Marshall

[moevsa]

I'm looking to transport a 53' (1976) Hatteras FMY from Savannah GA to Lake Lanier, GA. The beam and length are no problem (the lake has many large houseboats over 100' and beam exceeding 17') but it's the overall height that I need to know, to the top of the flybridge housing/helm surround, no worries above this point as vessel has a soft top canopy thats retractable. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

[Boatsb]

I just transported a 31 Tiarra with a bridge and it was marginal for loaded height without escorts. We made it by a half inch. I would talk to the haulers and see what the height restrictions will be and then look at the height it will load at. The trailer will add about a foot so keep that in mind.

[davnad]

13'6'' are the limits on roads ...Maybe a little more with permit restrictions..

Dave

[Boatsb]

The Tiarra loaded at 14'5" and needed oversize permits but no escort. Permits are available for certain routes up to and over 15" but they require pole car escorts and chase vehicles. My suggestion is to get a hauler lined up and see what he says. I would also have him measure the boat out of the water before he tells you how high it will load. This way if he is wrong you dont need to pay for it.

FYI expect to pay $6+ per mile especially on a larger boat. Good luck.

[GJH]

See if the boat has an owners manual on it. Mine (for a 56my) includes all the clearance heights (with or without fly bridge, etc) and other dimensions, as well as a "Graving Plan" for constructing the appropriate cradle for highway transport. Lacking that, try calling Hatteras. I'm sure one of the old timers could tell you.

As I recall, a couple of 53s in Texas have been moved from lakes recently, both owners were on this forum.

George

[Nonchalant1]

Search this site for transport 53MY. It's goinng to be very clost to 20 ft. from the keel to the top of the flybridge fiberglass consoles. You have to take the flybridge off. It's a major PITA to get everything back on like it should be.

Doug

[SKYCHENEY]

Found this in another thread:

To ans your orig question the height is 21' 2" to the top of the flybridge, and 17' 6" with the flybridge off. Plus you have to load on a low-boy trailer that will be at least 12" off the ground, so best case you are at 18' 6". This is still too high to clear most over passes, which will in turn require a route around each. In Calif. you’ll be required to have a CHP escort due to the width heigth, further limiting you to a specific and limited on -road times. My recollection was the escort alone added an extra $5-7k on top of the rig. So all in all it was $15k to haul from Texas, $2-3k for the yard to prep (remove and pack flybridge) and load. Then add another $3-5k for the off-load, re-install and back in the water. This adds up to a rough cost range of about $25-28k, plus all of the unknowns and damage on the recommission.

[Angela]

I briefly contemplated doing this with mine 58MY a couple of years ago and then quickly came to my senses. There was no real good way to do it. It was going to require traveling off the freeway (because of bridges) and then through the towns, requiring removal and replacement of traffic light signals and cutting of tree limbs where necessary. Then, once it would have been launched at Lake Lanier, the crane bill to haul it out would be over $10,000 every time I had to haul out, and it would take two cranes working in harmony to do it. And the crane operators were hesitant to bite off on that anyway. Every hauler I spoke with was happy to slide the boat off the trailer, but no one would drive or pull such a large vessel onto the trailer due to the likelihoold of substantial damage to the underside and running gear if the boat didn't settle just absolutely perfectly.

There was no lift anywhere near beefy enough or wide enough to haul such a boat - same goes for the 53MY. So....I moved to Miami, instead...NO REGRETS! I know Lanier was starting to see larger boats (back in the day when Lanier had water...), but I do not know whether the marinas have obtained permits, etc. to bring larger travel lifts to the lake to haul such boats.

If you're taking a 53MY Hatt to Lanier, be sure to think this through completely and beyond the initial splash. Just because they handle big houseboats there, doesn't mean they can move a big Hatt around, but check it out again. My research is a couple of years old now.

[DAlter]

Before I did anything I would check to see if Lake Lanier has any water left in it!

[egaito]

As Angela mentioned, the problems aren't with the "over the road" stuff, even thought those logistics are far from easy, the real issue is getting in and out.

Since we considered putting a '58 there, some things have changed, notwithstanding the water level, but I'm not sure if they've changed enough.

We have a 62 Fairline on our dock now, which got there somehow, and they're splashing 50' SeaRays as well.

The houseboats are launched off of their trailers, a completely different story. They on fixed bunk trailers with no hydraulics, and it's a given that those trailers will be submersed. Yacht haulers generally won't submerse their trailers. I know of one that will do so, he was capitalizing on the low water, which has shut down all of the lifts, while there were ramps, but for the most part, the ramps are un-usable now as well. Regardless, the trailer he had isn't big enough for a 53.

The only two options I see are cranes. You might call the guys at Marine Max at Baldridge Marina to see if they'll turn you on to the guys that are putting in the big Sea Rays.

It would be nice to have another Hatt on the lake.....ping me if I can help further.