Yacht Transport 

I shipped a 43' Sailboat from Jacksonville to Southampton, England. Pretty easy, all by email and telephone, got the ad from a Sailing Magazine. The Broker used Wallenius Lines Auto Carrier, boat setting in a cradle. Unexpected cost was additional insurance to protect my interests. Total cost (all out of my pocket!) was $13K, insurance was about $2500. Good video with good info.

Whew, I'm tired just watching. What an adventure. So glad it all came together and worked out for you.

Excellent discussion! I have wondered about the alternatives and this answered most of those questions.well done

I really enjoyed this detailed rationalization for transport (your pic with the legs up in the air is funny as hell) - this is quite helpful.

Wonderful episode with great advice and tips. Thank you for sharing.

As is the norm with your videos, this was another cogent, well organized, and helpful piece. Excellent job.

Great to hear from you again young man! So glad you were able to get Slow Bells moved out west. Some people pay 5 -10 thousand to have a house worth of belongings packed up and delivered. You are merely saving the trouble of unpacking your home and moving the whole thing at once. Sounds to me like that would be easier, less of course having to hire someone for the logistics part of shipping. Looking forward to the new adventures and thank you for sharing your story. Be well and calm seas Captain.

Thanks for information it is great. Live in Washington state and Mt sailboat I purchased is in NC a 40 ft pacific seacraft. Did not want a pot smoking drunk druggie a pirate want to be on the my boat. Looked a trucking but the mast and everything had to come down to cabin top. Checked on shipping on a ship and needed be picked up in Fort Lauderdale and unload in Vancouver BC or in Mexico. Now you helped me under stand the reason of Vancouver instead of Anacortes. No big issue. Canada may have large charges. The crazy people told me I should go to the Caribbean for fun, more pot smoking drunks there and theft is high and husseled by locals. I am retired divorced no depends and solo sailor. Alaska in summer and Mexico in winter. Base in Blaine away from Seattle.

That was a very informative discussion. I certainly understand the reasoning to keep her. Better to know what you have rather than hope you can do as good by buying a different boat and having to deal with it's problems. Which it certainly will have. Best regards.

What an amazing gift of information. Thank you so much!

That’s a really great rundown on a problem that has always kept me wondering about how best to solve it. Not buying a boat will never be an option until the years take me over. A buddy of mine bought his 36 foot Catamaran in Venezuela and sailed it to Texas and trucked it to California. Turned out to be a fair price and all went well but permits were a hassle. They had to go through New Orleans and at one point jack the boat up on one hull to get a small enough beam to fit between two houses on s detour through town. That’s going to effect the price , but all ended well. Puget sound is a wonderful place to end up, and we sure look forward to sailing there again ( weather permitting) Thanks for the post

Thank you. This answered a lot of questions and gave a lot to think about. Good helpful video.

Very comprehensive and informative. Thanks for sharing

This was very interesting and well presented. That you for sharing. I have thought about shipping my Grand Banks 32 from Montreal to Victoria, where my family lives. I thought about truck or train....certainly an expensive and stressful experience. Glad you made it safe. I’ll look forward to following you as you toot around the west coast.

A very informative and good video. Thank you very much.

Well said! When did boating ever have anything to do with logic

GOD BLESS YOU for making this video. Summarized many of my questions. I can't believe my luck when, after realizing that there was no way around needing to ship my boat from seattle to boston that simply typing "cost of shipping sailboat usa" would yield such a nice video

I'm a bit late to your channel, but I watched each video. Terrific job negotiating your way around the Great Loop ... and giving me a road map on how to do the same. Thanks so very much for your presentation.

Super informative, Thank you so much! Fair winds

Excellent advice! Thanks and enjoy the Pacific NW, one of my bucket list items.

