Overland Boat Delivery??

[prussell]

I''m looking for some advice on reliable companies that can ship our 41-foot sailboat from either St. Pete, FL or Savannah to Atlanta. Any other advice you may have on overland shipping would also be appreciated.
Thanks,
Pierre

[Jeff_H]

I would try to work out a deal where you are willing to wait until the driver can do a round trip, meaning haul a boat both ways. That saved me a lot of money when I shipped my boat from Maine to Annapolis, Md. Otherwise my advice is that a 41 footer is a huge boat for the lakes and so it might make more sense to sell the boat and buy something that is smaller and already up on the lake. Also I would strip the bottom paint and refresh your barrier coat as fresh water is much more likely to cause blisters than salt water. You may also want to pickle your heat exchange. I have heard stories of boats used in salt water having salt deposits break loose and block the heat exchanger after being in fresh water for a while.

Jeff

[mmccoy]

I didn''t know fresh water is more likely to cause blisters than salt water.

Why is that?

[gilligan01]

Finding a trucker that has a "dead head" comming this way is definetly the least expensive way to go. I work on boats for a living here on lake lanier doing bottom jobs, awl-grip, etc and there are several different outfits that seem to be very professional. Contact Pam at aqualand marina (770) 967-6811, she can give you a list of several people that can handle transporting your boat. dont worry about bein the biggest boat on the lake, I know of several sailboats in the 50 ft range as well as a 130'' houseboat ( why, I dont know?) but there are several big boats up here.
As for blisters you are very right! this lake breeds blisters like you would not believe!! I have seen boats more than one boat move from the salt water to this lake with no blisters and in two years time be covered up with them. the good thing is that I use trinidad sr botttom paint and can get 3+ years good service with it. As for why fresh water creates more blisters? I cant give you a scientific explianation, but most believe it is because fresh water molecules are smaller(thinner water) therfore can penetrate the pores in gelcoat much faster.
Let me know if you need any assistance on this end
Good luck
Mike Reynolds

[akelley2]

I hadn''t heard that freshwater causes more blisters than salt, but it makes sense from a chemical point of view. Osmosis is the flow of water from an area of high concentration to an area of low water concentration. In polyester resin, there is no water, so the osmotic pressure (tendency of water to flow into it) is high. Saltwater is less concentrated water (more salt!) so the osmotic pressure is lower between saltwater and resin than freshwater and resin.

All that aside, I do not know whether the typically more acidic freshwater is harder on gelcoat than the slightly alkaline saltwater.

[prussell]

Mike and Jeff,
Thanks for the advice. We''ve been cruising for a year and have decided to move it to the lake so we can work on it and be closer to our home in Atlanta. We will be getting it ready for an Atlantic or Pacific crossing in a year or so and decided that the transport expense would be worth the convenience of being an hour away vs. having to drive to the East Coast on weekends.
Pierre