Transport, land vs. hiring captain

[berryfarmer]

I live near the the TVA lock system near chattanooga and am in the market to buy a large-ish trawler. 45-50 ft.. Beam at least 14ft. I’m familiar with prices to move mobile homes and know it’s not cheap with permits, chase vehicles, etc…. Just wondering if anyone can provide some comparison on costs of hiring a transport to move on land vs. hiring a captain to move an unknown boat on the water…. Land transport would open up more options for me to purchase a cheaper boat that needs mechanical repair, but that’s about all I know haha. I am highly skilled with mechanical repair and home building, so I’m not scared to tackle a “project” and feel I have a pretty good grasp on what to walk away from vs. what is doable, but…. that outside the scope of this question, my main question is if someone can shine a little light on me of the cost comparisons best case scenario of no boat drama during delivery vs. a land transport company. We are a LONG way from any ocean haha.

 

[mvweebles]

Ex delivery skipper, though Pacific coast open ocean so can only guess.

Time is money so highly distance and speed dependent.

But for ballpark budgetary purposes, for waterways where running at night is not practical (and where I have no professional experience), ballpark guess is 80 nms per day. Capt and crew around $450/day plus expenses. When I was delivering, expenses were around half the overall cost. So figure around $9-$11 per nautical mile with many, many variables that could move the needle considerably.

You probably know the transport costs to move a large object so won't speculate. Will add that prep in a yard could easily run $2k on each end assuming no extraneous work. Often, prop(s) are removed to let the boat settle lower.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Peter

 

[Comodave]

Long time ago I moved boats over land for a living. Keep in mind they there are width and height restrictions. Go over these and the price goes up dramatically. The height restrictions are usually 13’6”. The width is 8’6”. Go over those and you need a permit. As you go wider more restrictions kick in. Things like a chase car and a lead car. These add expenses to the deal. The load may have restrictions as to daylight hours and route. There may be restrictions on travel during rush hours. There isn’t any way I can think of to give any reasonable guesses as to cost without knowing the load, height, width and weight and the start point and destination. You may have to remove the flybridge if there is one and that adds cost and the potential for injecting problems into the boat like electrical and leaks. Lots to consider. Make sure you get a licensed and insured carrier, and check the insurance carefully to make sure it is legit.

 

[berryfarmer]

Long time ago I moved boats over land for a living. Keep in mind they there are width and height restrictions. Go over these and the price goes up dramatically. The height restrictions are usually 13’6”. The width is 8’6”. Go over those and you need a permit. As you go wider more restrictions kick in. Things like a chase car and a lead car. These add expenses to the deal. The load may have restrictions as to daylight hours and route. There may be restrictions on travel during rush hours. There isn’t any way I can think of to give any reasonable guesses as to cost without knowing the load, height, width and weight and the start point and destination. You may have to remove the flybridge if there is one and that adds cost and the potential for injecting problems into the boat like electrical and leaks. Lots to consider. Make sure you get a licensed and insured carrier, and check the insurance carefully to make sure it is legit.

Thanks, that’s good advice, I’m fairly hip on the requirements, hence me not trying to hitch up to my cab and chassis and pull it up interstate 75 lol…. It’ll be big, I don’t want a small boat, 14 ft. beam at least, you’re right about height, not sure what it would look like on a lowboy trailer, but…. Interesting points were brought up regarding removal of props and flybridge, something I had not considered. I was thinking might be best to get a licensed captain to just bring it up the water, but….. could save a lot of money getting a busted boat….. lots to consider. I could live with myself spending 250k on a nice boat, but, would sure like to get a boat for 30k that needed a lot of love lol.

 

[Comodave]

You may need to reconsider your parameters a bit. I doubt you will find a $30K 45’+ boat thay would be anywhere near ready to make any extended cruise home. Also I would be surprised if you could find a reliable knowledgeable captain that would undertake that cruise. Moving a boat that size over land would probably double the cost you are thinking. I would look for a boat much closer to home.

 

[PM]

Of course it depends on how far you want it moved. If it is a long ways, like 1,000 miles it will be more than the boat cost. And I doubt that a boat in that price range would make the trip on her own bottom, a good captain would look it over and probably decline the challenge.

Buy closer to home.

pete

 

[mvweebles]

As a guy who has greatly over-improved a boat, one thing I've thought a lot about is that in the end, would have been less expensive to buy a nice Nordhavn 40 and sell it in good condition when ready. They sell fast and have modest depreciation so long term cost of ownership is actually quite low I'd imagine. A DIY boat could take years to sell all the while racking up $2500/month in moorage, insurance, etc.

But if you're intent on an cheap boat. Craigslist is your best bet.

BTW - since you're new to the list, Comodave has owned 24 boats. And he's a bright and reasonable guy. His advice is golden.

Peter

 

[berryfarmer]

You may need to reconsider your parameters a bit. I doubt you will find a $30K 45’+ boat thay would be anywhere near ready to make any extended cruise home. Also I would be surprised if you could find a reliable knowledgeable captain that would undertake that cruise. Moving a boat that size over land would probably double the cost you are thinking. I would look for a boat much closer to home.

That’s what i was thinking, but wanted to check… I figured it would cost at least as much as moving a mobile home. A cheaper boat that I could get moved t my home or near home in the 15k range would have been a good buy for me with my skills, but I know nothing about large boat transport. I could justify a much larger amount, but, I’m one of “those guys” that likes to do things the hard way lol. I didn’t figure a captain would take on the challenge of a “cheap” boat delivery, I know I wouldn’t haha. My budget can be stretched to accommodate a pretty nice boat, but as said, I like a challenge and like to make something my own. I normally go through and tear things apart anyhow looking for failure points.
Thank you for the sound advice!