Good video. I shipped a 39' sailboat by truck in 1997 from Florida to Seattle for $6k. In 2010 I shipped a 49' sailboat by truck from San Diego to Seattle for $6k. In 2018 we shipped a 49' sailboat from Sydney Australia to West Palm Beach Florida as deck cargo for $38K. This was still cheaper than selling in Australia and buying another boat in the US. We are currently stopped from shipping from Ft. Lauderdale to Victoria because the boat can go a cargo but we can not get into Canada becasue of Covid19. We negotiated this deal in 2019 for $23K. We much prefer the ship to the truck because of the break apart and re-commissioning on either end. Getting a delivery skipper for any long distance or international delivery just scares me. Too much can go wrong and your financial commitment tends to be open ended. In some countries you can get your boat confiscated because of the actions of a low integrity captain or his crew. We used Pantainous for insurance from Australia. Whoever you choose as a carrier, they all are negotiable and you should work it as hard as you feel comfortable.

Most informative. Thank you!

Profound ending,..”when did logic have anything to do with boating?” Well done, Capt’n!

Thank you for making this video

Very good information. Thank you

I don't own a boat but this was a very interesting video. Well done sir !!

Thank you for reminding me why I have 'friends with yachts ' and not 'yachts.'

I much favour option 2. Lots of boats to be had here on the westcoast. CHEERS from South Vancouver Island!!!

Thank you ever so much. Mr. Logic.

After getting off my high horse about pronunciation (apologies), I just want to add, that this was a great, informative video and I am now sub'd. Thank you.

Very good info, thanks.

As someone who doesn't have anything to do with boating, i can't wrap my head around the idea to have a BOAT, and the time, but using another ship to transport is from a to b. I mean, like living on a van, but not wanting to take your home with you while traveling across the nation. I always hought thats exactly the reason to live on a boat, so you can live wherever, whenever on earth you want...

Great video bud . Thank you

This information was very helpful....I live in Seattle and thinking about buying a class boat in Florida. Thank you

wow man i really learned a lot thanks.

I love your video, they are the most realistic and well thought out, I wish you could film a video of slow bells being loaded and transiting the Panama Canal to washington. Safe travels, enjoy he pacific norhwest

Thank you for sharing your insights and experience as I’m just starting to pipe dream about these money pits, this is a detail that I need to cover to get something trawlerish to the local resovore, where it can be a second home, and see if we still have it at retirement, then do the loop, being not far from Lake Erie.

Hey Captain Doug. I enjoyed your videos so much I just finished watching all of them twice! Hope Slow Bells is enjoying her new home. I'm in Gig Harbor. Would enjoy taking you to lunch at Tides Tavern if you ever come this way. (After Washington State reopens, of course.) Cheers.

Helpful and informative thank you

I am going through the same song and dance for a sailboat in Europe and trying to get it to the West Coast. There is no free lunch and all the choices suck, especially during the Covid 19 chaos! Thanks for your insights and experience on this.

Back in the 80's i was a bout transporter for a local outfit here in Sumner ,Wa. I did it for almost 6 years I moved all kinds power and sail new and used .steal glass or wood .best job i ever had . I was a long haul oversize and heavy haul for my whole career of 45 years I now live in Tacoma .

We shipped our 64' sailboat from Mallorca to Martinique , Lesser Antilles. You can't make a crossing without a good healthy crew, fuel, provisions, crew transportation, a captain, insurance, etc. and lots of stuff breaks out there. We flew to Martinique the day before arrival, and powered the boat off the ship and into her berth. She was just as she was when we'd loaded her in Mallorca. We know we saved a lot of money and missed watching waves for several weeks.

Just watched your conclusions of the first build from the hurricane damage. I know this is a money oriented situation but nothing is impossible! kia kaha bro!

Wow thank you for info!

Very informative!

"When did logic have anything to do with boating" Good one

Very informative 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

The cost going up likely has just as much to do with inflation as with the boat type. The ever rising cost of living means even services like this have prices going up.edit to add: Welcome back home. I'm just North in Vancouver BC.

A very interesting Vidio thank you greatly 👍

Good comparisons. Most people discount the amount of time and expense they've already put into their current boat. If one were to add that cost, #1 and #2 are not even considerations. IMO, it's worth it to ship rather than start over again, the costs already invested probably far outweighs the cost of shipping.

