Transporting a Trawler

We’ve found the trawler of our dreams but it’s in Massachusetts and we’re in San Diego. Before I give up on the whole idea, has anyone ever transported a boat across country? Web searches give vague answers and I’ve no idea if it’s even reasonable to consider putting it on an 18 wheeler, a ship going through the Panama, or even attempting the trip myself. I’m not retired and at 8 knots I don’t think the latter is an option. It’s a 53 for DeFever:
http://www.curtisstokes.net/pdf/trawler-for-sale-defever-53-moonlight.pdf

Before I stop dreaming, doe as anyone have any idea what this might cost? Even a rough guess so I can give up or pursue it.
Thanks
Glenn

I have an active quote for my Willard 36 to ship from Ensenada to Florida. $17k. Based on that, maybe $40k-$50k for a Defever 53. But obviously just a guess. It is not practical to truck. Hiring a delivery captain is an option. I've been out of the business for 15 years, but last boat I took from California to Florida cost $15k plus expenses, which are usually double the captain/crew fees. So would bump up against $35k+ in today's dollars assuming all goes well

Good luck. Tons of trawlers up coast from you, especially defever.

Peter

Check out this You Tube video:
posted by seattleboatguy he did a whole research and comparison on different methods on moving his boat from East coast to Seattle

Well, you picked a nice boat. But I think your options are limited to either bringing it on its own bottom, either by you or a paid crew or putting it on a ship. No way will it go by truck, too high and the beam would be tough but doable. But the height is really the thing that will not let it go by truck. Even if it is possible to remove the bridge I think it will still be too high for the road. On its own bottom the bad thing is the limited fuel capacity of 800 gallons. Not that it cannot be done, just more difficult with that low a capacity. You will constantly be looking for fuel. Still doable but more time stopping for fuel. I would look at a ship and be prepared to spend $50K. Whatever you decide, good luck. I really like the 53. I looked at a 47 POC a couple of years ago and loved it but decided against it since our yard can’t haul it.

I haven’t found a boat yet so don’t have a firm quote but have heard from several people about $1k a foot is a pretty good budgetary number right now (freighter). Close friend shipped a 68 footer from FLA to Victoria in 2019 for $63k so pretty close.

I went the partial route backwards with a GB42. SD to Galveston on the truck and thence by waterway to Florida. I seriously doubt there is anyway you could get below the 16-foot or so total cargo height with that big a boat. If you can, run it to Galveston and then standby for a a 15-20K bill for the trucking. Not worth the hassle IMHO. Look on your own coast. In my case Uncle Sam footed the bill for the truck.

About 6 years ago I was looking at a Hatteras 53 in the New Orleans area. After doing all the research it worked out to be about $50,000 weather by boat or by delivery skipper. Each method had pro’s and con’s. Delivery times appeared quicker by delivery skipper but if anything went wrong delivery times could go longer. If I had the time I would have made an adventure out delivering the boat myself. In the end I couldn’t justify the delivery cost and risks of buying a boat on the other side of the Continental Divide.

Another thing to think about is if it were even possible to get the height down to a level that it could be trucked it the cost and hassle of removing the flybridge. A friend had his 38’ Californian trucked from San Diego to Houston. He said he spent 3 years chasing down the misc leaks and electrical problems. He finally got it fixed then a hurricane took it...

$50k.

Comodave said:

... On its own bottom the bad thing is the limited fuel capacity of 800 gallons. Not that it cannot be done, just more difficult with that low a capacity. You will constantly be looking for fuel. Still doable but more time stopping for fuel. ...

Click to expand...

Bladder tank on the deck? Looks like lots of room on the fore deck. Also, diesel in drums and a transfer pump.

Pretty confident that shipping on a boat it would be $50k-$70k. Maybe cheaper on her bottom but that comes with many other considerations. Sent you a PM as I have done this on a 58 Hatteras and wish I knew then what I know now. But to be blunt unless you just want a venture and don't need the money stick to west coast boats!

Off topic but have you looked at the 60' flushdeck LRC for sale in San Diego? It's not a POC, not sure if extra speed is what you are looking for.

I looked at a 58 LRC Hatteras in Virginia, I loved it but my wife was put off by it being pretty dirty. There is one in San Pedro I think that looks nice. Maybe take a look at it. Not af fast as a POC but it will do the weat coast on 1 fillup and more.

Here is a fuel usage chart that was on the 58 we looked at.

Thanks for all the good information. We're aiming at retiring and living aboard in about 8 years. We want something a little larger than our current two bedroom 42 power trawler so we can have family visit. Given the price of the boat, and a $50-$70k moving price I think we're going to wait and keep searching the pacific coast for a 3 bedroom. I sure do love those 80's DeFevers.
Thanks everyone
Glenn

Looks like shipping boats is crazy expensive! Looks like waiting for the right boat locally is the only really viable solution. Spending 50k to haul a boat is NUTS!

We purchased our GB42 Europa. She was in CA. We live in NJ.
You can do what we did, load your boat aboard a transport ship. Probably out of Boston, Newport. There are a couple other main ports in Baltimore and Port Everglades FL. The ship will travel through the canal and up to Ensenada. A few hrs or less SD by boat.
US union regulation do not allow foreign registered ships to load your vessel in the US and drop off in the US. So pick the US port you want to drop your boat off.
We made an adventure of it. We enjoyed the 600 mi to Ensenada. An thoroughly enjoyed the cruise north from FL to NY.

Shipping cost is based upon length and width. We are a 14’ beam and 42’ length. ( don’t get sucked into LOA. I owned a GB 42, the name says it all. I entered 42 LOA. No one batted an eye. The cost was 22.5K in 2017. Originally the person I dealt with entered 16’ beam and the cost was higher than quoted. I complained and he corrected the documents. Always err to the smallest dimension possible.

This wasn’t the most economical decision but hey you only live once and we wanted the boat for the next season. It was a terrific life experience!!!!!
Feel free to pm me for more info.

There is a boat like that at my Marina in Mission Bay at Driscoll's. The owners name is Mike and is from Newport.