Marinette Boat Forum

Just bought a 32 foot marinette flybridge currently on Lake Lanier, GA (north of Atlanta). I need to move it to Apalachicola FL. This is turning out to be harder than expected.
Does anyone have a recommended hauler, or even a trailer that I can buy?
Thanks, looking forward to this boat!

I hope you don't end up with a rig that transported mine from Maryland to Georgia. Without springs and shocks--and with the tires rock hard--it pounded the hell out of my poor old boat.

Jeff

Tough call, you'll just have to search around and find a good insured/bonded one. Likely have to remove the bridge ( I know you pretty much have to on a 37' ) There have been a couple guys on here that had their bridges torn off by careless haulers. Like Jeff says, make sure their trailer is designed to haul her over a long journey, preferably with air ride suspension. If it's over 13'6" when loaded, the bridge is going to kiss an overpass.

long documented for hauling: remove FB, put it, well secured onto a heavily padded foredeck. Take pix of and carefully label all connections to guide reconnect.

I have found a company (Lakeside Marine Transport) that will disassemble/prepare for transport, transport, and reassemble; everything but the actual lift in and out. Price is a bit higher but one finger to point if something goes wrong seems to be of value. Before I sign, though, does anyone want to warn me away from them specifically?

By the way, I had Mark Hughes of BOATINSPECTUSA.COM do a survey before the purchase, and it was an amazingly good, careful, thorough job. Two days for $500, plus I paid another $150 for an oil analysis of the three motors (two drive and the genset) and $300 to have the boat hauled for bottom inspection. By "thorough" I mean he examined everything that could be reached by crawling over the boat or under the deck, and tested for proper operation. (For instance, I know the decorative brass barometer in the dinette area does move with pressure change over the two days, but is uncalibrated and inaccurate.)

To be clear, the $300 for hauling was to the travel lift, not an additional charge from surveyor - same with the $150 for oil analysis, that was to the company doing the analysis, not the surveyor.

Hi Gary,

I see you are in Eastpoint Fl near Appalachicola. I am guessing you are going to use the 32' marinette you just purchased out of Appalachicola? The reason I ask is I fish out of Indian Pass but not in my Marinette. It stays in Tennessee. Plans to use it offshore? Hope your transport goes well. If you fish maybe we could compare notes sometime.

I'd love to compare notes! Maybe fish together sometime. The boat will live on a lift in East Bay, the opposite shore from Apalach. The hauler I mentioned sent a contract that contradicted everything he said in the phone conversation, so that went south. I found a company (Nextrail)that built a custom trailer in a week, and did a really good job. Then the company that was going to rent me the towing pickup revealed they really didn't have any available, nor does anyone else, apparantly. Found a great deal on an f350 that a nice couple who was getting out of showing horses were selling, so at this point the move of the boat is costing more than the boat... by a hefty margin. But, I will be able to pull it out when hurricane come calling, so I have that going for me.

We will definitely compare notes and I would love to fish together if the opportunity arises! So sorry to hear the obstacles you are having to overcome getting it transported. I know that it has been frustrating to say the least. Hopefully you won't have to haul out for any hurricanes in the near future. Michael was enough for a lifetime, but I know the season is approaching. Maybe you can find additional uses for the F350. I live in TN and we usually travel down for 1 - 2 weeks in the late October - Early November time frame and fish as much as we can. I can shoot you a PM closer in and see if you want to fish any at that time or just see your boat setup as a minimum if your not too busy.

Mate Using the trailer is required in overland shipping. Transportation companies will help you with trailers if the boat you have purchased doesn’t come with a trailer or you are transporting a boat from a harbor.
Buddy you can next time check Citizenshipper Boat Shipping service in new york as i usem them once and pretty much happy with them.
The man who ship my boat was too nice and safely done my job.