Had it with left coast madness. Unfortunately you have to get off the boat to get/do things. Sold my 43’ Delta Clipper that I thought I would spend the golden years on but decided to leave it behind. The buyer got a deal, but I got freedom. Land with a river view somewhere in Tennessee. (No worries about rot and sinking) Ironically, it’s close to where my boat was made! Lol

OK, I see that you have a twin engine. Ford Lemans, great engines. But this would make it even costlier to make the trip. Fuel and lack of protection for the running gear. That could get very expensive and time consuming too. Lots of crap to hit out there. You defiantly made the right choice. And no offense, (I’m not a young guy anymore either!), you have to plug in your age. A trip like this is very demanding, even on a power boat. Again, wise choice.

Trucking boats across country, especially boats that are too big to be trailered, is tricky. I know of several stories of larger boats getting destroyed while being truck across the US, including a 42’ Grand Banks that got smashed into an overhead bridge. If the boat has a fly bridge that will likely have to be removed. My father owned a 36’ Grand Banks sedan that he purchased in Mobile Al then cruised up an inland rivers and canal system to the Great Lakes. It took a few weeks.

am also in quite similar situation, am thinking of transporting a Fairline squadron 58 from the UK all the way to East African coast. Its really a hassle. Hope everything works out well. Loved Yachts since I was a kid but transporting it to my destination, my wallet is sweating!!

Very good information. Thanks for the info, particularly about the Jones Act. I’ve read some people took their boat up to the Great Lakes, Lake Superior, and then. Shipped by truck from there to the west coast. They said it was cheaper but seems timely expensive for fuel, etc. and a lot of coordination. Did you ever check this option out?

Great info! I assume the shipping companies base their pricing similarly to trucking - based on overall yacht dimensions and weight? Can you please explain how the shipping pricing works? We are also contemplating shipping our yacht from FL to WA.... (after we do our Platinum Great Loop this year), for all the same reasons you listed.

Lots of money. Lots of time spent on learning curves. The older you get the more more you have to sub tasks out. The bigger the boat, the less you can do yourself. And, of course, there's the ocean itself (too vast, too fearsome, too beautiful...to put into words. You can drown in the sea, but, not in the words describing her.

I was looking at smallish 35ft sailboat, the price was reasonable...until I got quotes for transport. $4,000 plus to move it from Austin, TX to Corpus Christi, TX., about 220 miles. which is ridiculous to say the least. If I could sail, float or motor on a river from Austin to Corpus, I would have, but that's not possible. No wonder why no one I've heard got their boat from Austin. It would have been great to have an older fresh water boat for the coast, but not at the kind of money just to move it 220 miles. When you add the cost just to make it ready for the coast, it quickly approaches the point where it's just not worth it.

Go with captain Ron you will have great stories for the yacht club bar

Thank you for this, I'm thinking about the least bad way to bring my boat from Los Angeles to the gulf coast. Seems logical to just sell it lol

I am a freight forwarder and I've shipped all types of cargoes, including my own boat and heavy industrial and mining machinery and what I can tell you is that I've never seen a shipping contract like the one you explain...that simply looks like a rip off contract; indeed, you usually get a quote and the terms and conditions to which the service is subject to and what it is/it is not included in the cost given; deciding for the insurance offered by the said shipping company was not a good decision unless you have no means to hire your own; shipping companies make a profit out of the insurance policies and, most of the time, you'll have a headache trying to get paid should anything happens to your boat. Furthermore, transit time of a ship is not only based on the speed and distance but also by the many ports of call the vessel has to stop before reaching the place where your cargo is; this works both ways; also, in regards to the Jones Act; it is correct that only US flagged ships can do cabotage (shipping between US ports), but there's NOT A SINGLE shipping line (meaning vessel owner/operator) making the trade lane from USEC to USWC ports. If you paid for shipping your boat from Florida to Washington state and the boat was discharged at a foreign port in Canada, you were cheated and you may ask for your money back; if you knew your boat was not going to be offloaded from the ship neither at Tacoma nor Seattle, in WA, then you agreed to the delivery at a Canadian port. Last, when the cargo arrives to the destination chosen, the shipping line just discharge the cargo at the terminal and it up to you when you want to pick it up; you have some time free of charge, BY THE TERMINAL, and you'll start paying for storage charges after the free time ends...not that you have to be there when the vessel arrives, not at all. By the way...over 20 thousand dollars for the service performed it is excessive, outrageous and abusive...I am currently shipping a 2000 Sea Ray 46' boat from Netherland to Colombia and total cost it is no more than 15 thousand, all inclusive. Glad to see your experience ended up well for you.

