Boat Movers
- Thread starter sailgirl
- Start date
- Status
Try Chris Rooke at Rooke Sails in Memphis. He is a great guy and has moved a lot of boats long distances.
Ditto on Chris Rooke in Memphis. Could sail to Mobile,AL ; load up with diesel and crank the engine up the Tombigbee to Pickwick, TN. I don't know how tough it would be going against the current.
FWIW, Chris hauls boats to/form Pickwick and Alachua all the time and I think he has made a trip or two to Gulfport, MS
FWIW, Chris hauls boats to/form Pickwick and Alachua all the time and I think he has made a trip or two to Gulfport, MS
Sailgirl:
I don't know much about the area, but you can save yourself a lot of money if you sail/motor the boat.
Typically you are going to pay for dropping the mast and rigging and time to load the truck. You may have lay time while the trucker is waiting to be loaded/unloaded. Once you get to your destination you will have to pay to have the rig restepped. Then you have the over-the-road toll (dirt, rocks etc).
If it is practical I would find some help to make the trip on the bottom if time/help permits.
I don't know much about the area, but you can save yourself a lot of money if you sail/motor the boat.
Typically you are going to pay for dropping the mast and rigging and time to load the truck. You may have lay time while the trucker is waiting to be loaded/unloaded. Once you get to your destination you will have to pay to have the rig restepped. Then you have the over-the-road toll (dirt, rocks etc).
If it is practical I would find some help to make the trip on the bottom if time/help permits.
I just had my Hunter 37.5 moved from St. Pete up to Alexander City, Al. I used UShip to find a mover, and everthing worked out fine. I checked with Chris Rooke, but it was a little bit out of his range, distance-wise. The guy who ended up with the best bid was Smith's Boat Salvage, Braxton, MS. so you might want to give him a call (601-201-9135)
The tipping point in his favor was that he has a hydraulic trailer he can use to launch the boat at the delivery end if a Travel-Lift is not available (of course, that depends on having a ramp steep enough and long enough, which we BARELY did!) At any rate, that saved me the cost of renting a crane to do it.
Chris Rooke has about the same set-up, and he says he even brings the hydraulic boom to re-step the mast, so be sure to figure all those separate costs when you do a cost comparison.
The tipping point in his favor was that he has a hydraulic trailer he can use to launch the boat at the delivery end if a Travel-Lift is not available (of course, that depends on having a ramp steep enough and long enough, which we BARELY did!) At any rate, that saved me the cost of renting a crane to do it.
Chris Rooke has about the same set-up, and he says he even brings the hydraulic boom to re-step the mast, so be sure to figure all those separate costs when you do a cost comparison.
No, but I have heard of BoatMobile run by a guy named Eric Stough. He moved me & I was very happy with the move. <boatmobile@gmail.com> or (512) 925 0915.Has anyone heard of a boat mover by the name "Boats Express"?Thanks, sailgirl
The standard procedure is to google 'boat transportation' then fill out an online form for each candidate mover to receive a quote. The quotes vary drastically among haulers. It usually takes a few weeks or so for the truckers to line up a return load. If they have to dead-head it back, the cost will be twice as much. However, a reputable hauler will almost always be able to find a return load.
Chris Rooke at Rooke Sails in Memphis is a great guy to work with. He moved a Hunter 33.5 from Pickwick Lake to Norfolk, VA for me some years ago.
American Boat Carriers in Alachua, FL moved my Hunter 41 from Racine Wisconsin to Pickwick Lake last fall. These guys deliver new Hunters from the factory. Chris Rooke stepped the mast for me when the boat arrived on this move.
Both were excellent moves.
American Boat Carriers in Alachua, FL moved my Hunter 41 from Racine Wisconsin to Pickwick Lake last fall. These guys deliver new Hunters from the factory. Chris Rooke stepped the mast for me when the boat arrived on this move.
Both were excellent moves.
Don't miss the opportunity
Sail Girl,
Don't miss the opportunity to sail along the coast even if you only go to Mobile, Alabama. I would love to do a week along the coast and try out my just acquired Garmin 376C GPS with XM weather receiving capability. At 33 feet your boat is easily large enough for Gulf coastal sailing.
With the owner and one other person I moved a 43 foot boat from Annapolis to Charleston, SC in 2006 shortly after I retired. We hopped from marina to marina each day and spent only two long days on the open Atlantic but all of it was a wonderful experience.
Jim Butler
Sail Girl,
Don't miss the opportunity to sail along the coast even if you only go to Mobile, Alabama. I would love to do a week along the coast and try out my just acquired Garmin 376C GPS with XM weather receiving capability. At 33 feet your boat is easily large enough for Gulf coastal sailing.
With the owner and one other person I moved a 43 foot boat from Annapolis to Charleston, SC in 2006 shortly after I retired. We hopped from marina to marina each day and spent only two long days on the open Atlantic but all of it was a wonderful experience.
Jim Butler
I noticed in all this chat there is no mention of cost/charges for actually sailing,(not freighting), the boat. Out of naive curiosity, about how much is it to have someone move a boat around this size? Is it based solely on time?...distance?...??
Pardon my ignorance, I have never had to 'move' a boat that I wasn't sailing myself.
SC
Pardon my ignorance, I have never had to 'move' a boat that I wasn't sailing myself.
SC
I used Uship to have a small boat hauled from Wisconson to NJ. I'd bought it at auction and had to rely on the hauler to make sure it was truly road-worthy though the mast was already un-stepped and it was, more or less, ready to be hauled. The best bid was still nearly as much as I'd payed for the boat but they did a good job and it arrived in just enough time to be covered before the snow hit us. On the other hand, if I'd had just one more free day in a row available to me I'd have run out there myself and hauled it back and kept the $$ at around 300(calculating fuel at a bit under $3/gal) and saved a couple hundred. If it is a larger boat, though and the option is there, I'd not miss the chance to sail/motor in short hops if necessary instead of hitting the road.
- Status