Carver Owners Forum

Prospective purchaser of a 2007 42 SS, coming out of a beloved 380 Sea Ray but need more room and love the marque. We are getting two wildly different opinions on shipping the boat from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta. The trucking company representative tells me they have done this model before, and all that has to be done is pull the props, the rudders (not sure if the shafts come out), the arch and the bimini. The marina I was having pull the boat and do the work tells me I am out of my mind, that the entire superstructure has to come off and be shipped separately, and that 80 man hours to disassemble is a fair estimate. Since those two shipping options are roughly $30,000 apart, I would like to ask anyone with any direct knowledge what their thoughts are. It would be greatly appreciated.*

I suspect the correct answer is...pull the boat and measure. However, I'm 750 miles away and hope I can at least start with institutional knowledge. Thanks!

Charles Robertson, USCG Master Cpt.
Woodstock, GA
Prospective Owner of a 2007 Carver 42SS
Current 2003 Sea Ray 380

*All normal disclaimers...I am new to this forum...I may be a complete moron...I read the FAQ's and tried unsuccessfully to search...not holding anyone responsible just asking for opinions...etc. etc. etc.

Hi Charles, I work for a marina that was a Carver dealer until recently. On that boat, the flybridge will come off with approximately 10 nuts/ bolts at the forward edge and trailing edge. The wiring will be plugs (labelled from the factory to assist in reassembly), and depending on engines, cables for shift/throttle. The only wiring that may be difficult is the electronics, witch will mostly stay with the flybridge (radar and GPS cabling). If you have any further questions, please ask. Also, on Carver's website, there is a service section that used to give assembly instructions (not sure if they still offer this on the site)

Thanks so much! I'll head over and continue the research. Where we are now (should any future student of this be researching the issue) is that my trucker tells me it has to be less than 15'6". Carver specs low draft at 3' and bridge clearance at 19'5", making the base to top of the light 22'5". If the tip of the light to the top of the windshield is 7' or more, we are good without pulling the top. If not, it has to be pulled.

15'6" or 13'6"?

Better check that! And that would be on the trailer. Figure at least a foot between the keel and the street.

Is shipping it via a freighter an option?

After working with Carvers for 30 + years, I know it would be easier and less time consuming (not to mention safer) to remove the flybridge as a whole

Ram, that's how they were delivered, right. I remember 4207 coming in with everything stored on the bow or aft cabin. In a day they'd have it all together and in the water.
When the buyer of our 4207 took it they had the fly bridge off in a day and they left the next day.

Charles...Have you considered taking her on her hull home? Could be a beautiful trip and the cost of fuel a wash with the shipping costs. Also consider the truckers for the most part don't care about your boat. I have a close friend that retired from the business who talked me out of shipping a tug over the road. A few years back I had my 34 Hatteras shipped 18 miles from the marina to my home. No matter how good you think the overpasses are marked, they could be wrong. Instance up our way is frost heaves that did not settle and re-paving the roads. One overpass that effected me had a road repaved under it. About 4" of pavement added, the height clearance sign was never changed.

I did this and would never do it again. Be very careful who you use. Make sure there is no broker involved and that you take out additional insurance to cover yourself. Carver uses Joule Yacht and they are in Florida. Do not pay upfront and be careful with wiring money.

These boats are designed to be taken apart. The hull will go on one truck and the superstructure will go on the other truck. It's pretty straight forward.

If it were me I would go by water if possible. Where do you boat in Atlanta? I didn't know there was water there...

Thanks all. I did consider running her up, but simply don't have the time to go across Florida, then up river. My guess was at least a two to three week trip on a boat with an unknown infrastructure when I have a lot of balls in the air...tempting, but...nah.....

I'll give Joules a call. The last quote I got was 80 hours of labor to take the cap off...from a marina who apparently didn't have the same insight that you guys do...or figured I didn't care. Either way, I'm thinking I'll get the boat to the marina a couple of days early, pull it, put it on the hard, pull the props and rudders (maybe shafts), do some minor maintenance, flush the heat exchangers and get a careful measurement. In our test measurements...using 19'5" as bridge clearance and 3' as minimum draft, I need 84" from the top of the light to the top of the dash (barely protrudes over the windshield) to clear 15'6". We are measuring 82". I'll have to see if we have any gain from pulling the running gear. If not, she come apart.