I have THOUGHT about this for ages now (for the past year). I live in Missouri and want a sailboat or a trawler type yacht. I came to the conclusion that if I wanted to own a boat on Lake of the Ozarks or lake Stockton, what the hell would I do if I wanted to move. Would I have it hauled across country or end up selling it? The only saving grace is that if I decided to relocate to the Gulf of Mexico, I might be able to haul a boat to the Mississippi and float it down. The issue with that plan is getting a boat with a long keel to the Mississippi and finding a boat launch. I would probably still have to haul the mast hahahahaha

Where did you find captain papers for Robert Branch he is likely a relative of mine.

Nice presentation. Thanks! Yes, if you have the time, making the trip you self dose have big plusses and minuses. I have made that trip with my 45’ sailboat. The plus is the enjoyment of the trip itself. And yes your boat in very good shape could do it. Yes, you would have to pick your weather and need plenty of time. And yes, there would be definite risks in making the trip. And plenty of expense too. And you are right, there is no easy or cheap answer. What was the height of your boat and would it be to much to remove the fly bridge. I’m sure you thought about it. I can see that you have put very extensive work into your boat. Wow! I assume that you are single screw. And yes, you do a lot of up wind and wave on this trip. A lot! You would probable have about 10K in fuel alone, 2-3 in the canal and who know what else. So maybe your 20K was well spent. Certainly the lowest risk option. And 6K miles of bashing has to take it’s toll on the boat! I have made several deliveries from Mexico to SFO and northward on boats not to much bigger than yours. And yeah, you can see why some people have their boat delivered back up. The trip down is usually wonderful. Usually. Back? Uh uh.

Hope you are well. We miss your adventures and if you changed your channel please pass it on.

In the 1990's a friend who is a commercial fishing captain asked me if I wanted to make a buck and help him transport a vessel from the NE through the Panama Canal back to the oregon coast. I said sure... this was sight unseen and we were assured the vessel was in good shape and ready for the voyage. We spent 3 weeks in Port making ready since key systems were inoperable. We were towed into Port by the coast guard in Florida because of engine failure. The story goes on, i was never paid. I would never be involved in such bull ever again. I did get to travel thru the canal so there was that.. it was so hot though.

I fell in love with sailboats when I spent a week on my buddies in Seattle "browns point" I decided I wanted to cruise around. When I got done fishing in commercial fishing in Alaska I went on the hunt. The only problem with Seattle is the SLIP COST and each marina per WA law can only have 10% livaboards. Did you encounter this in seattle? So I bought a boat in charleston 30ft hunter

If you're moving by truck, you will want to think about oversize and overweight permits and routing concerns. You will pay the permits to get from A to B, they can cost a lot to go short distances. I've moved oversize loads from Houston to Edmonton Canada and just to get out of Texas would take 3 days vs 1.5 days for normal sized loads. Driving the 70 miles across the Oklahoma panhandle was expensive as we picked up a pilot and chase car and the permit itself cost 3x that of Texas to travel 800 miles. Fuel is not really a factor, it will be more expensive than regular freight, but rather time and the equipment and expertise of the transporter. The specialized trailers are far more expensive than a normal freight trailer and drivers with yacht hauling experience are not common either. Yacht transport is not as common as say, hauling groceries or cars, so the rates reflect the cost of transporting a niche item with specialized equipment, knowledgeable driver and the time required to do so.

You confined your observations to power boats. Large sailing yachts run by experienced personnel present different emphases depending upon the time of year and route.

