Preparing Catalina 30 for shipping

Jan 11, 2014
5
No boat No boat Houston
I am considering buying a Catalina 30 that will need to be shipped about 200 miles. I see that I can get quotes online for shipping cost but I want to know what else is involved for preparing a boat this size for shipping. I understand that the mast will have to be lowered and access to a crane to lift it onto a trailer, what else? Any ideas on approximate costs for all this prep?
Thanks in advance
 
Aug 3, 2012
2,542
Performance Cruising Telstar 28 302 Watkins Glen
My marina charges by the foot for the travelift and a flat fee for the mast crane. I think it cost me about $120 for the lift and $70 for the crane on my old 272. (27 ft).
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,321
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
A few brief thoughts.

Talk to the trucker about the height of the load. Depending on the trailer it may be necessary to remove the stanchions, pushpit, and pulpit to meet the clearances (and it is an opportunity to rebed the the pullpit and pushpit.)

Strip everything off the boat that you can. Close up all the hatches. Look for anything that can vibrate or bounce around and secure it or pad it. The boat will spend ~ 4 hours bouncing along a highway at 65 mph.

Check with marinas on both ends to see what they can do and require. It will probably take a few days on each end with the boat out of the water. What about a cradle or jack stands? If the trucker has a hydraulic trailer, it will be easier to off load.

Make sure you are insured and your insurance company knows the boat is being transported. Ask what, if any, requirements they may have.
 
Jan 11, 2014
5
No boat No boat Houston
Thanks for the reply, great points! Thanks for the heads up on the hydraulic trailer that will be added to thelist of questions for the shipper.
 
Jan 11, 2014
5
No boat No boat Houston
My marina charges by the foot for the travelift and a flat fee for the mast crane. I think it cost me about $120 for the lift and $70 for the crane on my old 272. (27 ft).
Thanks That sounds more reasonable than I was expecting!
 

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
I shipped a Catalina 36 about 80 miles. Nothing had to be removed for height reasons. It was a big hydraulic trailer.

Only issue was that he used my windlass vertical capstan to strap the load and bent the axel on it. Make sure he knows how to secure the load without breaking anything.
 
Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
If the point of origin marina has to haul and block the boat, unstep the mast, and load onto a flatbed trailer I would expect the cost to be at least $1500. The mover is not going to hang around while the yard does the preceding steps; the boat need to be ready to load when the trailer arrives. If you use a mover with a hydraulic trailer and integral crane, the cost would be less as the mover will back into the water & load the boat as well as unstep the mast and prepare to ship. Some things to be aware of include, remove the shrouds and store them on trailer or bubble wrap them and then shrink wrap them to the mast. If you only shrink wrap the cables to the mast, the shrouds will chafe the anodizing on the mast. Also make sure that the jib roller furler drum & extrusion are supported to prevent bending. You can use 2x4s and duct tape to splint the furler to the mast. Turn off propane at the tank, empty holding tank, remove instrument covers or anything else that can fly off the boat during the move. Doubt if you will have to remove stantions; however, you need to measure for clearance just to make sure. Expect approximately an additional $1000 at the destination marina to offload from trailer, re-rig, and splash. Don't know what the going rate is for mileage; however, I was told that most truckers wont do a job for less than $2000 for a move. Again, if you can find a guy that does the entire operation, with a hydraulic trailer, total costs would be less.
 
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Aug 2, 2005
1,155
Pearson 33-2 & Typhoon 18 Seneca Lake
Hello johnb207,
When the mast is lowered you will need to have it prepared for shipping. Remove the shrouds and stays and label them. Label everything......it will be a puzzle to reconstruct the rigging (both standing and running); label all bimini and dodger parts as they are removed. Wrap the mast to prevent scratching in transit. Support the mast on the boat using "X" braces at the bow and in the cockpit and a support on the cabin top. OR....secure the mast on the trailer somewhere along the boat (probably a better choice).

Boom in the boat; no chemicals aboard; fuel (probably should be empty); secure hatches and interior moving parts like table and doors; remove personal items.

We moved a boat (actually 3 different boats) 4 times. Expensive? Yes, but that saved the time involved in moving the boats on the water (in cases where that was even possible). Not to be undertaken lightly, but we were satisfied with each experience. I do not think we took the lowest estimate to move each boat. Got online quotes and recommendations from the respective marinas that were involved. Used the first mover twice, but two different movers the other times. Move 1 & 2: Chesapeake Bay (near Baltimore) to our home in PA and then from PA to upper Chesapeake Bay 9 months later after a refit in our yard. Move 3: Cape Coral, FL to upper Chesapeake Bay. (Maybe not the brightest choice!) Move 4: upper Chesapeake Bay to Seneca Lake, NY.

Best wishes.
 
