Boat Shipping Company Recommendation?

If all goes well, I will be buying a boat that's located in Georgia. I live in Massachusetts. I will need a company to transport it up here. It is a Nimble Kodiak 26' motorsailor w/8'6" beam. Displacement is about 4500# and it has a trailer. But it should probably go on a flatbed anyway.

Does anyone have a recommendation? From my desk, there's not much to go on except $$ and what it says on the companies' Websites. And the cheapest quote is not always the best.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

If the trailer is in good shape, any pickup, SUV could pull this so not sure why you would pay significantly more for a flatbed. This is not a wide, heavy, long or over height load.

I thought of that. But it's a 25 y.o. boat and the pictures of the trailer show some age. I have no idea if the trailer is capable of the 1000+ mile trip in potentially nasty weather. And I don't have time to replace 4 wheel bearings and put new rubber on her because I'm not there. The differential is likely about a 15% premium ($400). One trailer failure and I'll wish I had put it on a flatbed.

But if I'm over thinking it or being too conservative... I'd like to hear it.

Thanks!

SpaceCadet said:

I thought of that. But it's a 25 y.o. boat and the pictures of the trailer show some age. I have no idea if the trailer is capable of the 1000+ mile trip in potentially nasty weather. And I don't have time to replace 4 wheel bearings and put new rubber on her because I'm not there. The differential is likely about a 15% premium ($400). One trailer failure and I'll wish I had put it on a flatbed.

But if I'm over thinking it or being too conservative... I'd like to hear it.

Thanks!

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I bought a boat in Boston one time about the same size, conditional on the seller taking the trailer to a garage and having the wheel bearings changed, brakes checked, lights checked and new tires. It was ready to roll when I came to pick it up for trip up to Canada. May or may not work for you. Boat age has no bearing IMO so long as the trailer is adequate.

I get it. Maybe I can do a similar deal. I only mentioned the age of the boat because the trailer is most likely the same age as the boat. And since the owner lives 5 miles from the ramp, he probably isn't thinking of long term reliability.

What I should do is see if I can find someone with a vehicle that can tow it and see if they want to go on a road trip. But it's hard to ask friends to take time from work, etc. I drive a Hyundai. ;-(

Call a few boat transport or companies that move cars back and forth.

Your boat plus a trailer on top of a flatbread maybe be too high for some bridges.

How about a UHaul truck rental?
Don't know about boat wt but many UHaul trucks can flat tow a car.
There are online shipping sites that will bid on a load... no first hand experience but sold a car in NY that the buyer was in TX and arranged to have it picked up and shipped... all done online.???

Hi Don-

Yes, I'm sorting through all of the transport companies now. Hadn't thought of a 1-way UHaul.. HMMMM.

If the trailer is up to it, a hotshot trucking company will haul it to wherever you want. If not just contact a freight company and have it loaded onto a flatbed. Or rent a uHaul truck and DIY.

WH:

I called Penske Truck rentals and they don't allow anything larger than a car to be towed. I probably shouldn't do it myself anyway. I got a few quotes from some "hotshot" truckers. Best price so far is $1385 on the boat's own trailer. I'll have to get the trailer looked at very well during the survey. 4 new wheel bearings shouldn't cost too much?

How tall or what is the highest point when it is sitting on the trailer? I am from a cruiser background so excuse me for sounding dumb, but you say it is a 25' motorsailor, I am assuming you are talking sail boat. Height may be a problem on a flat bed with the boat sitting on a boat trailer. Your best option I think would to make sure your trailer is road worthy; repack or replace wheel bearings and a new set of good trailer tires and tow it yourself or hire someone to tow your trailer. BTY, you should want that when you get it home anyway; so it is not wasted. That way you should be able to make the distance trouble free. The cost should not be too bad. I am thinking best case maybe $2.00 per mile to worst maybe $4.00 per mile.

Sailboat or Motorsailer

The best quote so far for towing on the boat's trailer is $1.25/mile. It looks like I'm going to be getting those bearings done and new rubber!

As to whether it's a sailboat or a "motorsailer" - The Nimble Kodiak 26' starts as a mini-trawler. The "motorsailer" version adds a 24" keel with 1500# of lead ballast bolted on the bottom. The simple sail plan is added as well. I had really been looking for the trawler version, but this one has the inboard diesel like the motor-only model. And I'm warming to the idea of doing a little sailing. I think people who know more than I might call this a true 50/50 motorsailer.

Here are a few photos.

Cool looking boat. The $1.25/mile sounds like a good rate. Will you just be billed for the one way loaded miles or will it be round trip miles? A reputable shop ought to get your trailer road worthy and you should make the trip OK. Good luck and happy motor sailing.

Be very very very very careful about who you select. Be sure they're insured, licensed and bonded plus have a good reputation. Bidding on deliveries is easy. Doing them well is a different story. $1.25 per mile sounds too good to be true and when it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Once you drop below $2 per mile I get worried and at $1.50 I get scared.