Did you get the option to travel with your boat onboard the ship? I'm a deliver captain and several people have paid me to travel with there boat while in transit.

Not being rude, but what was the quote to put it on a boat hauler trailer and move it to Washington state . Seems it would be cheaper and faster time frame. Thanks

I am a lake and river boater. My mom had a catalina 36' we sailed on San Francisco Bay. I see people taking Jet Skis from Florida to Bahamas. I hate traveling on the Ocean. But isnt it possible to run between the bad weather? Are there not seasons where the weather is good? I have to feed and house myself anyways. I have the same fear of a breakdown on the oceans or getting caught in a storm. And I get seasick unless im stoned. My hope is to do the loop after I retire. Could it be cheaper to lease a boat for a year?

What about getting a tow from a cargo ship.? Is that something that can happen? Seams if you found a ship going your way, a tow line , radio contact, someone on watch, and a few grand for fuel

Curious about how the transport went, picking up in Canada, etc. Any chance you'll do another video to tell us?

Great information ! Let us know if you want to go for coffee in Blaine

i would jump at a Opportunity to take my boat from the East Coast to the West Coast going through the Panama Canal and coming around why not, if you have an ocean capable boat do it consider it an adventure

Any idea on how about sending a boat to a different country?

Where did you end up living on your boat on the West coast?

I have delivered boats all across the United States, Canada since 1995. Private and from the factory to the dealer were the boats are sold and end user. Boats are black holes were you deposit your money. If you want to transport your boat hire a professional! Make sure they have insurance and verify. If your going to have it delivered by a licensed captain do your homework and verify. Nothing in owning a boat is cheap!

How much to trailer/truck transport a twin engine 34foot yacht from east coast Florida to west coast Gulf ( 267miles) ?

I found this video because I'm trying to move my boat FROM Washington to S. Florida....ironic. :)

"When did logic have anything to do with boating?"" No truer words were said. lol

Are you enjoying Washington? In hindsight, do you wish you had motored the yacht yourself and saved a lot of money?

😃👍

Do the canal!

Is it lot very cold up there ?

Why did you decide to move to Seattle?

I own a Grand Banks 36 and my flybridge can come off to make it legal height, I looke a few months for a trucking company to haul her from Detroit to Los Angeles and only got one dam quote for 11 grand, it's 2400 miles. only one guy wanted to do it, I even had it up for bid on uship. I can't do 20 grand. 4 y 3 years ago when I bought the boat 3 companies gave me bids of 6 grand yet it doubled due to pandemic I guess. I am still looking for a hauler , now a friend say a ford f450 will tow it, it's 26000 lbs. funny everyone I contacted seems you contacted them too I saw on your video. one day I plan on making my way up to port Angeles in my trawler......I watched all your vids by the way, we have the same Lehman diesels

If I heard one more "yaaat" going mad.

you still have the boat? no new boating videos.

Why would DAILY RATE be less for a Captain of a faster boat? Daily rate x days to complete the trip = Trip cost. Trip cost would be less because less days would be required to complete the trip with a faster boat but the daily rate would not be less. Faster boats burn more fuel per mile. Just saying 'more fuel' is an incomplete comment. When transporting by truck, height is important but beam is just as important. Highways loads have width limits without needing special permits and pilot cars. Heights can require permits and pilot cars, too.

Why would you want to move from Fla to wa? Lol. Weather and taxes would completely be a no starter for me.

Height is pronounced "hi-te" . There is a 't' at the end of the word... dyslectic people will 'switch' the H and the T around to create the "TH" sound. I believe that is where the "heigth" pronunciation came from. 'Dictionary.com' has a button to hear how it should be pronounced, if you are curious.

Wow my question would be Washington.... Did you figure on voting first..... looting second..

🤔

My sense is your missing hired captain transportation.

Well, with 2 boats, you would have 2 holes in the water in which to funnel endless money into.....

hey if he has the money - good for him - me i would have sold it and baught one at the new location

What the hell is heighth. It is height. There is not another h on the end.

Trip Is Cancel no Thank you! 😂😆😂😅