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Jan 11, 2014
5
No boat No boat Houston
Hello johnb207,
When the mast is lowered you will need to have it prepared for shipping. Remove the shrouds and stays and label them. Label everything......it will be a puzzle to reconstruct the rigging (both standing and running); label all bimini and dodger parts as they are removed. Wrap the mast to prevent scratching in transit. Support the mast on the boat using "X" braces at the bow and in the cockpit and a support on the cabin top. OR....secure the mast on the trailer somewhere along the boat (probably a better choice).

Boom in the boat; no chemicals aboard; fuel (probably should be empty); secure hatches and interior moving parts like table and doors; remove personal items.

We moved a boat (actually 3 different boats) 4 times. Expensive? Yes, but that saved the time involved in moving the boats on the water (in cases where that was even possible). Not to be undertaken lightly, but we were satisfied with each experience. I do not think we took the lowest estimate to move each boat. Got online quotes and recommendations from the respective marinas that were involved. Used the first mover twice, but two different movers the other times. Move 1 & 2: Chesapeake Bay (near Baltimore) to our home in PA and then from PA to upper Chesapeake Bay 9 months later after a refit in our yard. Move 3: Cape Coral, FL to upper Chesapeake Bay. (Maybe not the brightest choice!) Move 4: upper Chesapeake Bay to Seneca Lake, NY.

Best wishes.
Thanks for all the info!
 

kbgunn

.
Sep 19, 2017
210
2005 Hunter 33 Lake Lewisville, TX
While it's out of the water, you will want to consider a bottom paint and hull wax. It's easier and cheaper to do it as part of the move then to splash then haul out again. Also, any below the waterline maintenance should be done now since boats tend to stay in wet slip year round in Texas. Zincs, blisters, through hulls installed/rebed, speed/depth instrument maintenance, fix the Catalina smile :), prop swap if you have the oem fixed two-blade, the list can go on and on...

Some other considerations:
1. If you going from fresh water to fresh water in Texas, you have to be concerned about zebra muscles. Any muscles found attached to the hull must be removed and the boat quarantined for 3 days at the point of origination, not the destination. You will have to pay for storage on the hard during this quarantine. Another good opportunity to have the bottom painted.
2. Taxes and registration are due in Texas within 30 days of the sale. If this is a private party sale, the buyer has to go to TPWD to transfer title, register and pay sales tax.
3. The lift and mast crane expense is on both ends. Make sure you have quotes from both marinas. I recently moved a 30ft. The travel lift and crane costs were 3.50 per foot + $250 per hour. It will take at least an hour if you have knowledgable folks to drop the mast, load on the trailer, prep for travel. Budget for 1.5 hours on both ends.
4. If you don't have a lot of experience with the rig on a 30ft, try to find a professional rigger to help set up and tune the rig. You don't want a rig too loose or too tight. The rigger will do a rough tune at the dock and fine tune underway. $100 per hour is a fair price. Budget for 3 hours.
5.Your destination marina will want proof of insurance with $300K or more property coverage. They will likely want first and last month's slip fees up front.
6. No one will touch a short haul like this for less than $2K, more than likely $2,500.

So moving the boat is going to be several thousand dollars. Make sure you factor that into your decision to buy and move or buy local.

Best of luck to you,
KBG
 
Aug 13, 2012
533
Catalina 270 Ottawa
I don't think anyone mentioned removing the spreaders. Remove them with the shrouds (and you can store them in the boat for the move).
 

Ward H

.
Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
I moved my 93 Catalina 30 from Rhode Island to South Jersey in early December.
The boat was on the hard in RI. That marina lowered the mast and strapped it to the pushpit and pulpit.
They left the boom on the deck.

My marina has a boat mover they use. I contacted him and got a price of $1800. The marina in RI recommended a trucker who gave me a quote of $2500. That company did no prep. I would have had to prep the mast and have it ready for them to use the crane on the trailer to load the mast onto the truck.

My shipper had a hydraulic trailer. When he arrived he made cross braces to help support the mast on the railings. He used bubble wrap and duct tape to secure furler and rigging to the mast. Height was not an issue. He moved the boom to the trailer and secured it well.

While we was doing this I removed or secured loose items in the boat. He wouldn't touch the inside. That was my responsibility. I used blue painters tape to secure the external instrument covers and taped some rigging I was worried would come loose on the trip.

This was all done with temps in the low teens.

When the boat got to NJ, my marina blocked the boat as part of my winter storage fee.

My mistakes:
I bought the boat Nov 3rd and had planned to leave it in RI until spring. I changed my mind in late Nov and worked to get it in NJ before bad weather set in so I could get an early start working on it in the spring.
I should have moved it right away and in better weather. I had additional cost because the yard it was in was small and closed after Thanksgiving so I had to have the boat moved to another yard and re-blocked while waiting for the trucker. Also short term storage fees at both yards.
I didn't remove all the duck tape right away and when I did I just ripped it off. I should have been more gentle and used adhesive remover. I pulled some paint off.

My yard was going to add rig tunning to my mast raising costs since they did not lower the mast. I had the standing rigging replace so running was included in that cost. I took care of the running rigging.

Good luck with your move.
 
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