I would do it overland. Agree with your concern with possible breakdown of a boat that may not run as well as the survey suggests. If on the other hand, there are very complete service records I might reconsider. Absent a well documented past, over the road. Once you have the boat in your home port, any issues will be much easier to handle. I would also wonder about the condition of the fuel and tanks. If you do it by sea, have the proper filters on hand and know how to change them.

 

I would want to take that boat across the Gulf, IF the surveys came back relatively clean and the current owner has the maintenance records and will make them available to you.

Making that trip over water with a licensed captain would be a great way to learn your boat and how the various systems on board work.

 

If you decide to go over water there are many places along the way if some service is required. I would prefer to go by water rather than removing items from the hard top etc. If you need the name of a local mechanic I have an excellent one. Also know a terrific engine survey guy. Best of luck for whatever you decide.

 

If you haven't got your survey guy yet here is the man!!!!!!
Henry W Pickersgill & Co Inc

(352) 754-1777

 

Let me just say this. It is close to half price for water delivery.


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Thank you for the surveyor but I have it already scheduled with John Campbell on the 24th.


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If by chance the boat that you're considering is named L'Attittudes, I know the owner and he takes excellent care of his boat. I know that it was for sale in Naples (not sure if it still is), so if this is it it may be an easy decision.
If it's going to water transport, you need to be on the boat as others have said to learn the boat and get used to it's handling. It will be an excellent experience and a great "classroom" session.
If you're going to have it hauled, I would recommend James Casson of C and J Transport (777) 201-3444. Of the 6 transports that I have had done James is the most professional and does what he says he will. There is also a guy that brings boats to the Marine Max Clear Lake location on a regular basis, they swear by him but my experience was less than fair.

 

777 area code?



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When I bought my 410, I wanted to bring her up the coast but she had not been properly maintained. I had to truck her up so I can perform all of the routine maintenance items ( hoses, replace head hose, fluids, after cooler & heat exchanger cleaning, etc.) here in my area. Newport Beach is less than 500 miles away but it would be very inconvenient for me to try and do the work there. If she was her current shape, no question that I would run her up the coast!

 

I'm with Ken. If you can identify and zero out all the deferred/overdue maintenance (aftercoolers, heat exchanger, sea water pumps/impellers, coolant, filters, valve lash, Walker airsep filters, hoses, clamps, etc) at the point of purchase, then I'd take it over the water. But I'd do it only if you can go at least part of the way with it. If you can't ride along at all, might as well just truck it.

 

Thanks for his number. Spoke with him today and although he was very friendly and upfront he was the 2nd highest bid I received. I have 6 bids, 3 trucked and 3 over water. It looks like I am going to go over water. As it stands it's about 6k less expensive. I'm still open to ideas and opinions. If anyone on this board wants to do the delivery please speak up!


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Josh, will you be riding along any of it?


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Hell, if I had the time, I'd be your Huckleberry!

 

Most likely yes. Although I probably cannot make the entire trip.


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Made the trip many times.....I would enjoy this one as well. I don't get up to the panhandle enough. Your trip is Naples to Clearwater, to Panama City (and see professor FW), to Biloxi, docking at the Grand Casino (only for the 15$ buffet), Grand Isle LA, then Galveston on the outside or New Orleans, to Morgan City, then Galveston on inside..Galveston up the Houston Ship Channel to Kemah....

Other than the crossing the Gulf from LA to Galveston, these are all great runs to learn the boat, and not too far from assistance if needed. The open water (and dodging oil/gas wells) to Texas is roughly 200 miles open water and a little more less forgiving should boat or weather not be cooperating. Ride and learn all the way to Louisiana, then let a seasoned captain take it to Kemah..... I had a mate once that when we hit semi-rough water for 8 hours she insisted that I just pull over till it stopped....uh...... it t'wernt a great night for el capi'ton.

If you want to talk about the trip, just ask.

R

 

This is the best offer / opportunity hat you'll EVER get. Take Rusty up on getting his advice.

