Murphy's Law

quality time

Well-Known Member
Oct 30, 2007
2,352
Upper Chesapeake Bay
Boat Info
Miss Stress
2006 50' Post
Engines
Series 60 Detroits
Well, if it can happen...it will happen to me!

So my (new to me) 380 was being picked up in Stuart today to be trucked up to Maryland. When I first talked to the transporter, he said that he wanted the arch taken off because of height issues. I thought he was going overboard and didn't particularly want it removed, after talking to the service manager at the dealer he agreed that it did not have to come off and said they ship 380's and 400's all the time with the arches on. I put the two in touch with each other and asked them to figure it out since they have moved more boats than me. The decision was that the arch would stay on (minus radar, tv etc..) and we would all do a bunch of praying! The transporter permitted for 14'2" and he was on his way. The arch was cleared and the boat was shrink wrapped last friday. The driver called me this afternoon and said "I told you it would be too high", it's 15' on the trailer. Of course, the service manager doesn't recall the conversations on height, surprise surprise. I laid into him pretty good but of course he wouldn't take any blame for it. Bottom line is that the shrink wrap, which was very expensive will most likely have to be scrapped and re-done after the arch is removed. Needless to say this will delay the truck driver by half a day and probably cost me another $1500 in labor and shrink. Note to self - pay attention when others warn about shipping nightmares. Luckily for me the truck driver is a good ol' boy and he is looking out for me. He and his partner are going to help and make sure it is done correctly and as fast as possible. Sorry for the long post but I needed to vent since about 3:00 today.
 
Could have been worse if they hit a bridge. Look at the bright side. You don't have to spend next season salvaging your boat. Good thing the driver was paying attention and took the measurment. Tip well.
 
Just thank your lucky stars the driver knows what on earth he is doing.

And be glad you NEVER have to work with that service department again. Bonus.
 
went through the same thing and I got a new trucker. i had to remove everything from the arch, but was able to move it from cleveland to pittsburgh and back again. side bar-----didnt like the rivers very well and went to lake erie. thought the boating was much better on the great lakes vs the ohio river system. a 45 on the allegheny river was just too big....slow down with marinas, locks, lovely deserted and run down steel mills on the river.

are you sure he loaded it on the trailer correctly and couldn't have squeezed it down to minimums?

I got a 45 DA, 96 and moved it twice without arch removal.

Of course, on the first movement, second sonata, third verse...the part where you should make sure the driver doesn't have any outstanding citations in OHIO-- I forgot the words to that tune. So, here you see the state police finding all the other things wrong with truck and trailer.
IMG_1022.jpg


loaded on the trailer after 5d delay to fix all the findings of the ticket makers.
IMG_1018.jpg
 
Aron,
Just a couple of months ago I had to deal with the same issue for my 320DA. I refused to take the arch off and to make it happen the tracking comp. brought a different trailer, which sits much lower to the ground. The driver also diflated some air from struts to make sure it passes all permit specs. The difference between trailers in total hight went from approx. 14'8" to about 13'8". They purchased new permits that still didn't require escort. There're always options, you just have to ask more questions and find the best one for you. I hope all goes well with transporting your boat. Stay on top of everything. Since you're dealing with people you don't know I would be observing everything instead and make sure it's done to my satisfaction.

Good luck,
Alex.
 
As others have indicated, it's the trailer height that caused your issue. These boats are moved without arch removal all the time. Pay particular attention to how they re-assemble your arch. I've never seen a radar cable, ground, VHF, TV, GPS, etc. connected properly after removing an arch/hardtop.
 
Thanks for your thoughts guys - this low boy trailer apparently sits 4" off the ground so I am not sure how we ended up a foot over max height? Props were off and the rudders were in the slots on the trailer, the driver said the rudders are 4" off the ground also. This trucking company is very reputable in my area and is trusted to move vintage boats for local museums.

UPDATE - they are rolling as of 10:00 this morning. They were able to wrap the arch and lay it forward. They tied it down on bracing without removing wiring. The dealer apparently paid to have the shrink wrap repaired.
 

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