Shipping a Mainship 34

Does anyone know if you can ship via truck a Mainship 34 over the road ? Like Maine to SC? Our schedule at the moment won’t allow time to do it via water.
Or is there another option, other than paying someone to captain it? I know they ship boats overseas via large vessels, is there a similar service for east coast US?

Anyone had experience shipping one before?

Don't know which Mainship 34 you are talking about, presumably the newer 34T not the classic 34 of several decades ago. But the answer is probably the same for both.

I bought my 34T new in California and it was shipped with the flybridge off which was shipped separately. Shipping a 34T to Maine probably requires the overall height limited to about 13' 6" which means that the flybridge has to come off. Removal and replacement will cost at least $5K plus approximately another $10K for shipping.

The Jones act means that foreign flagged carriers can't ship from US port to US port. AFAIK there is no US flagged boat carrier and if there were it would cost at least $20K, so that is out.

SC to Maine will take about two weeks assuming you can run at 8-10 kts. A crew of two will cost about $500 per day and will be your cheapest solution.

David

Pmartin949 said:

Does anyone know if you can ship via truck a Mainship 34 over the road ? Like Maine to SC? Our schedule at the moment won’t allow time to do it via water.
Or is there another option, other than paying someone to captain it? I know they ship boats overseas via large vessels, is there a similar service for east coast US?

Anyone had experience shipping one before?

Click to expand...

Patrick,
Welcome aboard TF!
I may have the manual / procedure for dealers to install the flybridge on the later yr 34Ts. I'd have to look on the computer when I get back to it... working from the TF app right now.
I'm sure it can be done - how much time, trouble &$ is the real question.
Mine is a 34HT so I had no bridge to contend with when I shipped mine. I do know the 34HT was 13 ft from sand shoe to highest pt on my top. You can gain a little bit by removing the sand shoe along with prop(s) but most transport will want at least prop off.
Best advice I've seen here on TF is to pay the e travel to have a tech from your home port / yard do the removal so he is knowledgable and careful doing it right. There have been many horror stories when not done properly.
If I forget and dont get back to you feel free to send me a reminder PM.

Thank you. That is very helpful.

We had our MS Pilot 34 brought up via truck from MD. Think it cost $2300

You got a deal! I shipped my Pilot 34 from Oriental, NC to Essex, Ct four years ago and the best I could do was $3,000 and that was waiting a few weeks so the shipper could work out a backhaul to limit costs. And all I had to do was remove the radar dome. No flybridge removal, as it doesn't have one.

David

Patrick
I looked over my files and could not find a flybridge rigging manual.
Don't know if I was dreaming or really saw one.
If I find it hidden I'll get back to you.

Don

I looked at how to take off the flybridge when I owned my Mainship 34T just for grins and giggles. It didn't look all that difficult. I don't know how it was fastened to the underlying structure, maybe lag screws through the deck. The big hassle will be disconnecting the electronics and hydraulics and reconnecting them properly. As was suggested above, try to use the same guy on both ends. I will bet he labels the stuff well, knowing he has to put it back together himself. Air fare and motel will be cheap compared with what can go wrong if different guys do it on each end.

But like I said above, I would hire a crew to move it on its own bottom. Probably the cheapest way.

David

There are services which will ship boats overseas or from certain locations to others. I see them offloading and loading craft in Newport but you would likely need to work around their schedule and set location.

Call a hauling company and ask. They can map a rout to deal with any height issues.

I can’t remember why we only paid $2300 as my broker arranged it. I was too naive to ask if it was a good deal or not

Not that you are considering having it shipped by water, but a caution if you ever do...
3 or 4 years ago a Mainship 34T arrived here in Campbell River and was immediately hauled up into the yard for major repair. It looked fine on the outside, but appearances were deceiving.
It had been shipped by water from Florida and during an early loading and unloading (I believe it was loaded/unloaded at least twice along the way),
it was apparently loaded or unloaded without the proper spreaders on the slings, and the floor and supports for the main cabin area were buckled upward. (That could have happened with any vessel I'm sure.)

A lot has to do with the boat. Describing it as a Mainship 34 doesn't tell us much. It could be a 40 year old 20 thousand dollar boat that's hardly worth the shipping expense. Id look closer to home. An example... There a nice on 20 miles from where he lives. https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2005/mainship-34-trawler-3660134/

Yikes! I assume there is special for type of incident but still would be a nightmare.

Meant to say special insurance

I did consider hiring a captain to bring it up while teaching me the ropes, but it would have cost more than ground transport

It was an almost new Mainship 34T. I believe that the T designation is a recent one, although I'm not sure.