Boat Moving - NH to FL
 

I need to move my boat from Laconia down to St. Pete in the near-ish future.

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a boat hauling company, or even an approximate price (24' LOA)? I'm debating between buying a trailer and pulling it down there myself vs. having it shipped. Part of the reason for the trailer is that I might need to store it for a bit, so that makes it easier.

Miles Marine in Gilford moved mine from upstate NY to the lake last fall. They were great to work with.

Or...

You can buy mine which is currently for sale in St Pete.

2003 SeaRay 200BR
5.0 MPI Alpha
New Sunbrella cockpit and tonneau covers
New heads, impeller
Recent manifolds and risers
About 360 hours

$13,000 o.b.o.

I second Miles. They have a lot of experience!

Boat moving
 

If this is a one-way, one-time, keep-it-in St Pete type move, I would probably ship it, but if you might make a return trip, and, or, while in the St Pete area, you might move it around to other places in Florida, or the south in general, I'd get a good trailer and do it myself. And, as you said, with a trailer you do have the ability to store it.

Best of luck.

If you have the truck and the time, just buy a trailer from Joe in Tilton. As far as haulers go, try Uship. It will be cheaper than Miles.

Is it going right in the water down there or into rack storage? You mention that you may need to store if for a bit, so owning your own trailer will keep you from racking up (no pun intended) storage fees, provided you have a place to park it.

Thanks for the advice, I'll try Miles and Uship for quotes.

The current boat is paid for and fully functional. I'll probably get a 2nd boat once down there, but this will be good enough for the first year or two.

Storage would be at my house in NH, once it gets to FL it's going on a lift in the back yard, after that I don't intend to trailer it anyplace else.

Same here....great people to work with!

Miles
 

Used them and was happy.

Got a quote from Miles for just under $2000 for pretty much a door to door (South Down to launch facility in FL) move. For that price I'm not going to mess with buying a trailer and pulling it myself.

I was about to say if you are driving down anyway, buy the trailer here and sell it there. But sounds like you have a good plan!

I considered the buy/sell the trailer plan, but I'll probably lose $500 on the trailer (I would buy the trailer new, I'm not going to trust a used trailer that I have essentially zero history with on a 1000+ mile trip), plus the cost of gas, extra tolls, etc.

All things considered, it would probably cost me $750ish to move it myself, on top of all the other hassles of moving. So, I could save $1200, maybe. Not worth it (to me).

Miles Marine: Good Call!
 

Many years ago I had Miles move an oversized boat from Lake Ontario to Lake Winnipesaukee. When I arrived at the marina to use the boat for the first time Craig Miles (the father) was making the final control connections on the flybridge and his wife was inside the boat vacuuming the carpet. Impressive! I have used Miles several times since then for everything from hauling boats to minor and major engine repairs. It has always been good work at a fair price.

Someone suggested U Ship, but they are hit or miss. You don't know who you will get or what their license or insurance status is. I have heard horror stories about people using U Ship and their item was held up for a month because the towing vehicle was unregistered and uninsured. I wouldn't take that chance.

Most of the local marinas use Miles for all their large boat moves. The majority of the boats that went from NH to the Boston Boat Show this year were moved by Miles Marine. That should tell you something too.

You made the right choice!