Long distance boat transport

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Ross S

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Oct 20, 2011
120
Precision 21 Great Sacandaga Lake
I'm considering the purchase of a boat in Arkansas that would need to be transported to New York State. The boat is 28 feet long, 10 feet wide, 10'8" tall with a 35' long mast and does not come with a trailer. My previous experience has been with boats that are small trailer sailboats and I've never had to consider moving a larger boat.

How to do I go about obtaining quotes to transport this boat? It is quite possible that the transportation costs may be a deal breaker, but I'd like to get some quotes so I can know for sure.

Any recommended boat haulers out there or websites that I can use. At this point I just need some budgetary quotes to see if the transportation costs are feasible for me.

Thanks in advance.
 
Sep 25, 2008
464
Catalina 30 MKIII Varuna Boat Club
Try uship.com I had good luck with them. Just be careful to specify all requirements and expectations to avoid wasting time with inaccurate bids.

Good Luck...
 
Jun 30, 2004
446
Hunter 340 St Andrews Bay
See post to your seller's inquiry
Smith Salvage & Boat Transport.
Don't let the salvage part bother you, ours made it fine!
 

Ross S

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Oct 20, 2011
120
Precision 21 Great Sacandaga Lake
Didn't realize the seller had already posted. D'oh!

Thanks.
 
Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
I used Deepwater Transport last year to haul a 35' Beneteau from Charleston, SC to New Orleans. Very competitive quote & they handled the transport well. They are located in North Carolina. 866-602-6889.
www.deepwatertransport.com . I was satisfied and would use them again.
 
Feb 8, 2007
141
Catalina 36 MKII Pensacola Beach, FL
I second the Rooke Sails recommendation

They are located in Memphis and have a good trailer for this kind of work.
Chris Rooke is a very good guy.
 

John R

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Oct 9, 2012
110
Catalina 36 Emeryville
Re: I second the Rooke Sails recommendation

Whoever you use, DON'T use Big Dog Marine Transport. They have been the "go to" marine trucker for hauling from the East to the West Coast. He was contracted to haul a mast from there to the SF Bay Area for my boat. He kept giving my rigger the runaround about when it would arrive. Only to find out that he hadn't even picked it up yet. Then it was impossible to reach him on the phone to find out what was happening. Then he claimed family emergency and that a substitute driver would pick up the mast on a certain date, which didn't happen. Altogether, almost a month delay before the rigger finally gave up on him and hired somebody else.
 

Five0

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Jun 16, 2013
10
Pearson P31-2 NE Port Port Clinton, oh
We used sailorsmovingsailors.com to move our 31-2 Pearson from Florida to Ohio. Got a great rate and service. Good people to deal with.
 
Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Ross,
On second thought, you might be able to get by with a transporter who uses a hydraulic trailer. ( I wanted a flatbed type trailer with a dedicated mast rack to haul my Benteau 343.) The nice thing about the guys with hydraulic trailers is that they can put your boat on the trailer with or without a crane or travel lift. If you have the yard in Arkansas complete any bottom work and waxing, the hauler can splash the boat in New York without using a travel lift. Many of them also have a hydraulic crane on the truck that enables them to restep the mast. So, you get full service turnaround from derigging, haulout, transport, splash, and rerigging from one firm. I paid about 1600 to a yard in Charleston to haulout, unstep the mast, derig & prep the boat for shipment, & load onto the trailer. On the New Orleans end, I paid about $1000 to offload from the trailer, block in the yard, restep the mast, and splash after I completed my DIY bottom job, compound & wax, and installation of the bimini & dodger. Of course that did not include the cost of transporting. Just wanted to let you know that a full service guy with a hydraulic trailer opens up other options for a boat in the 28foot range, that will likely save some cash. I seem to recall that there is one such guy that has a website "sailors moving sailors". Hope this helps.
 

Five0

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Jun 16, 2013
10
Pearson P31-2 NE Port Port Clinton, oh
Big easy is right. That's who I used. They saved me the cost of stepping the mast on both ends.
 
Mar 22, 2004
733
Hunter 30 Vero Beach
I've used u-ship a couple of times. Both with really good luck. If you have a large window to ship, (30 days or more) it helps keep the cost down because they might be able to book a boat the opposite direction that yours is being moved. I gave my hauler 3 months when I shipped mine from Wisconsin to Florida. He found a boat going back from Florida to Indiana and it cut my cost almost in half.
 
Oct 3, 2011
825
Anam Cara Catalina 310 Hull #155 155 Lake Erie/Catawba Island
We used Derek Leslie-Sailers moving Sailers, He is out of the Nashville ,TN area and we were Very Pleased not only did he load the boat, take it apart but Protected it VERY well. The price was very competitive. And he was Very much on schedule! He did what he said he was going to do on agreed time. He moved our 310 from Kentucky Lake to Lake Erie!
 
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