Prep for transport by lorry?

[richardknight]

We're putting our yacht on a lorry in a couple of weeks time to get it to it's next home. Has anyone gone through the process, and hence can offer some advice, on what we should be doing in preparing her for this?

Or is it all just common sense.....?

Thanks,

Richard

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[stamfordian]

Just moved my boat 23ft motor boat by lorry ,with hyhab on back basicly its as you say common sense ,ie anything loose...strap it down,the driver should ensure nothing can flap about/blowoff ,becuse it,s HIS load and he,s responable if anything drops off on the road.
cheers,best of luck hope everything goes as smooth as mine did..enjoyed it really.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.arweb.co.uk/argallery/stamfordian>http://www.arweb.co.uk/argallery/stamfordian</A>

 

[tcm]

not really comon sense - i would smash up the radar, deposit several branches all over the deck and make some big grindy marks where the slings go. That way, you'll hardly know any difference after the trip.

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[neil_s]

My experience was the same with a 28ft boat. It's worth remembering that many hours vibration will damage things like anodising, so use lots of padding. I found plastic pipe insulation very useful for wrapping around the rigging wires before strapping to the mast. The mast was secured at pulpit, pushpit and in the middle with good lashings to the toe rails. Anchor went down below.

All the best! neil

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[bob26]

If your mast is v much longer than your boat you need to know whether it should overhang front or back or both. Mine had to hang out front.



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[garvellachs]

We moved our Maxi 100 up from the Hamble to Cumbria by lorry. We removed everything heavy like anchors gas bottles and batteries, emptied tanks, and strapped down everything else with lots of padding. We used bubblewrap outside mainly, and the cushions in the cabins. We fixed the helm too. Mostly commonsense as you say.

She seemed to come out of it OK but we lost the plastic lid on one ventilator and collected some leaves and twigs on the way.

We informed our insurers too of what was taking place.

Good luck.

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[garvellachs]

We moved our Maxi 100 up from the Hamble to Cumbria by lorry. We removed everything heavy like anchors gas bottles and batteries, emptied tanks, and strapped down everything else with lots of padding. We used bubblewrap outside mainly, and the cushions in the cabins. We fixed the helm too. Mostly commonsense as you say.

She seemed to come out of it OK but we lost the plastic lid on one ventilator and collected some leaves and twigs on the way.

We informed our insurers too of what was taking place.

Good luck.

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[Jacket]

Oh, cheers. Mine's coming back by lorry all the way from Denmark. How am I ment to sleep now?!

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[richardknight]

Many thanks for the info - did you empy fuel as well as water tanks? It's the former which is the slight problem being full with 120 litres of fuel right now. We could dump it somewhere or motor round in circles for a day or so but not my chosen option.....

Thanks,

Richard

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[garvellachs]

Hi Richard - we didn't empty the fuel because of time constraints, but by choice I would. Can you get jerry cans or similar low enough to siphon it off? 120 litres is quite a weight (most of 100kg) so worth getting out if you can. Mike

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[Heckler]

i moved mine on a lorry from the hamble to pwllheli, it coast an arm and a leg for the hamble lot to drop the mast and "prepare" it, it wasnt worth it, when it arrived two spreaders were broken IMHO by the riggers when they took them off, all they did otherwise was strap the mast and roller reefer together with bits of string and torn up plastic foam, they also lost shackles and bolts.
stu

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[heerenleed]

It really is a common sense matter. Our boat came all the wqay from Greece on a low-loader. We prepared the boat ourselves like one normally would: we emptied the water tank (which is 1200 litres representing 1,2 tonnes of weight), not the diesel tank which contained 400 litres. the masts came down, we did take the radar dome off and stowed it in the aft cabin on one of the bunks. We took the masthead set off and made sure the hole for the main mast was securey closed as we did not want to get al lot of water in the saloon. We cleared out the mess of the former owner and that was that.

Upon arrival the driver told us he loved the heavyweight on his lorry, very light boats tend to jump when the road is bumpy. Your Moody should be fine.

Remember a boat at sea in heavy wheather moves about lots more than a well secured boat on a lorry on a western European motorway (Promise they won't do smaller roads if they can help it)

So relax and
Happy sailing

<hr width=100% size=1>Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands

 

[richardknight]

Hello Peter - thanks for your reply, all very reassuring. Can you tell me how you prepared the mast? i.e. did you remove all electrical fittings (ariels, lights etcc.), any winches and how did you protect the mast during transit? We were thinking of wrapping it in a couple of layers of bubble wrap.

Thanks,

Richard

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[schilde]

The only slight problem we had was that the mast wore through the padding where it was tied down to the pulpit rail. The mast now has a slight sore, not really very deep, but if it was near the spreaders or gooseneck or if it was deeper it might be a worry. Our padding was sponge and carpet. I recommend better quality carpet, thicker layers, or maybe get something like a bit of wood in there, but remember everything will move more than you expect and it will probably come out, which will be worse.

Move / stow everything that is loose as for a storm, but the difference is the vibration and jolting is worse than anything at sea, things might come out of their clips, the anchor will cause damage if it can rattle about, etc.

I paid the driver an extra £50 to arrive at the destination at an exact time, so he waited about (somewhere!) instead of me, as I had to get out of work.

For our 300 miles in winter it was much easier than sailing all the way and worth the money. Best of luck. Steve in Plymouth.


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[heerenleed]

Actually we didn't do much about the mast. We removed the radar dome from the mizzen and the masthead set from the main mast. We left all areals (indeed the VHF areal was damaged and the Glomex (TV) had a hole. Replaced them both.
We left all lights and guess what: after stepping the mastst all worked a treat.

Having said all this, we had a lot of trouble with the former Greek owner and that did not leave us much time do do a better job. I think if you do what you planned, like wrapping the mast up and removing everything valuable, you need not worry about anything. Do use a specialised transport company though. They know how to secure a yacht on top of a lorry. Don't use any well-meaning amateur, 'cause you're bound for trouble. And do check your insurance to see if road transport is covered. If not: insure. There are a lot of idiots about and things can happen that have nothing to do with your lorry but still cause you damage.

And do tell us where the boat is going (just being curious and possibly jealous...)

cheers

<hr width=100% size=1>Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands

 

[richardknight]

Hi Peter - thanks for the info, it all helps to make sure we have as pain free a transfer as possible!

In answer to where we're moving her to, she's off from her old home (Poole Harbour, UK south coast) to Ampuriabrava which is in Spain just below the French border on the Mediterranean side. We move to France in 2 weeks but weren't able to get a mooring there hence are keeping her in Spain (c. 90 minutes from where we live). Definately looking forward to the cruising ground which aside from being rather sunnier than the UK, promises a ruggest coastline where we are albeit with some potentially rather freaky wind patterns!

Thanks for your help.

Richard

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