florida Rendezvous.  We are getting a lot of registrations already, with boats coming from Maine to, uh, well, Florida. 

Marsha and Ray Starsman are hosting the Florida West Coast Rendezvous  The Florida West Coast Rendezvous reservations page is available now.  We are pretty strictly limited in the number of slips available at South Seas Resort, so please reserve early.  Further, that is a holiday weekend (Columbus Day).  If you would like to attend, but cannot bring your boat, please contact events@carverownersclub.com <mailto:events@carverownersclub.com> for more information about hotel reservations.

Other Rendezvous     

The Club would like to have a planning meeting for a possible Chicago Rendezvous next summer.  If you would be interested in attending such a meeting, please let Patsy know at events@carverownersclub.com