Long Distance Transport

[Lynn Abernethy]

For 65 yesars I have invariably done things the hard way. Thus, I aspire to purchase a wood retired unlicensed fishing vessel in British Columbia...and have it hauled via land to St. simons Island GA. yes, it would be longer if I hauled it to Key West, but funds are limited. the problem is that no "reputable" haulers known to me will transport a wooden boat of 30-40 feet.
Any ideas on a source? If I have to buy an 18 wheeler and do the job myself, what are the do's and don'ts of the task?

Lynn Abernethy

[Katherine]

You can't just run out and buy an 18 wheeler, they take a CDL license to drive. Does the hauler need to have a hydraulic trailer or will a standard one do? Will you be supplying the trailer? For that size they usually start at $10,000 and go up fast. What is the height, beam, and tonnage of the boat. If it's too big, the permits will cost a small fortune. Is is going on a route where it will need escorts or chase cars? Hauling something that size take special planning. The boat hauler I use here in Michigan has a hydraulic trailer and didn't have a problem with my 35ft Owens.

[Gary E]

I know someone who just got out of that biz and the 3 main reasons were, wide load permits, low bridges, and crappy customers. Not necessarly in that order.

Why dont you float the thing where ya want it or are you in some sorta hurry?

[ron ll]

I have certainly seen wooden boats come into Seaview Boatyard in Seattle by truck, so someone must do it. The only name I know is Dudley Boat Transport but when you google "boat transport" there sure are a lot of them. I wonder if drying out is a problem with transporting a planked boat that far.

BTW, I have a converted fishing boat in the NW and I love it (www.ronlloyd.com/oddstuff/starbord.jpg). Go for it if you can get it there.

[Katherine]

Most boat haulers are afraid of old wooden boats falling apart on their trailers.

[Figment]

Originally posted by Katherine:
You can't just run out and buy an 18 wheeler, they take a CDL license to drive. Not to mention CASH. If you have the cash on hand to BUY a cross-country-worthy rig, then finding a pro hauler to do the job should be a simple matter of dialing enough phone numbers.

[Katherine]

You can rent a semi truck, but most of the rentals I've seen are junk.

[Gary E]

Originally posted by Katherine:
You can rent a semi truck, but most of the rentals I've seen are junk.So it's

WRENT A WRECK...or SOON TO BE ONE ? :D :D

[bamamick]

O.K., we had 'Redwing' hauled from Key West to Mobile two years ago. The hauling company was named (iirc) Alley Cat Hauling or some such thing. I'll have to do a 'ggogle' on it. The lady that handled my account was super nice, they had no problems with the boat being wood, and the price was very reasonable (about half of what I got from the other two estimates).

My boat is 40' long on deck, 46' with the sprit which I did not have to unship. The only issue that I have was that the driver cut a couple of my halyards with a knife because he thought that that would make them easier to store.

If I can look through my files and find them I'll let you know. The name is kind of funny, but the agent was fantastic to deal with.

Mickey Lake

[WindHawk]

There is a company that the Science channel did an interesting show on a few weeks ago that uses an old oil-rig hauler to ship your boat via the water (the boat is similar in concept to the "Mighty Servant"). They flood the cargo deck, and you motor your vessel aboard where it is essentially hauled on stilts when they let the water out. If I remember correctly, one guy was having his boat sailed (shipped?) from the Carib. to the PNW for around $8,000. His comment was that in order to safely sail it himself, he would either have to go to Hawaii, or endure a hellacious windward beat up the West cost. You should talk to your insurance company before you do something like that yourself, you might not be covered in the PNW on the big blue.

Looked interesting, and if you stay on the boat during the trip, it's just like it's been hauled so you can do bottom work. Someone here will know the details. You can get your boat to Europe & back this way as well.

[ 12-13-2005, 02:46 PM: Message edited by: WindHawk ]

[wyndham]

You'd probably have better luck shipping it. Getting a big boat onto the deck of a freighter is no big deal. Contact a freight forwarding company and ask some questions.

[Gary E]

If I wanted to ship a big boat, I would call the manufacturer of big boats and talk to them to seee how and who they use.

For example, Hatteras is made in N Carolina... but there are 70 ft Hats in Calif... that boat has a 18 ft beam.. ya think they trucked that?.. I dont, but I could be wrong.

Ifin your a sailboat guy call the big sailboat manufacturers... they dont do it themselves...

[ssor]

I think that the overpass clearance on the interstate system is no more than twenty feet minimum. For that length trip I should think that ocean transport would be cheaper.

[Gary E]

Ohh..one more idea...

While talking with BIG BOAT MFG CO...
I'd ask when the next one leaves for your area, that truck has to go somewhere from there... might be a decent trip for you and the truck back to your destination.

[Mike Vogdes]

Give these guys a call, they have rigs all over the country. I have used them a few times in the past with good results.

http://www.jouleyacht.com/info.html

[AlanL]

What about rail freight? Looking at some of the cars/wagons you guys have there, I would'nt think a boat that size'd pose height, width or weight problems. Should be quicker than by road too.

Boats get shipped around the world via container ship fairly regularly. I'd think that the cost of building a frame to hold your boat would be a whole lot less than buying a truck and paying someone to drive if you don't the right license.

Alan

[Thad]

Call the Marblehead Trading Company, 781-631-4650, talk to them and see what they say.

[Gary Bergman]

There's only two practical haulers left in the US. One in Texas, one south..'What he said'..Joule is one, I have a quote from them recently. Dudley never rises to the call anytime I've hauled vessels, even tho' their drivers keep giving me business cards everytime I use someone else.Their bread and butter is new plastic boats made on the west coast, and juggled around the west coast. Between the US and Canada, I heartily recommend CanAm boat movers...I'm hauling to the Great Lakes in late spring and I'll post any new offers I get.

[Gary Bergman]

Originally posted by ssor:
I think that the overpass clearance on the interstate system is no more than twenty feet minimum. For that length trip I should think that ocean transport would be cheaper.Most are 13'4, without permitting and re-routing. Over-wide and overweight can be permitted, over height has to be routed.When Royaliste ships, we break her down to one inch under legal, but that's still 'sketchy' when the driver floats over a dip or bump!(scraped a pad eye clean off the poopdeck once!) check this:
http://theroyaliste.com/images/tr3.jpg

more photos (http://theroyaliste.com/pages/travel.cfm)

[Alisa]

Used Joule Yacht Transport to truck a 40ft wooden ketch from Florida to Anacortes. No damage to the boat, they were great to deal with & quite reasonably priced. Good luck!

[Sabot]

This company runs a regular scheduled service from the Pacific Northwest to Florida and the Carib.

They are called Dockwise Transport and they move some very big yachts. Here is the web site. What you want to move would look like a tender for some of the big ones they move.

Dockwise Transport (http://www.yacht-transport.com/index.php?sid=85)

Alan Sturgess
Vancouver