Boat Moving Costs

What does it cost to move a Gozzard G37 coast to coast? (Annapolis MD to Portland OR).

Estrella is a 37 foot (42 LOA) sail boat with a 12 foot beam. Any more beam and you are SOL as you will pay a lot more money in transport.

Here is a summary of ‘slip to slip’ costs for Estrella. This move occurred during the last week of November through the third week of December.

Costs can be broken into three parts:

1. Decommissioning
2. Transport
3. Recommissioning

Decommissioning:

• Remove and pack sails. Pack lines.
• Remove dodger and Bimini.
• Remove cockpit arch.
• Remove dinghy and dinghy motor.
• Secure all below deck gear.
• Weather proof any vents/hatches.
• If necessary, winterize all fresh water plumbing (winter transport).
• Remove boom/vang, stow.
• Take pictures of rigging.
• Label rigging.
• Un-step mast.
• Disassemble mast.
  • Remove rigging, coil and stow
  • Remove antennas and instrumentation. Stow.
  • Coil and secure running rigging.
• Pack mast with furlers snug on base (to avoid stress on furler hardware).
• Pull boat.
• Pack misc. (dinghy, motor, arch).

Transport:

• Load boat.
• Load misc.
• Wait for boat to arrive (Good idea to place tracking device on board for peace of mind)
• Boat arrives.
• Unload misc.
• Unload boat.

Recommissioning:

• Unload misc.
• Unload mast.
• Unload boat (suggest to pay for hull cleaning before splashing)
• Splash boat.
• Assemble misc (re-install arch).
• Unwrap mast, support mast/furlers.
• Inspect rigging while rigging mast. (good idea to lube hardware)
• Re-install antennas and instrumentation. (good idea to clean contacts)
• Step mast.
• Move boat to slip.
• Reconnect mast wiring.
• Mount boom/vang.
• Run running rigging (good idea to clean or replace).
• Reassemble dodger and bimini.
• Rig tuning.

That is a slip to slip list for Estrella.

Costs were as follows:

$4,800 Decommissioning.
$17,000 Transport.
$2,100 Recommissioning.
$2,000 Air travel, food and lodging

$25,900 Total

I budgeted $25,000 with a 50% pad (was good up to $35,000).

Where I could have saved money:
1. Boat was new to me (same day I purchased I decommissioned) so I let professionals do all the sail/arch/running rigging/bimini/dodger etc. I only did the below deck stowing work. This could have saved at least $1,500.
1a. I was not prepared for the $125 per night moorage fee or the 5 days of dry storage due to Truck delays.
2. I could have winterized. Again, new to me boat. Let the professionals do it. Could have saved another $700.
3. I did not go with the cheapest transport. I offered more money to get boat moved during December (no one wants to be away from family at Christmas). Could have saved between $1,000 and $5,000. But I was very happy with the service I got.
4. It would have been difficult to recommission for less. A mix up with scheduling at Schooner Creek (they don’t schedule you in until your boat arrives) caused a week delay for me. I had to move boat and mast (crutched mast on boat and moved boat on water) to another yard. The benefit was that I was able to do the re-rigging and instrumentation myself. I only had to pay for splash, mast haul and mast step. The pro’s at Jabins in Annapolis labeled everything so that a newbie like myself could reassemble.

Costs to watch out for:
1. Does your boat yard charge you for moorage while waiting or during decommission? This seems to be an east coast thing. West coast I was not charged for mooring while I waited for mast stepping. This was an $800 charge at Jabbins in Annapolis (on top of pulling boat, de-stepping mast and moving mast to riggers for de-rigging, did not include de-rigging).
2) Are you moving your boat during high demand periods or near holiday periods. These can both add cost to getting it done when you need it done.

Conclusion:

Time is not your friend when moving a big boat. The more time you spend at the decommissioning yard or commissioning yard, the more line items will show up on your bill. Get your trucker to commit to a date, work hard to schedule your work tightly and make sure your boat yards are very clear on their scheduling policies.