How to Safely Move Your Boat into Storage

Moving a boat to a new location or into a storage facility needs to be carried out in an organized and efficient manner and there are precautions to be taken to ensure it’s done carefully, and safely. 

If you don’t move your boat in the correct way it could easily be damaged or even be a danger to other drivers during transportation. At the end of the day the proper preparation of the boat before it’s moved is down to you as the owner. Make sure you:

1. Check and clear out anything inside the boat that can move around. This includes fishing gear and anything that could fall out whilst it’s being towed as this can either result in these items being damaged or them falling around inside the cabin and causing damage or breakages.
2. Locker doors and hatches should all be closed and secured so they won’t open during the move.
3. Secure the outboard motor correctly or consider removing it to store it safely.
4. Disconnect the terminals on your batteries and double check that they are fastened correctly.
5. It is best not to move the boat with any fuel left in as this is flammable and could ignite. If there is some fuel remaining then consider siphoning it out.
6. Drain the boat of any excess water using the draining plug, especially if it has been sitting unattended in the yard for a while. There shouldn’t be any water during transportation.
7.  Make sure any attachments are removed and stored safely, especially if you are moving a sailboat or other bulky vessel. The transport company will hold you responsible for preparing the boat so if anything isn’t secured properly and gets shaken loose or falls off and breaks it’s entirely your fault.
8. All parts, including the radar, horns, antennas, propellers, flag masts, lights, anchor lights, and windshields have to be detached, packed firmly and stored inside. The carrier will not be accountable if they are broken or vibrate off. There is a possibility that canvas covers can get damaged or even cause damage if they get loose in the wind whilst the truck is transporting them so it’s advised they are removed.

Moving something so large as a boat takes a lot of attention, care and attentiveness because there are simply too many things that can go wrong. If you don’t have the correct equipment or the know-how to move the boat yourself then there are professional transport services that can help. 

They have specially adapted vehicles and do all the liaising with marinas or boatyards necessary. They’ll collect your boat from where it’s moored and transport it safely to the new location, even dealing with the police and traffic agencies if that’s what is called for. 

You could also store your boat for a while in a self storage facility until you decide where it is to be moored.

Storage services are very economical and work out cheaper then mooring the boat in some cases.