New member, Kingston Ontario....looking to buy 3807

As a new boater myself (this is my first season on the water with my '91 3807 after a long winter of refurbishing both mechanically and cosmetically), I'd like to be the first to welcome you to yachtforums! Great site with a wealth of info from warm folks who are happy to help a newbie.

Anyway, I love the 3807 so far and although I don't have any previous boats owned to compare it to, I shopped around a lot before buying what I now proudly own.

I bought the 3807 because of all the creature comforts and living space afforded the owner in a relatively small boat. I have cummins diesels in my boat, and know a guy at the marina who has the identical boat (except his is a couple years older) but he has gas engines. He's owned his 3807 25 years and takes it out less and less because of the enormous fuel consumption, and uses his 50HP dinghy instead to get around, leaving the mother ship in it's slip. (He is a full time liveaboard).

I have helped him change out his hot water heater, he has helped me run TV cables, install a hot water hose in the bilge to wash down the engine room and keep it clean like his so we can spot new leaks, etc. (Many, many other repairs and upgrades were done by my mechanic, not me, during the winter.....now I am learning to do as much as I can myself or with the help of a friend.....$100 per hour labor rate adds up pretty fast!)

It IS cramped with both the gas and the diesel engines, and I wish they weren't under the salon floor, but it is what it is and worth the trade-off for everything else the boat offers for the money. I'd buy my boat again in a heartbeat after owning it for about 6 months and now having gone out on it for about a total of 20 hours. Not much at all, I know, but enough to know I don't feel buyer's remorse, and yes, I have already spent another 10K + on respirs and another 15K + on upgrades in addition to my initial purchase price, so I am definitely out of the honeymoon phase.

But I don't regret the 25K + I have spent because I got a decent deal when I bought it and went in "eyes wide open" that I'd be spending money to get the boat where we wanted it to be, since the original owner had really never upgraded anything from the day he took delivery from Carver in 1991.

I think if you can find one with diesels you will really be happier if you intend to actually take the boat out and not use it as a floating condo like many 3807 owners seem to do. JMHO....either way....welcome to the forum!

I have an 89 3807 and find access to the engine room fairly easy. All the floors come up allowing access to both sides of the engines when necessary.
There are three a/c units. One under the front stateroom bed, one under the stairs leading to the salon, with access from a vent at the stairs to the aft cabin as well as in the aft cabin closet, and the last one is under the vanity table on the starboard side of the aft cabin.
I've only spotted one drain plug, located under the stairs to the galley, just remove the panel. Your fresh water pump and a bilge pump is also located there.

I own a 1988 3807 for the past year. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat! Gas. As stated, the floors all come up which gives good access almost everywhere . Changing plugs, outboard, both engines can be done albeit upside down. Fuel filter, starboard engine is a squeeze.
Fuel consumption not bad, but, I rarely cruise >10knots....
Air conditioners where stated
My boat had also been extremely well maintained. Have only replaced aft shower sump pump and both heads vent fans.
Changed almost all lighting to LED.
Love it
Welcome aboard

Welcome to the forum. I have a 92 3608 (very similar). Access to the engine room is pretty good as most of the salon floor comes up. As far as the gas vs diesel question I looked at diesels but the increased cost buys a lot of gas. We cruise on Lake of the Woods Ont and are out virtually every weekend. If you cruise along at 10 to 12 knots your fuel economy is really quite good. Just my humble thoughts. Welcome and enjoy your new boat.

Welcome to 3807 ownership my fellow Ontarian. Everyone has pretty much pointed out all the good things about the boat and I second all of them. My '87is in excellent shape. Since buying it in '05, I have:
1. Upgraded both heads to electric Raritans
2. Converted the V berth into two beds because my son and daughter share the cabin.
3. Converted interior lighting to LED
4. Replaced/upgraded all mattresses
5. Upgraded navionics
6. Installed a wash down pump
7. Installed a hatch in the aft cabin transom window. Many envious 3807 owners comment on this one.
8. Installed larger diameter shower drain hoses so we don't stand in water while showering. Wife loves this one.

I find the boat fairly easy to work on as I do all of the maintenance. There are some tight spots like the outboard side of both engines but that is to be expected on boats this size.

Good luck and enjoy your new boat.

Great Idea! #8 definitely makes the to-do list.

Sokwik,

Do you ever get water in the bilge ahead of the water tanks?

From the front shower sump? None that I've noticed yet. Appears dry.

Nope, not form the shower sump. You mentioned earlier that one of the drain plugs was under the galley stairs near the water pump. I only knew one plug to be under the aft cabin bed. I didn't know there was one forward. That got me thinking that maybe I have a leaky drain plug allowing water in which runs all the way to the front. If you pull up the small floor hatch leading to the forward cabin and look down and forward ahead of the bulk head, that's where the water gathers. Just wondering if you get it too.

There is another plug just below where the water heater is too.
Could be your condensate tray from your front a/c unit overflowing or drain line clogged or even the shower sump over flowing. Possible fresh water tank line leaking, maybe?

Not fresh water...pump doesn't pulse and not from dock side connection. Not condensate...happens with or without AC. Not shower sump...float works and pump works. It's a mystery alright. I'll have a look at those other plugs on the weekend. I paint the bottom each year and have never noticed them. Go figure. Thanks for the info.

GREAT improvements, and if you don't mind, could you share how you upgraded the mattresses, since they are "cut to fit" in an odd shape? Did you have them custom made or did you find a supplier who actually has a template??

How did you install an aft window hatch? I'd love to hear more and see a pic!

Thanks in advance for sharing!

Found your other thread explaining the mattress project!

Could you share the aft window story? Thanks!

We needed more ventilation in the aft cabin so I bought a black, tinted 9 inch square hatch. I'm not at the boat so I'm not sure of the brand name. Anyway, I located the centre of the aft window which is, as you know, plexiglass. I drew the cut-out line and drill holes on the window as required for the installation and taped off the outside of the lines so as not to scratch the window while cutting.

Drill the holes first as there is more support while the window is in tact. Then use a Roto-Zip or similar rotary saw and cut along the line. Use a second set of hands to hold a straight edge to guide the saw. This will keep it from wandering outside the line. Once cut, trim the waste, mount the hatch as per instructions using stainless screws, black silicone and you're done.

I glued a thin strip of Velcro around the opening on the inboard side hatch. My wife sewed a strip of the other half of Velcro around the edge of a screen slightly larger than the opening and the hatch can be left open all night.

The only pic I have on this computer is attached. I highly recommend this improvement.

Cheers

Thanks so much for the project info! Sounds like you got a fantastic result and a LOT of "bang for the buck" with regards to the cost of doing this!

I also see how you could, if one chose to, make the hatch larger, and I'm wondering how you arrived at the size you installed. Are there factors at play that influenced that decision? Thanks for sharing all this!

There were a few considerations not the least of which was supply. You can get a larger, rectangular hatch but not much larger because the height then grows with the width. As you can see there's not a lot of room for more height.

I'm no physicist but I think that the more plexi-glass you remove, the weaker the remaining glass becomes. I could be totally wrong but it makes sense to me.

You would be surprised how much air moves through this hatch. It really does make a difference. And, you are correct sir. The cost was the hatch, stainless fasteners and a small tube of black silicone. Oh, and about 2 hours of my time. Well worth it.

I should add of course that all aft windows and hatches are closed whenever my engines are running.

I wonder if anyone has ever converted the entire window to an opening hatch....maybe hinged in some way......I'm going to look at that possibility when we go to the boat this weekend.

I hope the weather is nice enough to go out on the water....in which case I'll be at the opposite end of the boat most of the time!