Interior
Located in the entry way, you will find a major upgrade to the boat's stereo system. Each component of the stereo was mounted on a piece of highly-polished Corian countertop material. The solid black material I used, when polished, looks a bit like Onyx. With chrome hardware, this has become a functional piece of "industrial art".
It should be noted that this system does not have any provision for CD-player. The choice of media is AM/FM/Sirius broadcasts, iPod, or USB Memory Stick.
(note that this photo is out of date, as the Head Unit was replaced in 2009.)
From the top down, you will find:
- Legacy Profile tank monitor system (OK, not part of the stereo).
- Alpine iDA-X100 Head Unit
- Velleman precision graphic vU meter.
- Clif Designs CD4Q 4 band equalizer.
- Zone control.
- Switch Panel.
The switch panel controls components of the stereo system as well as other associated items. Hidden away behind other panels are the Starmate 5 Sirius receiver, an Alpine 4 channel @ 40Watt amplifier, an Alpine 180Watt subwoofer amplifier, and at the bridge, a PolyPlanar ME=50 2 channel @ 25 watt expansion amplifier.
The stereo system is designed with 5 zones; the main salon, subwoofer, rear berth, the deck outside, and the radar arch, which services the helm. Each zone can be independantly controlled, and there is a low-power mode where only the outside speakers are active, which cuts down on draining the battery while underway. For the main salon, speakers consist of 2 ea 6.5" Polk speakers, 2 ea 5.25" Polk speakers, and a 10" Polk subwoofer. The rear berth sports a pair of 4" Polk speakers, while the exterior uses 4 ea 6.5" Polk speakers. Finally, the system can be controlled by one of several Alpine RF remote control units throughout the boat.
For the front salon speakers, there was no sufficient area for mounting them, so I made fiberglass speaker "balls". The balls, one on either side of the boat's interior, can be positioned to the front or rear for the best sound. The subwoofer was mounted in its own box behind the salon's sofa.
Stereo Projects.
One minor upgrade that adds a nice touch is the lighting control. We found that incredibally, the exterior deck lighting's ON-OFF switch was located at the helm. Not the best location. Therefore, we added a second switch on the wall so that we could control the exterior deck lights from here as well. The boat also has accent lighting for each of the stairways. I replaced the bulbs with LED replacements, and added a dimmer control. The three chrome buttons at the control panel turn the accent lighting on and off, as well as UP and DOWN dimmer control.
Dimmer Project.
While we are discussing the exterior lighting, we also upgraded the lighting from faded-cracked fixtures to nice new chrome plated versions, and replaced the bulbs with LEDs.
Small Projects.
Another improvement we have made since purchasing the boat is to replace those worn-out wooden doors with acrylic panels. While there was only a few cosmetic issues with the boat, it is over 10 years old (but perhaps only 6 Michigan-boat years old), so there is some updating to be done. Our plan is to slowly improve the cosmetic areas of the boat to our liking.
On the port side of the salon, there is an honest-to-goodness sofa! This was one other main selling point. You must have a boat with a lot of room in it if you have a full sized sofa.
As you continue forward, two steps down reveals the galley on the Port side, with the head on the Starboard side.
The galley features a microwave oven, AC/DC refrigerator, electric/white-gas two burner stove, and plenty of storage space. The feeling of room here is outstanding, with a cathederal-like ceiling.
It can double as a sleeper for one or two people, but were thinking maybe a nice upgrade to a couch/recliner might be in order. However, a replacement couch must be lightweight enough to slide out of the way, as the Port engine access is under the couch.
There is an incredible 8 1/2 ft of vertical space from the floor to ceiling in this area, which really makes it appear that there is a lot of room in the boat.
Its almost 30 ft to the mirror you see in the aft cabin in this photo.
Galley LED Project.
The front berth doubles as a V-Berth as well as the main dining table. We liked this setup as it provided a dual purpose area. The wife was a bit cool on the idea at first, mostly because she did not appreciate the width of the berth. Having just come from a boat with a 8.5ft wide beam, the V-berth area was pretty cramped. But with this boat, there is plenty of room.
The head in the boat contains an electric head (toilet), shower to the rear, and a separate sink area as well. There is a full-length plexiglass partition between the shower/head area and the sink area. We were completely amazed that the head had a huge amount of storage.
Back in the main salon; removing the access panels provides a lot of access to the engines. Unlike the previous two boats, I can easily change oil in this boat. The entire salon deck of the boat is supported by a welded aluminum channel grid, as you can see here.
The dual purpose area allows us to utilize all of the boat for the two of us, yet have ample room when we have stay-over guests. This boat has nearly 300 sq ft of interior living space - which is about as much as my first apartment.
Later models of the 325/326 had an enclosed V-berth area (at least as an option), which meant having a portable dining table in the main salon. We both felt that the arrangement on our boat was better.
When boating friends drop by, we have had up to 8 people setting at the table. OK, a couple of them were small children, but you get the idea that this boat is roomy.
The head also has an air conditioning duct that turns the facility into a frozen meat locker. But we found out tyat if you turn the duct off - it results in too little air to flow through the forward air conditioner, which ultimately results in the unit having a tendancy to freeze up. Therefore, we typically turn the forward air conditioner off when showering.
Surprisingly the engine noise is quite subdued during operation. Passengers can sit in the main salon and carry on a normal converstaion while the boat is underway.
Don't those engines still look brand new?
In the rear stateroom, which is called an "Aft Cabin" there is a full sized berth to Port, as shown here. The rear cabin also features plenty of storage, an overhead locker, hanging locker, drawers under the double berth, and doors in the vanity area. The stateroom also has its own privacy door.
The mattresses in this boat are really thick - about 6 inches thick. This makes for a realy nice setup. Even then, we added 3" memory-form toppers for the ultimate in comfort. I might tend to not arise in the morning until 9:00AM.
There is also a single berth to Starboard; affectionally called the "Mother-In-Law" berth. We typically use this area as storage, and usually our luggage finds its way on the bed. One 84 gallon fuel tank is located under each berth as well as a fresh-water tank.
A pillow package came with the boat, and their were about 20 of them. They looked unused, and were sealed in plastic when we purchased the boat. The wife likes the pillows.
Between the berths is a wet sink and medicine cabinet; sort of a 1/4 bath. A color coordinated stool complements the setup.
Another early improvement to the boat is an upgraded hatch shade. This is a relatively new product found on new boats. The hatch shade consists of both an integrated screen and privacy shade that pull out from the base of the unit. No longer will we have to fight with those ill-fitting screens.
Hatch Shade Project.
One of the small projects we did on the boat was to upgrade the striping. The original Navy Blue and Teal striping was so '90s looking, and as well, was pretty well scratched up. We replaced the striping along the bootstripe and flybridge with a Navy Blue and Grey stripes.
A major project for the 2008 season was the installation of St. Croix 400/401 rotating dinghy davits. I sized the mount dimensions for a larger dinghy - so I think there may be a new dinghy on the horizon.
Dinghy Mount Project.
We also have an enhanced cell phone installation, Cobra Bluetooth mic, external speakers, including DC charging source, external amplifier, and 8' cell phone antenna located on the radar arch.
One issue common with long-narrow windows, and one problem we have been fighting since we have owned the boat is leaking around the rear-berth windows. We found these "gutters" at www.marinegutters.com that has fixed the problem. Sometimes a simple fix works the best.
Gutter Project.
Carver 325 in action on Lake Michigan.
Summary of updates we have done on the boat - many of which are shown on www.Boat-Project.Com: