Carver Yachts for Sale

Mahogany runabouts to motor yachts

Charlie Carter and George Verhagen started Carver in Milwaukee in 1954. They named it after the first three letters of each of their surnames and built fast mahogany runabouts. In 1956 they moved to Pulaski, west of Green Bay. Fiberglass came in the 1970s, and the 32-foot Mariner became a best seller. By the mid-1980s Carver had about 1,000 employees and $170 million in annual sales. A 1985 leveraged buyout, the 1991 luxury tax and a bankruptcy put Carver under Irwin Jacobs's Genmar. Genmar then went bankrupt in 2009, and Jacobs and John Paul DeJoria bought Carver and Marquis out of the estate for $6.05 million. The Pulaski plant later went to KCS International, which owns Cruisers Yachts.

The 350 Mariner

The Mariner is easy to recognize. Its side decks rise to the flybridge instead of running back to the cockpit, which leaves room for a full-beam salon. The 350 Mariner, sold as the 36 Mariner from 2004, is 36 feet 7 inches long with a 12-foot-9 beam and a 3-foot-1 draft. It carries 246 to 250 gallons of fuel and 75 gallons of water. A test published by Denison Yacht Sales recorded 30.7 mph at 4,800 rpm with twin MerCruiser 6.2 MX engines and a best cruise of 25.1 mph, for a range of nearly 200 miles. The HMY powerboat guide calls the engine room a tight fit.

Carver's other names follow the same idea. The Santego is an express-style cruiser, the aft cabin and cockpit motor yachts put two staterooms under a raised aft deck, and the Voyager pilothouses run up to 57 feet.

What they cost

Boat Trader listed 494 Carvers in fall 2026, almost all of them used. A 1987 32 Convertible was $9,750 in Alabama, and a 1990 30 Santego was $13,700 in Minnesota. A 2003 350 Mariner was $60,900 near Atlanta and another was $74,999 in Charleston. A 1994 430 Cockpit Motor Yacht was $59,000 in Duluth. A 2004 466 Motor Yacht was $285,000 in Kentucky, a 2016 C34 was $274,900 in Annapolis, and a 2009 56 Voyager was $549,000 in Palm Beach.

Buying checks for a Carver

There's no factory support. Since 2021, parts and advice come from marine suppliers and the owner community. Find out what you can still source for the model before you buy.

Practice docking it. Owners on the Carver Yacht Owners forum say the Mariner steers poorly at idle and gets pushed around by the wind, so twin-engine handling is a must.

Check the V-drives and the generator. The same owners mention leaking V-drive output seals and generator impellers that are hard to reach.

Survey the decks. On early-2000s Mariners the decks are encapsulated plywood, so have a surveyor sound them.