quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:
Find someone doing a cross-country road trip and pay them to throw it on a roof rack?

My first thought. Might throw in a Thule rack gratis as well. Figure out a HotShot hauler in the area. They are the guys you see with the racks and trailers hauling campers, a car or two. Local RV dealer should know a few companies.

Assuming you want to ship it from/to your house (or the person you're buying it from), you should know most online freight quote software limits LTL lift-gate pickups to 8 ft. If it can be loaded sans lift-gate, I just ran some theoretical numbers:
1 pallet 220" x 40" x 36" with a total weight including a homemade (you fabricate) pallet of 250 pounds... Durham, NC -> San Dimas, CA

SAIA quoted $1,225, the rest were $2k and above.
Might be able to "trim" that by shipping terminal to terminal...

Is there a kayak forum that perhaps you could post a request on and find someone going cross country?

I’d be fine with shipping it to an affiliated kayak dealer up to two hours from my castle/base camp in North Carolina. A few promising leads were unavailable today so I’ll have more info tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll know if this is likely to happen or if I’ll have to get creative and really put in the effort to make this work.

Fingers crossed I can figure out a shipping solution. Road tripping it myself won’t be possible. I did a cross country trip a few years ago with my bro and while I loved it I don’t want to do it again any time soon. Especially while gas is so expensive.

Getting a Wilderness Systems 160 Pro a few years ago in lime green was like winning the lottery and it’s been an incredible boat. This other boat I’m considering would be like going from a fun, playful rockered our kayak that is at home in rough conditions to something a QUITE bit faster.! This would be more of something I could take on a nice camping trip in and around the murky water of North West River and the Elizabeth River (Virginia).

I’ve been planning a nice daylong or potentially multi day trip from the locks in Great Bridge Chesapeake Virginia (southern branch of the Elizabeth River) past Norfolk & Portsmouth and up the western branch of the Elizabeth River. My plan is to finish at the water front house my brother is lucky to own and complete the trip at a place that has been in my family for generations now.

I’ve spend a lot of time on the Elizabeth River kayaking and boating over to Portsmouth and Norfolk since I was a kid. If my brother and I can time the tide right something like this might be possible in a day. He will of course want to bring the trolling motor from his canoe but that’s cheating. He will try to convince me to go down the intercostal into the Great Dismal Swamp and explore along canal bank road (old route 17) but while much more dangerous at places my trip seems like a lot more fun.

My plan (I’ve been wanting to do this for years) is to start at the circle and finish at the X.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
To give you guys an idea why I asked about shipping, one of the other kayaks I have had my eye on has more than doubled (almost tripled) in cost over the last few years and is now almost $5,000. The expensive kayaks I am seriously considering cost a shocking amount because they are hand made in the USA and can be customized or basically built to my exact specs. It would probably be $5k or more by the time I got done building it how I wanted it.

Even if shipping costs close to a grand (hopefully it won’t) I’d still seriously consider getting this kayak as it would be less than half the cost of the other boats I like. It’s one of my favorite designs and utilizes a build material that is no longer available and comes in a length that isn’t even offered anymore.

What kayak is it? I'd love a Hobie fishing kayak, and the basic boat is around $4,500 new, and then there is an anchor, fishing, paddle, electronics, etc. That is a plastic boat, too, and not as delicate as the one you are talking about.

I am curious what it will cost to ship. $1000 wouldn't surprise me.

There has to be hotshots that are doing California to east coast deliveries or vice versa that would love an extra $1000-$1500 to strap the thing on the roof of their truck…

Stickman,
I have some calls out to a few people I work with in logistics.

As far as LTL or package carriers, it won't even show me rates. "No service available for dimensions entered". It's too long.

Man, I would love to be able drive that across country and using the kayak along the way. Lake Powell / horseshoe and so on. So much enjoyment to be had..... It's not the destination, it's the journey .

5 days of driving + 5 days of kayak ---- 2 week trip / vacation..... and lots of Q along the way.

ForwardAir is a great option for oversize/not heavy things. I shipped a Wrangler soft top through them years ago (built a box from leftover cardboard and zip-tied the top down inside and they strapped to a pallet).

