Mainship 390 Trawler Fly Bridge removal

[Charlie williams]

Hello Boater friends.
I am in the process of buying a Mainship 390 and am looking for any documentation on removing the fly bridge for transport and specific height of boat.
Thank you very much if you have anything you can share
Charlie

[jleonard]

IF you can find an ex Mainship dealership in your area and if they have someone who worked there during the time those boats were new, ,they would know the procedure. Most or all of those were shipped with the flybridge removed as far as I know. It was dealer assembly.

[boater3]

Originally Posted by Charlie williams

Hello Boater friends.
I am in the process of buying a Mainship 390 and am looking for any documentation on removing the fly bridge for transport and specific height of boat.
Thank you very much if you have anything you can share
Charlie

Where are you transporting from and to?

I have heard first hand from many that removing a fly bridge is an absolute last resort. Many boats will not be the same once a fly bridge is removed and re-attached. People say they chase leaks and gremlins.

Apparently my ST44 can be transported over land with just lowering the mast, and removing the windscreen. A few members here have done it with their boats loading at 15'9" which is fine to transport over land in most of the south and I think could get up to NJ.

I decided it just made sense to transport over water. Boats are meant to be floating on their bottoms not riding cross country on a trailer. The cost of transporting over land would've been more expensive. I also got a hell of a trip doing 3,000 miles by water.

[garmstro55]

I suggest contacting Rick Sweeten at Line Six Services...he specializes in transporting boats overland and may have already moved a MS trawler. Very honest and a good guy. (856) 466-5941

[jleonard]

If you look at the "boats for sale" section, read the one about the 390 for sale by riverguy. He offers a manual that describes the procedure.

[LongJohn]

If there is any way at all to move her on her own bottom, it'll save you money and make a great trip; 1200sm for me.

[Shermanricharde]

I'm faced with the same issue. Were you able to find the instructions s? What did you do?

Thanks.

[Wanted390]

Hello,
I am looking for any information on flybridge removal on a mainship 390. I’ve been trying to find @riverguy guide about the removal but have had no luck.

[Shermanricharde]

I did get a copy from river guy, but can’t put my hands on it. How quick do you need it.

My boat was on the east coast and I live in Tx. I was considering putting it on a lake in Tx. After about 2 years of fun times, the price of these boats nearly doubled so I sold. Was a great boat.

[kthoennes]

We had our flybridge removed for shipping from New York to South Dakota (1500 road miles), but then our Mainship is the cruiser/big white tennis shoe style so might not be too comparable. I have heard lots of stories that unless you're very lucky, things are never quite right after a removal and re-install. We purposely chose Coeyman's Landing Marina on the Hudson, just below Albany, because they were a Mainship dealer and service center in the past and were Mainship experts. We got very lucky on both ends. Coeymans did a fantastic job for us as we hoped, and then our marina in Yankton also did a great job, but it was a huge amount of work overall. $3500 for the reinstall at our home marina. It's hard to peel out the cost of just the removal on the New York end though since we had them do a lot of other work for us while they were at it, and they also handled loading on the 18-wheeler, building the cradles for the bridge and aft roof, etc. Removing the props. They also had to remove and reinstall the aft deck roof, which your model doesn't have. It's a big job even for a relatively small boat like ours.

You'll hear everybody say, label, label, label. Have the same techs who do the disassembly handle the reassembly, etc. Nice if you can do that, but we didn't even ask Eric from Coeymans if he wanted to spend a week in South Dakota during his home marina's high season on the Hudson. Every single thing came back together perfectly for us except for two things -- an oil pressure gauge wire got crossed, and they didn't wire the AIS to the VHF radio display correctly, but if those were the only two issues, we were incredibly lucky.

Different route and different model of boat I know, but maybe those observations are helpful. I remember when the truck drove into the boat yard in Yankton and I saw all the pieces and crates and cradles and no props and the railings were lashed to the truck trailer and it bristled 2x4's and our big tall boat looked all sad and stripped down and naked and small, I wanted to cry -- thought to myself, there is no way on earth that will all come back together, our boat is wrecked. But it came together.

Our five year plan is to ship the boat to Duluth on Lake Superior and then sail out into the world, but I'm already trying to figure out if there's a highway route between here and there that accommodates an over-height shipment, even if we need permits and pilot cars. We got lucky once, but I would rather not ever do that again.

[Comodave]

Good advice on pulling and reinstalling the flybridge. A friend had his liveaboard Californians flybridge removed for trucking from San Diego to Houston. He said he spent 4 years tracking down wiring issues and leaks before his boat was again right. Of course about 6 months after he got it all fixed a hurricane ate the boat. Labeling is your friend. The best possible scenario would be for the technician that removes the bridge would be the one reinstalling it.

[Bacchus]

Originally Posted by kthoennes

Our five year plan is to ship the boat to Duluth on Lake Superior and then sail out into the world, but I'm already trying to figure out if there's a highway route between here and there that accommodates an over-height shipment, even if we need permits and pilot cars. We got lucky once, but I would rather not ever do that again.

My limited knowledge re trucking oversized loads is that route clearances is not the only / determining factor... I've been told by transporters that the load has to be "minimized", meaning if it Can be removed it Has to be removed. Difficulty, expense isn't a determining factor. I realize above is an over simplification so devil may be in the details. That was how it was explained to me when inquiring about oversized loads.

[Comodave]

Originally Posted by Bacchus

My limited knowledge re trucking oversized loads is that route clearances is not the only / determining factor... I've been told by transporters that the load has to be "minimized", meaning if it Can be removed it Has to be removed. Difficulty, expense isn't a determining factor. I realize above is an over simplification so devil may be in the details. That was how it was explained to me when inquiring about oversized loads.

The load doesn’t absolutely have to be minimized but the more oversize it is limits the available routes. And with more limited routes the price goes up due to more restrictions like a chase car and a lead car. Detours due to height restrictions. Transport companies want it minimized so they can do it quicker and easier on themselves and they can get to the next job. I used to move boats cross country and loved loads that didn’t have oversized restrictions. I could run longer and choose my route instead of having it chosen for me. But cross country with a flybridge on the boat will make it a tough and expensive trip.

[Wanted390]

Originally Posted by Shermanricharde

I did get a copy from river guy, but can’t put my hands on it. How quick do you need it.

My boat was on the east coast and I live in Tx. I was considering putting it on a lake in Tx. After about 2 years of fun times, the price of these boats nearly doubled so I sold. Was a great boat.

Thanks for all the info and advice. We live in Vancouver Canada and have not found a 390 available from Vancouver to Washington state. I would appreciate it if you do find the document then I could further decide if transport is a option worth considering.

Many thanks
Will
Willbayer@icloud.com

[Cartouche]

Originally Posted by Wanted390

Thanks for all the info and advice. We live in Vancouver Canada and have not found a 390 available from Vancouver to Washington state. I would appreciate it if you do find the document then I could further decide if transport is a option worth considering.

Many thanks
Will
Willbayer@icloud.com

Check Canadian Height restrictions they are different than the US (Lower) I concur with all that talk against the idea, I looked long and hard into it when we were looking for our 390, and every one said if you had to - it has to be the same person re installing the fly bridge that disassembled it. Ours was launched in Toronto, but was shipped from the factory in 2 pieces never haven been put together we had found one that could come home on her own bottom we would move on to something else.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by Wanted390

Hello,
I am looking for any information on flybridge removal on a mainship 390. I’ve been trying to find @riverguy guide about the removal but have had no luck.

The user Riverguy only has 6 posts in total, and only 2 are in the Classifieds section.

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/...r-41837-2.html

Page #2, Post #25.