Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

[Valv]

I am going to buy a 30ft to 36 ft mid '70s sportfish boat in Lake Michigan area, to be moved to Minneapolis, MN

Would it be easier and cheaper to drive boat through the lake, through Superior and end up in Duluth, MN then haul boat last 200 miles or have it hauled all the way for 750 miles ?

Vessel has twin inboards V8s.

What is an average mpg (if it's possible to call it this way) of this kind of boats ?

 

[dgopetactical]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

how wide is your beam? And Im assuming you dont have a trailer. If you use a contract hauling company and your boat is more than 101" wided they will require a wide load permit, witch opens up another cans of worms. Permits are not to hard to get but you can be charged a few hundred for the permit by your hauling co. not including your hauling fees. You could pay well over $1,000 for the service.

If I were you I would check you ststes permit laws. Find somebody with a trailer and a truck capible of hauling your boat and do alot of but kissing to use their rig. If you are capible of going back routes you might be able to squeeze by with no permit. The 101" permit is Pa state law maybe your is different. Then taking the boat ride might be nice just stinks for the person driving out to pick you up.

 

[rndn]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

There's no way you will be able to drive the boat for less than $1 dollar per mile. It would seem even if it cost you a grand to have it hauled, that would be the way to go. If you're not looking at just money, I'm sure it would be a wonderful trip and isn't that why you bought the boat to begin with??

 

[Bondo]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

Ayuh,.......

It would be Way More Fun to drive the boat,.......
But,.....
It will be Way Cheaper,+ Easier to have it Hauled...........

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

Maybe you could just get it to Milwaukee and then take it on a trailer the last 350 miles or so.

Where is the boat now? Michigan? 750 miles puts you on the other side of the state....Lake Huron?

How many boat miles is to to Duluth?

 

[burroak]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

Where is the boat located?
route you
Have you looked at the course that you would have to sail that boat to get to Duluth and starting in the near future.
Does the link of "November/Lake Superior/Edmund Fitzgerald" bring anything to mind? Aside from the risk at that time of year, the course from Lake Michigan into Lake Huron and along the southern shores of Lake Superior is fairly daunting; even if you know the reliability of the vessel and are familiar with it (having owned and operated it all weather conditions). By asking the question, I'm guessing that the boat iseither a new acquisition or it was a near harbor past time.

At 750 mi and on Lake Michigan it would have to be near Traverse City, Mi. If that's the case, drive it to Green Bay, Wi and haul it to Minneapolis - the best of both worlds.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

i know nothin about what yer gettin into. but i'd say that would be a real good shakedown cruise for yer new boat. maybe addin lots of new hours to it. thems pretty big waters to be hosed in if that would happen. for the adventure i'd think go for the cruise, way cool. if the boat has any quesionable parts. i'd go overland.....better trust it or be prepared to be hosed somehow and have a plan to deal with it....

 

[arboldt]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

You mentioned that your destination was Minneapolis, but you also mentioned driving the boat to Duluth.

If Duluth is final destination, going over Lake Superior in the the fall is not my idea of fun at all (check the reference to the Fitzgerald).

Even from Duluth to Minneapolis is an over the road haul, isn't it? How far from Duluth to navigable St. Croix River? Is that an advantage to hauling from Green Bay or Manitowoc?

ok, let me display some ignorance... Is it possible to drive it down the Chicago River to the Mississippi and up to the Cities?

 

[rheyboer]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

If the boat is close to Chicago...Chicago River to lllinois River to Mississippi. Ilinoisl river goes SW 150? miles untill the Miss. Several/many locks, but you can move on the river. No fear of rough conditions. Chicago to Lake Superior by way of Lake Michigan? 350 miles. Tighten your fillings. Then West into the wind for a couple hundred miles on the real big lake? A take-your-time trip in July would be great. Unless your leaving real soon it could be good to have an ice scraper on board. Myself, I would boat to Milwaukee and put it on a trailer. Especially since it sounds like the last part of the trip will be on a trailer anyway for plenty of miles. I know a guy who runs a boatyard in Milwaukee and he might be able to help you out. Very reasonable compared to Chicago-area yards.

 

[arboldt]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

If you're seriously considering going across Lake Superior, consider these
These photographs were taken in November 2006 aboard Misener Steamships MV Selkirk Settler as she crossed Lake Superior in November weather.

 

[mikey.himself]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

NO way, don't go across lake superior in NOVEMBER!

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

Have the boat hauled. Period. This isn't the time of year in that region for fun/shakedown cruises or Great Lakes learning curves. This is not a comparable money issue.

 

[Ben Paquin]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

NO way, don't go across lake superior in NOVEMBER!

Those pics aren't from Lake Superior.
They were taken during a north Atlantic crossing in 1987.

Still Lake Superior has seen up to 31ft waves. The big blue wave in the pics is over 75ft

 

[Bry21317]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

Wow,
I never knew that the lakes up there could have waves like that. I live in NC and the lakes around here, don't have many waves, but from boat wakes and when a little storm kicks up. But nothing like that. Even on the coast, we don't get waves like that unless there is a hurricane or a really bad storm brewing.

Bryan

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

Growing up as a kid we used to spend some time on the great lakes. I remember being told that the storms are often more dangereous than an ocean storm of the same overall severity because the waves were closer together... not sure whether its relevant or not, but I've been on a larger vessel in some fairly nasty ocean storms and wouldn't want to be out in a small craft in that kind of water during that time of the year for nothin (can you say hypothermia??). but then again, nobody ever said i was overly bright. I might consider taking the boat... for a minute or two...

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

Bryan, ever been out in the Pamlico in a good wind? It's usually not bad... and is a beautiful piece of water, but man was I suprised (and maybe a little scared) on a little 18 foot aluminim boat when had my first, first-hand experience with that...

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

I grew up around the Great lakes and no way would i try that trip in a boat you have no history with.
I remember a couple summer time storms on Erie that scared the crap out of us.That is BIG water out there!

 

[j442w30]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

I agree with everyone else here, you should definetly have the boat hauled. The Great Lakes can turn nasty in an instant and that is a huge trip to make this time of year. You should be able to have that boat hauled for a couple thousand , to drive it would be way more expensive with fuel, docking fees, and other miscellaneous things that would occur during the trip.

 

[mikey.himself]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

Does anyone know why exactly the lakes get so ugly in the fall/winter? Is it just because more weather activity as far as rain/wind? Or...?

 

[mikey.himself]

Re: Is it more convenient to drive a boat or haul it ?

Still Lake Superior has seen up to 31ft waves.

WOW! 31 FOOT?! That's huge! I can't imagine being out in that with anything short of a cruise liner or ocean liner. I know that here in western lake ontario the waves get a few meter high rollers and that makes my stomach kweezy as heck in my 28ft. rinker.... Last time we were out in it everyone was on the verge of sickness and we headed in right away. The only problem with going from our bay to the lake is that there is a low lift-bridge that only goes up every 30 mins, and there are 2 long walls on each side, and if you have to wait 30 mins inside the channel your boat will be everywhere waiting for it to go back up. Not to mention the "suction" when you get near the walls...Something I never want to experience on my boat (happened on a friends...couldn't get away from the wall.)