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Moving a 32' sailboat 1900 miles myself

9K views 32 replies 19 participants last post by  sailingdog 
#1 ·
I'm looking for advice for an affordable way to move a 32' LOA, 9' beam, 8300lb disp boat 1900 miles. The bid with hydraulic trailer was $7K.
I am an old farmer/sailor and can easily move 10,000 lbs of hay so why not a boat?
My idea is to build a cradle that will lock (strap) to the boat, use frames with rollers under the cradle then winch the entire load on an equipment trailer rated for >15000 load. I strap the whole load down and get on the road. I've called around and permits may be as much as $500 or less if I get them all myself state by state. As far as I can figure my expenses should be less than $2K.
Somebody please point out my mistaken thinking.
 
#31 ·
I am in Northwest Arkansas just south of Fayetteville on I-540. My situation is very flexible as of now. The boat is tucked away in her barn where I can leave her until Spring. I am anxious to get her home but I am getting more convinced that I should move her myself. If so I will have the ability to move her to water after the refit is done. That said if I ran into a way to make the move easier, safer and cheaper than I have to consider it.
 
#32 ·
go for it

The fact that your considering do it yourself tells a lot. Most people that don't no what to do shouldn't try it. (that would include the nay sayers) Go ahead and hammer me.
I've done what your planning. Everyone has added good thoughts. I went through eight states and 2500 miles, never bought a permit and no one questioned me. I did have proper signs and flags. I did my move after getting the run around with movers and yards finally realizing I was probably more qualified to do a safe and sane move. Keep your final height below 13' 9" and stay on the interstates to avoid problems. When I made the cradle I used scaffold leveling jacks and lots of water pipe, bits of angle and 1/2 inch bolts.. You should put 50% of the weight on the keel, the rest on the supports. I used four on each side and one under the bow below the water line. The bow one is very important to absorb the shocks, I would not skip it. Bring a really big bottle jack and a spare just in case, repack your bearings, check your brakes, and your good to go.
BTW I would rent or hire a boom truck to load the first time so that you get the tongue weight correct, six inches for or aft can make for 1900 miserable miles. TJ
 
#33 ·
If you're going to move the boat overland, I would highly recommend getting a recent version of a Trucker's Atlas, as it will have a lot of useful information for planning such a trip.
 
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