Shipping a boat from Alaska. Steve? Anyone?

$1.83 a mile. I don't deal with anything but "driveaway" which charges you for one-way only and then is responsible for their own backhaul.....for boats, unless you can find someone running with a partially empty flat that is just looking to do you a favor its not the way to go....

I heard from Eric that "U-SHIP" was the way to go....post what you have, where it is and where it needs to go and people give you a "bid" to move it for you......in most cases these people are making that "point A to point B" already and aren't looking to recover "total cost" so you can get some good deals......definately worth a look but I'd sure wat some big time assurances of Insurance being in place before I turned over a boat to them.....

Steve
 
You could find someone in Washington or Oregon to pick it up and drive it up to you in exchange for a pair of decoys and a duck hunt. Heck, if I lived over there I would make that a vacation/road trip.

Nate
 
Yep, Uship.com can be a real money saver. The specialize in ebay and craigslist shipping. Like Steve said you put a request for qoutes out there and folks will reply back with bids that you can deny or acccept. You may not get a lof of bids at first but in my experiences they will trickle in over a several week period. I've think I've always gotten at least three or four bids. In your area I have no idea what to expect.

Good luck.
 
Thanks Steve, very helpful. I just listed it on Uship. Pretty handy looking website. Especially for people who live out on the frontier. : )

I've got another load of cedar drying on Vancouver Island right now and maybe I could use this service to get it up here cheaper. The last load was $1000 for 6000 lbs, but fuel has gone up quite a bit since then.

Thanks again,

Mike
 
Mike,

You probably already know, but I'm a fan of these boats. That looks like a pre-98 hull style with more rounded chines. Mine's a 99 which was the first year of the hard chine, but well before the IPS chine flat hulls. Matt Snyder can pontificate about the differences. I've heard the older ones are more sturdily built with thicker AL. Check the condition of the (plywood) floor and I've heard they can have loose rivets (none on mine that I know of).

Charlie
 
WHOA you guys are fast!

It will be interesting to see if anyone replies Eric. There is only one road out of Alaska and it still goes right by my door so you would think with the amount of traffic headed out on any given day someone would want to earn some gas money. I'd do it if it wasn't too much hassle.

Nate, good idea, bad geography. Its a 30 - 40 hr drive one way from the Washington/BC border to Whitehorse on a partially gravel road.

Mike
 
Thanks Charlie, I'll be sure to ask the guy about the rivets when he calls me back. In your opinion, would that 55 hp push that boat OK? What about with 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 dogs, 600 lbs of moose meat, and a box of rice cakes?

Mike

PS there was similar rig to this onefor sale here in town last summer - $10,600. It sat for a while and then disappeard, so I guess it sold. It may have had a 40 on it. What do you run on yours?
 
Mike,
I am not Charlie, but my bro in law has a 18' alaskan with a 40 on it. 3 guys 12 doz decoys/gear, does fine. Do I want more power, sure, but it is not my boat and he is content. Other bro in law has a 75hp on his, side counsel deal, way faster, but more $ too....

that 55 should be fine.
 
mike, are you saying you bought 6000 lbs of cedar? Is it yellow or red cedar on vancouver island...

Good luck with the boat, I was looking into the same thing awhile ago, and another route is to go to craigslist, rideshare...If someone is coming and going to whitehorse from anchorage you might save some money saying you can pay thier gas, tip money, etc...

Zach
 
Thanks Eric, good to know. You are right about the $$$, every little thing costs lots. SO, if I can get a usable family boat for $5000 this summer, maybe I can upgrade when I sell that bear rug. My dream boat would be a 24' Hewscraft ocean runner, with a 225 on it, but who could afford the fuel for something like that?!

Zach, I bought red cedar last time and asked for the same this time. I haven't used all of my last load, but with fuel prices rising and considering it is old growth (some is 50 rings per inch) I figure now is the time to stockpile enough for 50 years. I get it from a Courtney saw mill.

Mike
 
Zach, I didn't answer your question very clearly did I? I actually bought 3000 lbs of cedar, not 6000, I was mistaken. But it was $1000 for shipping from Vancouver. It was fresh cut green 4 x12's of various lengths. This time I asked the guy to keep it there for a year or two to dry a bit.

I just checked out rideshare on c'slist and it looks great. Thanks for the tip!

Mike
 
I was just gonna say that having it kiln dried and then shipped would be cheaper. Where would you use a 23' boat?
 
I should phone around and see if there is a drier near Courtney. Most of the wood logged there is sold rough and green as cants to overseas markets.

IF I had a live aboard type boat and all summer off I would cruise Tagish Lake, Atlin Lake, the Lynn Canal and inside passage. Could a guy ever get sick of fresh seafood?

A comfortable river boat would be nice too for 10 day moose hunts in Sept.

Mike
 
I know that if you had one of the vehicle moving folks move it to Haines Junction it would be around $1500 US. We had two trucks shipped to Juneau a few years ago and it was $1800 US each. They were driven down on the highway to Haines and then boated to J-Town. They were coated in about an inch of mud when we picked them up. There is a shrink wrap place in town that will do it for you.

Vic Hoskings Trucking may be backhauling to the west coast and could drop it

Alaska Vehicle Transport (907-561-2899) and they have a website with the name. They may not do CAN trips just to the US by barge.

Wrightway auto carriers (907-277-4549)

Northern Cartage Inc is supposed to truck to the mid west so they have to drive by Whitehorse
(907-338-3100) nci@acsalaska.net

If I was not going out to the bush to work very soon for a long while I would consider picking it up and driving it over to you if you could meet me at Beaver Creek or there abouts. Too much stuff to do before I go out of town, and when I get back I'll be jumping on school construction permitting stuff.

That said when do you really want this thing over there? The ice won't be out for a while yet will it?
 
Just some advice Mike. Befor you accept a bid from a U-ship TSP, make sure the transporter is DOT compliant. They have a lot of transporters on U-ship that don't even have insurance let alone DOT authority. U-ship DOES NOT check the transporters or shippers that are listed on the site.
Even a back haul may cost you a 1.50 a mile right now. Anyone listed with Eric Carlson at Hotshot Transport is legal. If you need any more help, give me a shout either here on through my web site.
 
Mike,

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I run a 50 horse tohastu 2 stroke and it is plenty of motor for the boat. With the right prop it does 46mph, with another prop it has all the grunt you could want. In a perfect world a more powerful motor would be swell, but 50 is plenty.

Charlie
 
Thanks for the info guys. And Ray, I'm not panicked as I'm keeping my other little boat, and in May when the ice goes I'll be laid up from surgery. I just want a good safe lake boat by July.

Mike
 
Mike if you don't find a solution for shipping let me know and we can work out a road trip this spring before "boating season".
 
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