 

[psneeld]

2 boats sold by TFers in the last year or so sold for less than 30K.... one a 40 footer and one a 36 footer.

One was loop ready and the other went 1000 mile I think with no issues.

Both would have been run by a delivery captain I bet (at leas I would have when I did it) and there are guys on the East coat that will run boats for a song. Many are retired or have jobs where they can take off and enjoy running boats for not much more than what it costs to live and some pocket change. They will do it for 1/3-1/2 (maybe less) of what the "top guys" will charge. Some will be hacks but other like I said could be pretty good guys that just aren't in it for the money. The trick is finding them and weeding out the hacks.

 

[sunchaser]

Berry
Upstream from the TVA locations there are many places for boat shopping available. There would be no need to hire a captain or consider trucking if you were to buy a boat in Milwaukee, La Crosse, Hannibal, Pittsburg, St Louis, Louisville or Nashville. Plus the advantages of buying a fresh water boat are many.

If you were to consider a house boat the options increase with better creature comforts and more space available. Houseboats as large as 65' are built to allow road travel throughout NA if you found a project one to store on land during a season or two major refit.

Good luck in your search for not only the right vessel but identifying the boating experiences you choose to enjoy.

 

[TBill36]

I would think long and hard about how much work you really want to take on. There are countless examples of someone buying the good deal "project boat", dumping tens of thousands into them and 3 or 4 years later there is still no end in sight. Then the project stops and they sit.

Usually the lower end older boats are going to take more money to rebuild than if you just started out with something newer or better kept. In the 40 ft range $40,000 is a drop in the bucket for some of the things you are going to run into. You can drop that into smaller engines and transmissions alone.

Do you want to be able to use the boat while you are fixing it up? If so, get one that is seaworthy and something that looks nice so you're not the Beverly Hillbilly pulling up to the dock.

I'm retired and love working on my boat, but I want to be able to use it. Even a properly maintained boat in the 40 ft range is going to take a lot of time to keep in reasonably good shape and there will be countless upgrades that you are going to want to do that will keep you plenty busy.

Spend $200K and keep $50K for the upgrades you want. The $50K will probably be gone in the first year or so.

 

[psneeld]

There are so many "depends" whether a fixer upper will cost more.

People with pristine boats expect top dollar all too often for a boat that might command that price...they almost always are either off the market fast because there are people in waiting or they hang around for awhile while the owner drops the price (hopefully) because the boat really isn't worth the price.

I have seen plenty of used boats in good running condition but not pristine, but being older the owners practically and have given them away.

Each boat has t be evaluated and if one really doesn't have the "rebuilding" experience... that person should seek out one with it and have them give a ballpark guess what it will take.

As posted above, almost no fixer upper is a true bargain unless you do nearly 100% of the work.

 

[SteveK]

sunchaser said what I think everytime hauling a boat comes up. The only time trucking should come up is moving a large boat to a lake or vice versa because it cannot be driven up the river.
Really, there are boats close to a buyers location for sale that can be driven there by owner/operator on the water within a week. The grass is not greener the further away you look.

 

[mvweebles]

There are so many "depends" whether a fixer upper will cost more.....

There may be dependencies for a fixer-upper, but when I hear "project boat" which is the OPs target, the dependencies reduce to dumb luck. I know, terms are subjective, but to my ears, "project boat" means major components need to be replaced or major work which in either case means repair rivals new price for the component. Much of the work and expense adds very little value to the boat until everything is done. I'm thinking new thru-hulls and hoses along with a decent bottom job could easily crest $5k. Wiring is incredibly time consuming and expensive.

There's a Defever 41 for sale on this list that appears to be in decent condition - $80k - and it's been for sale for a few months. If it were in "Project" condition, might sell for $25k. Would carry a monthly burn rate of $1.5k for slip and insurance. Working hard you could easily burn through $50k and 6-mos and end up with a $80k boat. Maybe.

So sure it depends, but overall, the odds are really stacked against making a project boat work. I think if you were to ask 10 people who attempted a project boat, you'd find about half get somewhere near complete. And I don't think you'd find a single one of the remaining five who would recommend it unless you have an ulterior goal such as I had with Weebles (which has lapsed into project condition when I started). Overall, it's an incredibly risky endeavor.

Peter

 

[psneeld]

There may be dependencies for a fixer-upper, but when I hear "project boat" which is the OPs target, the dependencies reduce to dumb luck. I know, terms are subjective, but to my ears, "project boat" means major components need to be replaced or major work which in either case means repair rivals new price for the component. Much of the work and expense adds very little value to the boat until everything is done. I'm thinking new thru-hulls and hoses along with a decent bottom job could easily crest $5k. Wiring is incredibly time consuming and expensive.

There's a Defever 41 for sale on this list that appears to be in decent condition - $80k - and it's been for sale for a few months. If it were in "Project" condition, might sell for $25k. Would carry a monthly burn rate of $1.5k for slip and insurance. Working hard you could easily burn through $50k and 6-mos and end up with a $80k boat. Maybe.

So sure it depends, but overall, the odds are really stacked against making a project boat work. I think if you were to ask 10 people who attempted a project boat, you'd find about half get somewhere near complete. And I don't think you'd find a single one of the remaining five who would recommend it unless you have an ulterior goal such as I had with Weebles (which has lapsed into project condition when I started). Overall, it's an incredibly risky endeavor.

Peter

I guess the depends is one's interpretation of project boat - fixer upper - decent - nice - Bristol. Also depends on parts replacement from near salvage quality - decent used - big box store alternative - discounted new - premium priced.

 

[Comodave]

The OP was asking about transport of a boat. But somehow the thread has morfed into should he buy a fixer boat. He has a thread currently about buying a fixer. Maybe the posts about whether or not to buy a fixer should be in that thread and keep this one about moving the boat???