You might find a local depot and run by or call them. You'll need to have the shipper properly package it (strap to a pallet or something) and they need to be close by a depot to drop and you by one to receive.

Just run over to CLC Boats in Annapolis, buy a kit, and build one.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by thumperfbc:
Find someone doing a cross-country road trip and pay them to throw it on a roof rack?[/QUOTE^^^^^^^^ How about a hot shot delivery as a piggy back load maybe even throw in the roof rack as a bonus after delivery......... drill sgt.

Stickman, I should have some answers for you in the morning. As long as it can be crated where it’s coming from, I should have a carrier it two, with costs lined up.
If you want to, great. If not, no worries. At least you will have a couple options.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

What kayak is it? I'd love a Hobie fishing kayak, and the basic boat is around $4,500 new, and then there is an anchor, fishing, paddle, electronics, etc. That is a plastic boat, too, and not as delicate as the one you are talking about.

I am curious what it will cost to ship. $1000 wouldn't surprise me.

It is a Wilderness Systems Tempest 180 Pro. Basically it’s a slightly longer and much lighter version of their current Sea/Touring kayak thanks to its fiberglass construction. A plastic Tempest would cost me just under two grand. It would be heavier and slower but quite a bit stronger if I went with plastic.

I have both a fiberglass 16ft and rotomolded polyethylene (hard plastic) 15.5 ft Wilderness Systems Zephyr. I believe the Zephyr is no longer offered in North America. The Zephyr is a fun boat in surf and does ok on flat water with the skeg dropped down. It’s NOT a very fast boat for distance paddling though it could work I suppose. I’ve taken my plastic Zephyr out in the surf at OBX and actually caught waves on it. It will fly down the line and ride waves almost like a long board. It’s as fun as surfing but at 15.5 feet the Zephyr is a bit of a handful to control on larger waves. It’s also a royal pain when it gets swamped in the zone where waves break one after the other in rapid succession. The front and rear watertight bulkheads make recovery much better than a kayak with no bulkheads. My chucklehead friend swamped and nearly sunk a Dagger Zydeco at the beach. It took four of us to drag that boat out of the ocean.

If this deal falls through I’ll consider ordering a plastic Tempest 170 or just plan to use one of my longer kayaks for extended paddle sessions like the one I plan on doing in Virginia during the fall season. A trip like that would be best in fall when the water is still warm but it isn’t so dang hot outside.

I might look for a playful sit in kayak with lots of rocker in the 12-14 foot range. There are a lot of options in that category. A smaller boat would be a blast to take to the beach and play in the surf and explore the shallow costal areas of OBX. Dagger used to make a boat in that size range that would work brilliantly but sadly it seems like all the boats I love get discontinued. So tracking one down wouldn’t be easy.


I did speak to one outdoor outfitter that sells Wilderness Systems kayaks. They estimated it would cost “a few hundred dollars” but didn’t want anything to do with having it shipped to their store for obvious liability reasons. Shipping direct to my house would be preferred anyway unless I can save considerable money. I should know a bit more on the shipping situation tomorrow.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: stickman428,

There are several companies now that independent drivers with pickups and large enclosed trailers travel the country picking up stuff in one place and dropping it in another if you are not in a hurry.

Uship.com is one.

I shipped a washer and dryer from MA to FL and this was the cheapest reasonable price.

I got several bids over a few days after I uploaded my shipping request on the website.

Quotes were $450 to $720

The $450 worked out fine.


I bought insurance from Uship just in case but didn't have to use it.

It was a good experience.

Household moving company is another option I’ve thought of.

Marinas/yacht facilities help arrange the shipment of boats across the country. Often the trucks pull one trailer/boat at a time. Arranging to ship it inside a such a boat would add almost zero weight to the load and it would travel with a very careful driver.

Your planned paddle looks great.

Well, bad news.

The kayak deal fell through. I was really hoping to get that yak. The search for the ideal touring/sea kayak continues…

I had one shipped to be, from WA to Cali. Came air freight, cost was reasonable. It was wrapped with cardboard and tape.

Good luck finding another model.

Joking but possible serious option. Have the kayak maker sell it to you on Amazon and Prime that bad boy.