 

The Northwestern Gulf Coast in Florida is some of the prettiest, varied and most interesting cruising territory in the US. Naples to Clearwater is cruising just off the coast where you see pretty highly developed property, Clearwater to Apalachicola (150 miles) (I think the distance to Panama City (190 miles) might stretch the range on a 460DA) puts you in what is called the Forgotten Coast. Apalach. is a cool, laid back locals town with great restaurants and some of the nicest folks on the planet. From there, run the ICW up to the Gulf Co Canal where there no development, but the ICW follows pristine natural creeks and rivers....it will be you and the alligators, egrets, herons, and eagles for 1/2 a day......... hang a left and go 5 miles to Port St. Joe which is in the pocket of St. Joe Bay. Next, run the outside in the Gulf past Mexico Beach, Tyndall AFB to Panama City/Panama City Beach. This is the home of some of the best skilled marine craftsmen and tradesmen as well as diesel service. There is enough maritime activity (bottom work, 6 travel lifts locally, electronics, canvas, upholstery, detailing, diesel service, and technicians very familiar with Sea Ray boats) here that prices are kept very reasonable by the competition. If you have a punch list from your survey or just your wish list, you could do a lot worse than leaving the boat in a transient slip in Panama City Beach for a while to get the things done you might have a problem getting handled at home.

Then, from Panama City, you need to look at your weather window because you can choose to go on the outside or via the ICW. The ICW takes longer and this part of it isn't nearly as interesting or picturesque at the Apalachicola part. Plus, Panama City is a major shipping port so there is a decent amount of barge traffic and narrow land cuts. From Panama City westward to Pensacola, I have passed 6-8 tows in 8 hours but on other trips, have not passed another boat of any kind. The trip over to Pensacola is one where you pick you route and live with it, at least 1/2 way, because the only pass to get from the Gulf to the ICW is in Destin, 45 miles West of Panama City. The water from Port St. Joe west to Dauphin Island is almost as pretty as the keys and the beaches are the white sugar sand you see in the tourist rags and are unparalleled.

Honestly, I think the trip from Naples to Dauphin Island isn't one to hurry thru just to relocate a boat. On this part of it you will experience about everything and every boating condition possible, except for passage thru a lock.........and that interesting, but you can live without it. It will be a great learning experience and a very enjoyable trip all rolled up into one. Dont pay a hired gun to have that fun..................do it yourself!

 

I cannot make the entire trip. I can either go on the first 2-3 days or the last. One of you guys need to grab your wife and go get this boat all expenses paid! I wish I could do the same, but frankly I just don't have enough experience yet. I'll PM Each of you with questions, but if any of you have the time and are interested let me know.

I am getting a full engine and Hull survey this week, I plan to have the Marina repair/ replace anything it needs including oil change, filters, hoses, and impellers. I am hoping (I know) the aftercoolers are in great shape, but If not, I'm sure the seller and I can come to a resolution but this will have to be good before the trip.

What I need from you experts is this:

1. Complete list of Maintenance items to inspect/repair/replace before the trip.
2. Items that need to be onboard, does someone have specifically what is in their toolkit? I am going to ship this to the boat so I have to be very precise.
3. Spares to have on board..impellers, filters...etc

4. If any of you really are interested in taking a mini vacation with your wife (or without , shoot me a PM, I'm open to the idea!

Thanks much!

Josh

 

Another thought would be to do the trip in stages using the legs as Rusty recommended.
You could hire a local captain to make each of the legs with you and help you to get familiarized with the boat.
This way you could run for a day or two, then leave the boat for a week or two before returning for the next leg. This would allow you to stay in some pretty neat marinas along the way and experience the trip. We made a similar decision when we bought a boat out of Coral Gables and hired a captain to show us the way back to Wrightsville Beach, we made a mad dash back and made it in 4 days but missed a lot of the experience that could have been had along the way.
There is a lot to be learned on a boat like this, throw in wind, current, tides, etc and you'll be able to learn a lot from an experienced captain on your own boat.

 

When my friend moved from Jacksonville to Ft Myers we decided to take his 340 dancer on a 4 day cruise. Was a great time, up the saint johns down the ICW and across the canal or whatever it's called through all of the locks.

my recommendation from our trip - get the bottom of the boat cleaned before the trip! He didn't and it cost us a ton of performance and fuel.

 

Thanks to all for the advice. In a bit of a holding pattern waiting on the seller. Hopefully we have an agreement soon and I'll get this thing delivered.


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NHD, if I weren't so darn far away and so darn busy I would LOVE to make that trip as a crew member. What a great experience.

 

Uhhhh....Ruben, this thread is a year old.

 

Ruben is a search engine optimizer (SEO). He was hired to boost the rankings and web traffic to the above mentioned site. By providing "keyword rich links" to his site from related content he hopes to bring the site to the top of the search engine rankings.

Good luck Reuben, I reported you as spam.

 

Ruben is a search engine optimizer (SEO). He was hired to boost the rankings and web traffic to the above mentioned site. By providing "keyword rich links" to his site from related content he hopes to bring the site to the top of the search engine rankings.

Good luck Reuben, I reported you as spam.

Really....I had no idea