Ken,
We moved our 34 in 2010 from Maryland to California and did all of the prep work ourselves. We got some really good advice from various folks and it worked out well for us.
Mast:
I removed the mast head antennae, instruments, and lights, spreaders and running light, but otherwise left everything else in place.
I probably went overboard in wrapping the mast but I slept better at night. First, I wrapped the entire mast in bubble wrap and packing tape (I had extra rolls from moving before so used what I had) from top to bottom. Then, I wrapped duct tape over the bubble wrap and packing tape every couple of feet. Even if the bubble wrap tore enroute (which it did not), it couldn't go anywhere or tear very far due to the duct tape.
Lastly, I bought some carpet remnants and wrapped and duct taped it in place where it made contact to the trailer cradle.
I left the two furlers attached, but inserted a 6 foot length of 2x6 into the mast to extend the length a couple of feet which allowed me to secure the furlers to the 2x6 with light line and then duct tape. I used a couple scrap pieces of 1x4 on either side of the 2x6 to make it fit snugly and then used a couple of screws, through existing holes in the mast, and some duct tape to secure it in place. Each furler was wrapped separately in bubble wrap and then duct taped securely to the mast. The mast and furlers arrived with zero damage.
Boom:
I used packing blankets wrapped around the boom and tied in place with a long piece of line. The boom was tied up on the side deck of the boat for the trip. We had no problems or damage.
Exterior of the boat:
We were told that you have to secure the boat as if it was to endure hurricane force winds (80 mph). Someone recommended taping the hatches shut to prevent wind getting underneath and blowing them open. I didn't think that could happen to our bomars but decided it was cheap insurance anyway. I didn't think duct tape would be easy to remove from gelcoat so I wrapped the perimeter of the hatch with blue painters tape and then wrapped duct tape around the painters tape. The idea is not to hold down the hatch but to keep wind from getting underneath it.
We removed the bimini, dodger and dorados but were able to leave the stanchions in place. I used some line to secure the Monitor windvane.
Interior of the boat:
I was told a story about loose items in lockers or locker doors coming ajar and banging around for 3000 miles causing damage to the woodwork, so we tried to secure everything we could. We cleared the house of bath towels and wrapped anything of value before putting it in lockers. The anchors were wrapped in packing blankets and stored inside with the sails, and everything else that I could fit down below. I put most everything down low to preclude things falling from places higher up. Our cabinet doors did not latches on them so we used some blue painters tape to help keep them closed.
Securing the boat:
I was very impressed with the trucking company and the driver spent hours getting everything just right. However, I did have him change how he tied down the front of the boat. He had rigged tied down ropes to the bow and aft on each side. In the rear he used the aft main cleats, but on the bow he connected the ropes to the windlass. I had him use the forward cleats instead, as I think they are stronger mounting points than the windlass, not to mention the wear and tear on the windlass bearings.
Aftermath:
Overall we had zero issues with the move, not even a scratch. Lewis Trucking was great and we had no issues. They showed up exactly when they said they would (a common problem for many people as it turns out) and called us every night to let us know everything was OK. We highly recommend them.
I only had two problems - one you can't do anything about, and the other I'm not even certain it was caused by the move.
First, the deck and coach roof were dirty - really, really dirty. The whole top of the boat was covered in small black oil spots, that I think probably came from the trucks exhaust. This was a pain and took months of scrubbing with acetone to remove all of it. We tried everything that we could find that would work on glecoat (normal boat wash, multiple degreasers, etc) and nothing really worked well until I tried some acetone which took it off pretty easily (a lot of square footage though to work through). We used Bio-Solv acetone replacement because it is not as hazardous to your health as actual acetone, works great and smells good too (although my wife doesn't think so).
Second, I noticed that in the port settee locker about 6 inches aft of the table bulkhead we had some delamination of the fiberglass where the tabbing extended out from the bulkhead. I suspect that one of the hard stands on the trailer was positioned there and probably flexed the hull just enough to break the tabbing bond there. However, it could have been there all along or happened in the yard from the jack stands. I don't really know. I injected 5200 under the tabbing and rebonded it to the hull.
If possible, I would work with the driver to try and get the stands lined up with the internal bulkheads as much as possible to prevent that type of damage. A good practice anytime the boat is on jack stands and I intend to find some way of marking where stands should line up in the future.
We have more details and pictures on our website if interested.
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