Can anyone give me advice on how to ship a fiberglass sea kayak safely from Colorado to Alabama? It is a used boat being purchased from an individual. I have been advised that there is about a 30% damage rate on these kayaks with common carriers.
Thanks,
Jerry
jerry@renno.us
QCC ships all of their boats
and they use big double wall corrugated boxes, and nest them together, end to end, to make a tube long enough to clear the boat. They close the ends of the two outer boxes - and tape them all together really well.
Thick polystyrene foam (maybe 2 1/2" thick) - the ridged white stuff -lines the box at the ends for bow and stern protection. Wrap the boat in bubble wrap to protect the finish. If you can, make a framework/skeleton to strengthen the inside of the box (maybe construct it out of 1" x 2" boards?).
They also used Conway / CCX trucking, and I mentioned to Phil how excellent the trucking company was. He said that they have been the best common carrier with their boats - and that they have “tried them all.”
Good luck!
Tracy
shipping kayak’s
Well, I must have read a million messages on this
topic. I came to the conclusion that unless you
can arrange a speciality hauler to pick up and
deliver its best not to ship…you can take your
chances but I choose not to in the end…There was a
guy hauling kayak’s, had his name and number, do
a search and you should be able to find it.Its
worth a shot…
call Eddyline
there’s a fellow they use,he’s got a regular tractor/trailer and only carries kayaks. Sorry I forgot the name of the fellow,I think he’s from NC or thereabouts. For 100% security I’d pick him but you’ll have to meet him at a nearby pickup points, he doesn’t go door to door.
Driver
That would probably be Jamie Kline. He delivered my Ranger Otter from NH to Mpls about a month ago. Worked out well. As you say, you need to be able to meet him somewhere for pickup/delivery.
Forward Air
I used them to ship an 18’ boat from Boston to Denver. It cost $86 and the boat came through fine. I packed the ends in several layers of carboard, then wrapped the entire boat in two layers of bubble wrap, covered with a double layer of pallet wrap.