Shipping a Boat from another State

[150class]

Was curious if anyone has had any luck doing this recently? I am looking at a 19' Skiff/flats boat with a ramblin trailer.

Weighing my options between paying a company to haul it for me vs me flying in, renting a truck or uhaul and then hauling it back for the 15 hour drive.

Its looking like I will be in it probably 700-900$ plus 1.5 days if I do it myself vs whatever the shipping option is. A few years ago I wouldn't even consider the shipping option but I value my time more and more so now I am considering it.

Been reading into Uship but for every 2 good reviews I read I read one nightmare review and I get hesitant.

Boat would be coming from the Charleston Area to Houston.

Thanks!

[Mayhem]

We are more interested in what kind of boat it is. If it were me and I couldn’t find what I wanted in Texas, I’d have it shipped.

[Gerald G]

I’d leave on a Friday morning, check out the boat on Saturday morning and head back with or without the boat depending on how it looked.

[Quackerbox]

My son finds NICE stuff in Florida daily. I'd make the trip just to make sure I'm not getting a lemon. If you're looking used

[HOOKNBULLET2]

Good luck…. I have arrived to look at way too many cream puff boats and found a piece of trash on a trailer than I care to remember.

Even had an older guy in his 80’s try and hoodwink me on an Airstream that was hundreds of miles away. He said it was a clean, no hail damage, non-smoker, no pets, and him being the only owner. When I showed up and found that every one of those claims was a lie. I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t for the life of me believe that an 80+ year old man would do that. Had the same thing happen on a Haynie boat that a 70+ year old former Quarterback from TCU had. Same story, clean, cream puff, one owner, and boy this thing was complete trash. Again I was dumbfounded. I wouldn’t buy a boat from anyone without putting my own eyes on it.

[BDann]

A guy named Doug Smith transports boats from the east coast to Texas regularly. He has a great reputation, a buddy of mine used him a couple of years ago. PM me if you want his number

[TexasBob]

The shipping is likely safer than buying a boat you haven’t seen. I’ve had 10 saltines and a cup of water in the last 24 hours over a buccees burrito and trust a buccees sushi buffet before a boat I haven’t seen

[TeamAmerica]

No way I'd buy it sight unseen. What kind of boat is so rare you can't find one closer? I can't imagine a 19 ft flat boat is a unicorn worth that headache of buying out of state.

[js4242]

I used Uship in '20. Great experience. I did speak with a couple of guys that were willing to work off the books of Uship for a cheaper price since they were cutting out the Uship %. It didn't work out with them so I used Uship. I was buying new so I had that going for me. I have a buddy that may be selling one. I asked him if he still has it. I'll pass along the info if he hasn't sold it.

[mfarmer]

No way I'd buy it sight unseen. What kind of boat is so rare you can't find one closer? I can't imagine a 19 ft flat boat is a unicorn worth that headache of buying out of state.

This exactly. Especially with all the custom flats boats made up and down our coast.

[toledo]

Tons of info on thehulltruth.com about this.