Boat transportation

Some of the boats I've been drooling over are, unfortunately, on the wrong coast. I have no problem with bringing a boat down the Eastern Seaboard as needed; chances are very good that Hubster could get the requisite time off to make the trip as easy as possible. Bringing a boat through the Panama Canal, though--that's a whole different kettle of fish. For one thing, the trip time would be measured in weeks, not days. For another, coming through the Canal requires the hire of a local pilot. Considering it would just be me, the kids and a total stranger on board for the crossing--um, no. Call me paranoid if you like. I don't mind.

I've been looking at boat transport options. All of the West Coast boats that have captured my interest have been in the 60'-70' range. Shipping a boat of that size with a float on/float off transport company would be the most economical means of transport, particularly if I'm uncertain of the vessel's seaworthiness (and let's face it, a boat that size in my price range is likely a dock queen, and may not be up to long distance blue water cruising without some renovation). The quotes I've seen for this kind of transport have been around $50-60K, and would mainly cover the Canal portion of the trip. I'd still have to get the boat to the pick-up point (Baja Mexico) and from the drop-off (South Florida) to home.

Another option is to hire a crew to bring the boat down the West Coast, through the Canal and up the Eastern Seaboard. Again, the boat may have seaworthiness problems, the crew would be at least two people, we'd have to pay for the Canal crossing and the required pilot and for all supplies needed for the trip, which would probably take about two months, provided weather was good.

Last option would be remove the masts, rudder and keel and shipping her across-country on a trailer. That would run $15-20K for the transport, plus the costs of prepping the boat prior and getting her back into the water afterwards. We'd also be facing the possibility of the boat being too long to ship overland.

No matter what, buying a West Coast boat, no matter how good a deal, would mean shelling out several thousand dollars in transportation costs. That would mean we'd have to get a second loan, with all the attendant problems of that. Not many banks would be happy with a call for an unsecured $60K loan.

Probably best to stick with East Coast vessels, no matter how sweet the West Coast deals get.