Sailboat moving company recs

[csoule13]

Will be moving my 27 from the Chesapeake to Chattanooga sometime in May. Any recommendations for companies/any one to obviously avoid.

And before folks chime in, yes, I am aware of the financial side of this. But this is my boat, that I have worked on and upgraded, and it's coming with me. Until such time as I can't care for her, she's part of the family.

Apologies if that is sharp, but I asked this question in a different forum and immediately got the "Just sell it and buy something local". Which isn't the question that is being asked.

Much appreciated as always,
Chris

[tjr818]

May is a busy time for boat haulers. If you get in touch with a few now you might be able to find a hauler that would be deadheading back to the Chesapeake area, coming back from down south or from Kentucky lake area. I was able to save quite a bit when I found a guy how was heading down south empty and he detoured and brought our boat with him on his way to pick up the other boat. Good luck.

[Paul D.]

These guys are based in MN so you may want to find a more local hauler. However, they moved our 33 years ago from Lake Michigan for a fair price and in a quality manner.

https://www.crosscountryboat.com

If you do your own packing I'd read up on it. It pays to have a good day or two prep. Some things we did that worked

• - Used plenty of clear packing wrap roll to wrap anything that will bang, chafe or otherwise move
  - Taped carpet or soft fabric around the mast every 15" or so and then used wrap roll to wrap the shrouds to the mast securely
  - Packed rags or socks, foul weather gear, whatever in the galley locker for dishes, glassware etc.
  - Moved big heavy stuff to the center of the saloon
  - Wiped some paste wax heavily around the first third of the top sides to give a little extra dirt/chip resistance to that forward section

Things we did that didn't work

• - Taped down the turnbuckles to the deck with shrinkwrap tape - seriously, I still find leftover residue years later!
  - Opened a beer before we were really and truly done, I missed a couple small things that cost some cleanup time later

https://www.amazon.com/Duck-Brand-Stret ... 25&sr=8-10


This wasn't too big a job for two of us and I found I got to know the boat better too.

Good luck!

[Keith]

Hi Chris,

No need for apologies on this site. I'm pretty sure that we all feel the same about our CD's

Keith

[csoule13]

Thanks all. As part of this, I'm having the standing rigging replaced. Partly because it's time, but mostly because everything is basically frozen in place and just cutting it down is the faster solution. The rigger will be prepping the boat for the most part. I'll head up before hand and make sure there's nothing heavy to bang around below deck.

Also not dying for a May delivery. If it takes a few extra weeks, so be it. Mostly wanted to make sure there wasn't some well known horror show to avoid.

[SVFayaway]

Hi Chris, the only good advice I have to offer is to avoid a company called Cleason's. They moved my Wanderer and managed to scuff the Awlgrip pretty badly. My take away from that was that it's really good to be there when they're loading the boat if at all possible. I also moved my boat the cheap way, soliciting bids on uShip which is how I ended up with Cleason's. If you choose a well known and respectable hauler I don't think you'll have any problems. I prepped the boat myself and wrapped the mast, secured everything below and didn't have any problems other than the damage to the paint.

As an aside, who's your rigger? I need some advice on a solent stay.