over the road delivery

[jobrantley]

Hi. I am researching purchasing a small sailboat (Flicka 20) a good distance from my home and am trying to get an idea of all the costs involved. I am trying to find some information about shipping the boat over the road. If anybody has any experience with this or can recommend any companies I would greatly appreciate it. The over the road delivery would be from Florida Keys to Virginia and the boat is not currently on a trailer. Thanks in advance for your help.

Jon

[LaPlaya]

A little more info would be helpful..does she have a cradle for starters? More info as to the actual distances involved would help as well.
AL

[Sailormann]

If you got to Yachtworld.com there is an automated transport quote facility. I used it once and got a response in about 48 hours.

[sailingdog]

A Flicka is a small, but relatively heavy for its size boat. Very seaworthy little beasties... If you had a cradle, moving her would just involve setting the cradle on a flatbed and then setting the boat on the cradle. If you don't have a cradle, you're going to need to rent/hire a hydraulic trailer. Most of them are scaled for larger boats than a Flicka.

Contact Brownell Systems, in Mattapoisett Massaschusetts, as they do long-distance hauls and also make the trailers for other companies. If they can't do the job, they can probably recommend someone who can.

[MysticSkipper]

That is a blue water boat, so an alternative you might look into is having it sailed up the coast if transport is rediculously expensive. Hiring someone to sail it up the coast could also prove quite expensive, but it is possible that you might find someone qualified who wants to do it. Might be a long shot, but if you posted in a few "crew wanted" boards you might be surprised. Obviously there would be insurance questions, reference and background checks involved, but there are some qualified eager young captains out there.

[TrueBlue]

The cost of paying a hauler to truck this lovely little boat from the Keys to VA, might equal (or be less than) the purchase price of a trailer. It's worth looking into.



Flicka Trailers

[knotaloud]

I'd buy a trailer in Florida, tow it home and then sell the trailer.

[dohenyboy]

A flicka trailer will cost about $6500 and 4-6 weeks to build.
You could also build a cradle on a flat bed for about $600 in parts. See Flicka Home Page for the flicka owners site. The back issues of the Flicka friends newsletter discuss the trailer issues. I recommend J Daniel Marine if you want it transported but it will cost the same to buy a trailer. Their number is
9544957799, Ask for Nancy

[Gramp34]

Talk to marina operators on each end. They can recommend good haulers.

It's common for boat haulers to load two smaller boats on a trailer. If you can be flexible on times, often a trucker can give you a good deal since it doesn't cost him much extra to haul the second boat.


Also keep in mind that boats migrate south in the fall and north in the spring. More trucks go north empty in the fall, and you can get much better prices then. Of course, you'd be giving up sailing time now.

You can also try Uship.com (disclaimer, no affiliation, etc.) You list the load and haulers bid on it. It turns out there is quite an industry of guys with one ton pickups and boat trailers for hire in addition to the big rig haulers.

Good luck,

Tim

[Gramp34]

Hey, as a matter of fact, there is a quote for a Flicka 20 from Marathon to Va on Uship. $1,321.16 for 1100 miles. That'll be hard to beat.

Tim