Shipping Your Sailboat

[GaryMayo]

Did you ship your boat after your purchase to your location?

How did that go?

What shipper did you use?

Would you do it again?

My story ended well, with several bumps in the road along the way.

I hired a driver through uship. The bids were between $1500 and over three times that. Most were under two grand. One driver figured out where my boat was and contacted me directly while he stood next to my boat. I was impressed with his directness and hired him. The low bid. His references were good. However uship was now out of the loop and I hired the driver directly.

He started a day late while he looked for a spare tire and tie down straps.

Once on the road, he calls me to inform me he has his wife and kids along and wonders if he can have a couple days in Vegas off to vacation with his family.

I reluctantly say yes, what else could I say? I made him promise to not bet my sailboat in a 21 game.

Two days later, he again strikes out, now with high wind warnings on the interstate.

I told him to call every couple hours, and he calls about once a day. He also never answers his phone. I was starting to worry.

In a couple days, he arrives at the rocky mountains. I call him as he approaches Denver and he answers the phone. That was refreshing. Then he tells me he is broke down and my 32 foot sailboat is along the interstate highway in the mountains in a two hour parking scenic overlook.

Almost frantic I instruct him to rent a truck and go back for my sailboat. I then call the state patrol in Colorado and have them look for my sailboat. In a couple hours, they find it, and mark it do not tow for 18 hours. The trucker found a relative in Denver and borrowed a truck, and in five hours or so, got on the road again, towards Denver and his in need of repairs vehicle. Loosing coolant. Head gasket.

Still frantic, and 11 hours from Denver, I grabbed my toter home Kenworth T2000 and headed for Denver. I did not tell the driver his relief driver, me, was on the way to his location.

Once in the Denver area, I told him I was in Denver and got his exact address. It was a joy and relief to see my newelly purchased Clipper Marine 32 ketch for the first time. I paid the driver and headed towards Nebraska with my sailboat.

Share your shipping stories.

[transmitterdan]

I shipped my boat from Seattle to Texas. I used http://www.lockviewmarina.com/ after checking some references. They were not the cheapest. I was out of the country for the entire move. Everything went exactly as planned. Boat arrived without any new scratches. I would use them again without hesitation. I worked with them to make my haul a semi return trip for them which saved us both a little money. They are a "real" boat mover and not someone with a dually pickup and time on their hands.

Regards,
Dan