Transporting a Catamaran project

Discussion in 'Boatbuilding' started by thebes, Dec 6, 2005.

  1. thebes
    Joined: Dec 2005
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    Location: Taos, NM, Usa

    thebes New Member

    My wife and I are strongly considering building a cruising cat. One thing I have found very little information on is getting it to the water when its done.

    I live (currently) around 1000 miles from any ocean or navigable river which flows to the ocean. Catamarans are, of course, inherintly very wide.

    Does anyone have advice on the practicality of building a yacht with a 17-19 foot beam that would need to be transported that far? I know it must require wide load permits, but what is the maximuum width (in the USA, New Mexico and Texas specifically).

    For that matter how would a catamaran with an even larger beam (21-23 feet is quite plausible) be transported from where it was constructed to a suitable launch site even if it were the same city.

    I don't need to know companies that transport, etc, I am just checking on the feasibility of this for the moment. I would be able to move to a port town to build the catamaran, but my wife and I really love the area we are living in and would prefer to build it here if that were practical.

    btw, the plans we are looking at all have bridge deck cabins.

    Thanks in advance for any advince,

    Thebes
     
  2. category4jay
    Joined: Jun 2010
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    Location: Phoenix

    category4jay Jay G

  3. gonzo
    Joined: Aug 2002
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    Location: Milwaukee, WI

    gonzo Senior Member

    First, what is the reason to build that far from the water? Second, you can build the hulls, deck and interior modules, ship them to a marina/shipyard and finish the assembly.
     
  4. nimblemotors
    Joined: Jun 2009
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    Location: Sacramento

    nimblemotors Senior Member

    The practicality is poor building a large boat 1000 miles from the ocean.
    Particularly when you won''t finish it and selling it unfinished with a $20k transport overhead on it means it is worthless
     
  5. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    I've seen boats transported much farther, but they usually have some intrinsic value, to warrant the costs associated with this.

    It's not practical to truck an "oversize" load this far, unless it a rocket engine or something. The logical thing is to truck the hulls separately, which in most cases isn't an oversize load, just standard shipping rates.
     
  6. jeffb957
    Joined: Dec 2013
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    Location: Huntsville, Alabama

    jeffb957 Junior Member

    PAR is right on that, and in fact, if a load is capable of being divided, most states will NOT issue an oversized permit for it. If it CAN be divided and made legal, it MUST be divided and made legal.
     
  7. jeffb957
    Joined: Dec 2013
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    Location: Huntsville, Alabama

    jeffb957 Junior Member

    I just noticed a part I missed in the original post. Max legal width without a permit is 8'6" (102"). Oversized loads under 10 feet wide are fairly easy and cheap to get permits for. nything over 12 feet wide will require a serious governmental hokey-pokey run-around to get a permit for, and will also require ridiculously expensive support like escort cars, police involvement, DOT bridge inspectors, and many and varied local requirements. Avoid that if there is any possible way to do so.
     
  8. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Seeing as this poster has made three posts, 9 years ago and hasn't returned, maybe his wife gave him a good slap in the back of the head and he went back out to the barn, to finish fixing the tractor.
     
  9. jeffb957
    Joined: Dec 2013
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    Location: Huntsville, Alabama

    jeffb957 Junior Member

    HA! I didn't even notice the original post was so long ago. Hopefully somebody else will be researching a project ant will find the info useful.
     
    1 person likes this.
  10. waikikin
    Joined: Jan 2006
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    Location: Australia

    waikikin Senior Member

    Hi Jeff,

    Quite correct..... many lurk looking for this style of info without posting.

    Regards from Jeff.
     

  11. azcat40
    Joined: Feb 2017
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    Location: Phoenix, AZ

    azcat40 New Member

    Transporting a Catamaran

    Hi Gents - I've been reading these post and am considering building at home in Arizona and shipping to California coast about 350 miles away. My quick research shows it is fairly common to get a wide load permit for the interstate. Interstate 10 runs the breath of the trip from Arizona to California. Has anyone gone this route before?

    Also looking for anyone that has experience building a 35-42' catamaran in Phoenix, AZ. Would be interested in hearing and learning about their experience or perhaps sharing thoughts on the feasibility if anyone else is considering this same endeavor. Building in sections appears to be the most common thought however eliminating the time and cost to complete the craft at another location would be beneficial. Building in my back yard is a major convenience. Just, trying to keep the project budget down.
     
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