If you decide to replace the tires, buy them from Discount Tire/America’s Tire, they are nationwide, so you will always have one nearby. They offer a lifetime warranty against UV cracking,which is the big killer of trailer tires. I had a lake boat that I kept in the Arizona desert on a trailer and I was able to replace all the tires at least once for under $20 each over a decade of ownership. No questions asked: in fact I was ready to pay full price for the first replacement set of four and was shocked that the bill was only $60/70. Buy the extended warranty for $5 a tire then take them down for exchange before the warranty runs out.......

I had Triton Yacht Hauler https://www.tritonyachts.com/
out of Oriental, NC move my Prairie 29 from Brunswick, GA to New Bern, NC

I had to prepare, it had to be below 15', and it went very well. I was very pleased with all Paul at Triton did for me.

It cost $3500 for just the move (NOT the life on and off).

IF a trailer is available, one would think trailering up on its own would be cheaper.

Check the trailer brakes and lights when doing the bearings.

I just looked at a similar boat built in 1997 in Harlingen Texas. The owner bought it in Montana and drove it down.

He had no problems.

talk to a local marina, they have firms they use all the time to move boats.. Either down there or up where you live. I was going to move a boat from SC to Long Island via a truck and there were a bunch of firms that do it One place to look is U-Ship.

Also these guys are highly reputable. index

the marina I keep my boat in builds the shelter island 38's and they use these guys to ship them..

I had a hauler from the end of Cayuga Lake, Lockview Marina, haul my 38' Carver Santego from Annapolis MD to Watkins Glen. The Marina in Annapolis said they were one of the best haulers he had ever worked with.

jflongwell said:

I had a hauler from the end of Cayuga Lake, Lockview Marina, haul my 38' Carver Santego from Annapolis MD to Watkins Glen. The Marina in Annapolis said they were one of the best haulers he had ever worked with.

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Lock View is first class... they moved a 34 Mainship from Dallas TX to Waterloo NY for me. My yard uses them a lot and rate them very high.
I'll bet they would be way more expensive than either someone hauling on the trailer or loading both on flat bed.

That boat sitting on its trailer will definitely be too tall to haul on a flatbed, even a lowboy.

I would ask the seller to either have the brakes serviced and change the tires if necessary or agree to haul it to a marine or rv repair yard to do the work there. Here in SW Florida we have several places that do work on both RVs and outboard powered boats and they are lots cheaper than water based boat yards.

Also ask those guys who they use for hauling. Moving a trailer camper isn't much different than moving a boat.


I have been through the drill of renting a full size pickup to tow a boat one way and came up blank. Obviously no big rental company wants to take the risk.


Finally your 4,500# boat weight sounds low by at least 1,000#. I would want a trailer rated for at least 6,000 lbs, preferrably 8,000. A quick way to check is the size of the coupler. 2" couplers are only good to 5,000 lbs and if that is what your trailer has be very wary.

David

SpaceCadet said:

If all goes well, I will be buying a boat that's located in Georgia. I live in Massachusetts. I will need a company to transport it up here. It is a Nimble Kodiak 26' motorsailor w/8'6" beam. Displacement is about 4500# and it has a trailer. But it should probably go on a flatbed anyway.

Does anyone have a recommendation? From my desk, there's not much to go on except $$ and what it says on the companies' Websites. And the cheapest quote is not always the best.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

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Rent a U Haul and do it yourself. Thats a small boat. Easily towed. I had a friend who used to tow a 27' Watkins sailboat around the country. 10' beam and about 12' high. Weighed about 8500 lbs.

He pulled it with a Toyota Tundra.

He said he never had a problem with the 10 foot width...even though technically its over the limit and special permits would normally be needed.

Having researched this subject to death not too long ago when I got my boat:
Class III : Standard pick-up truck size
Receiver hitch size: 2"
Tow Weight: 8,000 lbs.
Hitch tongue weight: 800 lbs.

Last I knew, UHaul would not allow towing of such but Budget and perhaps even Penske would. Ryder would as well, but costly.

That may have just been uhaul in a particular area of the country though

try Uship.com

BandB said:

Last I knew, UHaul would not allow towing of such but Budget and perhaps even Penske would. Ryder would as well, but costly.

That may have just been uhaul in a particular area of the country though

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I thought I've seen Uhaul trucks towing a car??

Moving boat

Trust me on this one.
One of the beauties of a Nimble 26 with an 8.6. Ram is that it’s trailoable. Which means that you have the ability to move the boat by truck to cruising grounds and you have a place to store the boat economically during the winter which is a huge benefit in your area.
Buy a new trailer and go get the boat yourself. That’s probably cheaper than having it hauled and even if not, you will have a new trailer for the boat plus you get the benefit of a nice trip.
Don’t have it hauled.

Moving boat

I don’t know where all the bad spelling came from. I meant “beam” and trailerable and whatever. But you get my meaning.

Bryant said:

Trust me on this one.
One of the beauties of a Nimble 26 with an 8.6. Ram is that it’s trailoable. Which means that you have the ability to move the boat by truck to cruising grounds and you have a place to store the boat economically during the winter which is a huge benefit in your area.
Buy a new trailer and go get the boat yourself. That’s probably cheaper than having it hauled and even if not, you will have a new trailer for the boat plus you get the benefit of a nice trip.
Don’t have it hauled.

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Wifey B: Check out the old trailer first. Easy to spray paint and replace tires and wheels and ready to go perhaps.