Carver 38 Aft Cabin Performance?

[owenbradford]

I'm looking at buying a Carver 38 Aft Cabin from 1990 with the Crusader 454s in it. I have a general sense of the cruising speed, but I'm wondering if anyone has any data on the fuel burn? I'm also wondering what kind of range I might get if I backed the speed down to 7 or 8 knots--I'm thinking of doing the Great Loop eventually. This seems like a comfortable boat for that kind of trip, but I'm wondering about fuel efficiency.

Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks much,

Owen Bradford

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Carver 38 Aft Cabin Performance?

I have a 37' Voyager with 454's (7.4L MPI). Not exact, but will probably be close...
Fuel use is going to depend on a few things:
1) Hull design, condition, growth, paint, etc
2) Tuning (or lack of) of the engines
3) Load being moved
4) External forces - wind, waves, etc

My personal findings are 8-10 mph burns 4 GPH per engine. 20 mph burns 16 GPH per engine. Quadruple the fuel consumption for double the speed? Only if I'm outrunning a severe storm or pirates! Take your time a conserve the fuel. Besides, the ride is the best part.

Have fun!

 

[idyltimelg]

Re: Carver 38 Aft Cabin Performance?

Check out another site with Carver Owners group -- boatersed.com. Under section for Carver owners, first page part way down is a thread "3807 fuel burn". Near the bottom of the first page of that thread is a response from "Oasis" with very detailed data on fuel burn at progressive RPM's and speeds, based on his use of Floscan meter.