Know what you are buying

Delivery, transport, shipping — three different things.

These three get used interchangeably, including by people selling them. They are not interchangeable, they cost different amounts, and only one of them involves your boat running under her own power.

A yacht being lifted and loaded onto the deck of a transport ship

What we do

Yacht delivery

Over the water, by captain

Your vessel moves under her own power, crewed by a captain and deckhands. Coastlines, the Intracoastal, canals, inland rivers and offshore passages. This is what we do, and the only one of the three where your boat arrives having been run, checked and reported on.

Best for: Any vessel that can safely make the passage, especially anything too wide or too tall for the road.
Watch out for: Adds engine hours and takes days rather than hours. Fuel, dockage and crew are yours.

A different trade

Yacht transport

Over the road, by truck

The boat is hauled overland on a trailer behind a truck. A different trade with a different licence and a different insurer, and the boat never touches water between the two lifts.

Best for: Smaller boats, and moves between waters that are not connected.
Watch out for: Legal road limits. Above 8.5 feet of beam or 13.6 feet of height you are into permits, escorts and cost — or out of the option entirely.

A different trade

Yacht shipping

On the deck of a bigger ship

Your boat rides on a ship. Used for ocean crossings and for moves where neither delivery nor trucking is practical.

Best for: Transoceanic moves, and very large vessels going a very long way.
Watch out for: You may still need a captain standing by to pilot the vessel into the loading area when called — that part we can do.

The deciding number

Beam and air draft settle most of it.

A boat wider than 8.5 feet or taller than 13.6 feet on the trailer is over standard highway dimensions. Past that, trucking means permits, escort vehicles and a route planned around bridges — and for a lot of cruising boats it stops being an option at all. Those boats go over the water.

Under those dimensions, trucking is often faster and adds no hours to your engines, which is why it exists. The honest answer is that the right choice depends on the boat, the distance and what you value — and we will tell you when trucking is the better call, even though it is not the call that hires us.

A flybridge motor yacht underway on open water, throwing a wake

Start here

Not sure which one your boat needs?

Send her dimensions and the two ports. If delivery is wrong for the job, I will say so.

Open the delivery form (727) 236-1385

We do not share, rent or sell your information. Data is collected only to produce the estimate you asked for.

A Mercator nautical chart with a course plotted in red