Trucking a Hinckley Pilot 35

[Sailordave]

Any idea what it would cost to ship one from CA to MD? Almost 36' long, less than 10' wide, and the really important measurement (height) I'm guessing at 10'.

Any recommendations as to a good company?

sigh.

[todd gustafson]

Wow..... Big boat to ship.

We shipped a 27' from CT. to MN 6 years ago and cost $2500 (much different era)....... with other boats on the trailer....... your will likely be the only one on the trailer at over twice the distance........Also might try to get bids to ship to Chicago...... than another to MD....might find a hauler that needs a ''filler''..... You have to be creative these days.

Ever thought of sailing her to Md.? .......nice long vacation :)

[Rachel]

I was involved with shipping a "big" 32-footer from the Chesapeake to CA about five years ago. 40' LOA, 11' beam, can't remember height but it was not overheight at all. This required permitting but not an escort vehicle. Cost was $10,000. That did not include prepping or the yards' time in loading or unloading (although the trucker did help). Proper prepping can be a big job depending on the boat and its equipment; conversely a bad prep job can cause a lot of problems over five thousand miles of jiggling and jouncing.

I can recommend Boat Lovers' Transport out of Virginia. Nice, communicative couple. Cruisers, so they know boats. And they have a nice new rig (they are not new at this; just got new equipment recently). They drive it themselves, as a team - no sub-contracting. They do go coast to coast fairly often (there are a couple of other outfits I recommend but they are mainly east coast haulers). Kip and Linda are their names. (They are not the folks I had make the aforementioned haul, but I'm a bit lukewarm on the people who made that one.)

[Sailordave]

Nah, 35' isn't big... My buddie's SWAN 48... Now THAT is a big boat. And I know the biggest factor in cost is HEIGHT.

I'm going to investigate this this week. Hmmmmm.

Thanks.

[Rachel]

And I know the biggest factor in cost is HEIGHT.

I'm going to investigate this this week.

I'll be interested to hear what you find out. I arranged for one boat to be trucked, and at first we weren't sure whether or not it was going to be overheight. While that would have cost more, it was not going to be a huge difference, percentage-wise, of the whole job. Now granted we were talking a foot or two over, not five. This was ~1,000 mile move (it turned out we were able to load it so as not to be overheight).

If your whole load is 10' tall, I don't think you should have any overheight problems, if you are using a boat-specific lowboy; they are *really* low. Like a foot or so off the ground. Oftentimes you can take off one or two things to make the boat quite a bit less tall, too (pedestal guard, bow pulpit, etc.).

Overwidth, at first, is just special bannering and certain rules about where and when you can drive. As you get more overwidth then you get into escorts and of course more roadway limitations. I forget where the line between those two is, but it somewhere in the 11' to 12'' range I think.

I hope you'll let us know what you find out.

[One Way David]

If your measurements are correct, this sounds like a perfect excuse to buy that 1 ton Dodge and a road trip from California.

Dave.

[Sailordave]

If your measurements are correct, this sounds like a perfect excuse to buy that 1 ton Dodge and a road trip from California.

Dave.

YOU are not the first person to suggest this. I however, do not wish the responsibility of towing that big thing 2500 miles!
Nor would I need the truck afterwards. (I've already got a PU.)

[Sharpie]

Try Uship.com. They have a marine transport section. I have had good results with it. Also get a firm quote, and get it in writing. Some of these boat transporters think they can increase the price once they get to the destination. Another advantage of uship.com is that you post reviews. A driver will be less likely to take advantage of you if he knows you will be post it online.

[One Way David]

OK, just trying to be a good enabler.

Dave.