trailer my boat to florida

[TinkerToy Sailor]

Hi all
I have a question for you all. I will retire shortly and plan to become a snow bird to Fla from Toronto. I would like to have my Macgregor 26s come with me but i don't want to buy a larger vehicle to tow it. Is there a place on the net I can go to hire someone to trailer it for me? I know there will be a cost but it's likely less than buying an Explorer to do the job, not to mention that the rest of the year I have to pay the extra fuel.

thanks in advance. Mark

 

[rbringle]

If you have a trailer for it, rent a UHaul truck and move it yourself.

 

[Captain Ron 18]

I'm curious -- isn't that a water ballast boat? I seem to remember that they were marketing that the 26s could be towed with a Taurus, because the boat was so light. I've got a 25, which is pretty heavy with a hefty swing keel which necessitates a more robust tow vehicle. There are folks on the internet who transport a plethora of things: Airstreams, boats, even cars it the owner wishes not to drive. I just googled boat transport from Toronto to Florida and the entries abound. I think, as with anything these days, check them out! Good luck, and let us know what you end up doing!

 

[rgranger]

Yep
The 26S is water ballast.

1,700 lb empty

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Trailer and motor need to be considered

 

[rgranger]

Trailer and motor need to be considered

Yep @Crazy Dave Condon is right. You should plan an on a tow weight of 3K to be safe

 

[TinkerToy Sailor]

thanks all. I agree about the weight loaded. I'm estimating about 1800lbs and i have a Honda crv, only good for 1500 at best with nothing in the truck. I've trailered it about 100 miles to and from storage and i can't exceed 100km/hour because it gets wanki.

 

[rgranger]

If WANKI means the trailer starts to sway... you need to move some weight forward in the boat and get more weight on the tongue.

A Honda CRV is a bit on the small side (undersized). You could rent a Uhaul truck. I recently downsized my tow vehicle from a Silverado to a Ford Escape.... but I had to buy the "platinum" edition of the Ford Escape to get the bigger engine and larger tow capacity. That extra tow capacity also costs me about 3 miles per gallon. You might want to google the exact version of your CRV just in case you get lucky and have one of the tricked-out packages.

 

[Tally Ho]

I haven’t seen anyone advertise this specifically, but I would think one of the transportation outfits the use large pickups to haul travel trailers or small auto transports would be a good fit.

Just be careful if you search for an auto carrier on the web….i was checking into the cost to take my little red convertible from Chicago to Florida (I am also going to be a snow bird), and I must have gotten 50 calls, texts and emails from brokers offering to have my car moved down there for $400.

These guys are relentless, and they don’t actually do the move…so you need to be careful who you connect with.

Greg

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

I haven’t seen anyone advertise this specifically, but I would think one of the transportation outfits the use large pickups to haul travel trailers or small auto transports would be a good fit.

Just be careful if you search for an auto carrier on the web….i was checking into the cost to take my little red convertible from Chicago to Florida (I am also going to be a snow bird), and I must have gotten 50 calls, texts and emails from brokers offering to have my car moved down there for $400.

These guys are relentless, and they don’t actually do the move…so you need to be careful who you connect with.

Greg

I can only imagine who they could get to do it for under $400. Or maybe they use it as a mule for contraband. Otherwise it’s got to be some type of outright scam to take your car and your $400. Or maybe if it’s legit they have a way to load it on trucks that would otherwise be on an empty return run.

 

[rgranger]

My daughter had her car hauled from Charleston South Carolina to Los Angeles California. And it was under $400. But it was one of those auto carrying semi’s and put 12 cars on a single trailer. So $400 doesn’t sound unreasonable if it is one of those type of auto haulers.

 

[Tally Ho]

I can only imagine who they could get to do it for under $400. Or maybe they use it as a mule for contraband. Otherwise it’s got to be some type of outright scam to take your car and your $400. Or maybe if it’s legit they have a way to load it on trucks that would otherwise be on an empty return run.

I keep thinking my prized little BMW Z3M in Imola Red would end up in Cuba



I have decided to load it on a U-Haul auto carrier and pull it down there myself!

Greg

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

my prized little BMW Z3M in Imola Red

Sweet!

 

[higgs]

I used Stealth Transport Group to haul my Marshall 18 from Marco Island to Olcott, NY, which is 33 nm from Toronto via Lake Ontario. They were a week late picking it up, but got the boat to my home in the same condition it was when they picked it up. I was not happy about the delay, but they did a good job with the delivery. It cost about $2500. A one way UHaul will be about the same. Their number is 561 717 2898.

 

[higgs]

Another thought: If you are going to pay $5000 a year to tow the boat down and up, why not just buy another boat and leave it in Florida.

 

[rgranger]

Another thought: If you are going to pay $5000 a year to tow the boat down and up, why not just buy another boat and leave it in Florida.

Or buy a used truck …

 

[MitchM]

check out the shippers bid board UShip. Uship escrows the $ payment and you don't release the $ to the shipper til the goods arrive in good condition. buyer posts trip origin and destination, and what is to be transported -- boat, rv, etc. bidders post what their price is. our first UShip was faultless, 21 foot rv from seattle to W Pa. $1100 bid by a reputable carrier, it would cost me more in expenses to fly out to drive it 3000 miles back to home. 2nd case: not so good. fair bid price , but the shipper was a disaster .the guy blew me off , said his 'aunt died . refused to fulfill the bid contract. I finally reached him 2 days after my boat was due in Erie PA. I found out too late he did not have a valid commercial drivers license.