Taking Pictures of Your Boat Before Shipping

Whether you’re relocating to a new state and you want to move your boat, or you’re buying the boat from a different state, ensuring that it arrives at its destination in pristine condition calls for preparation. Preparing your boat for travel will help you avoid costly delays, unexpected fees, besides ensuring that it remains undamaged during transit. One of the steps to undertake before releasing your boat for shipping is taking pictures. Taking photos before dismantling anything on the boat gives you something to reference when the time comes to reassemble the boat.

Again, having a record of the boat in its perfect condition before shipping can help you place a claim in case your boat gets damaged in transit. Here are some tips to help you take the best photos of your boat:

• Lighting: Great photography is about lighting. The best time to take photographs of your boat is almost always late afternoons or early mornings. The late day sunlight and early mornings illuminate the deeper recesses of the boat’s hull. When the sun climbs upward, the contrast builds, which makes the color balance warmer.
• Camera choice: Go for the large lens cameras since they produce sharper pictures.
• Filters: When taking photograph of boats, polarizing filters eliminate glare and unwanted reflections. Further, they saturate colors and make clouds pop from intensified blue skies. Polarized filters are your best choice here.
• Shutter speeds: If you want to freeze the action and take better photos, shoot at faster shutter speeds. This is especially important when shooting a moving boat or when using telephoto lenses.

Other important boat preparations

Taking photographs is not enough in preparing your boat for shipping. These are more preparations to make to ensure that your boat arrives at its destination hassle-free and in tip top condition.

Secure your boat

You should first secure all the components of your boat that are most likely to get damaged. Components such as the windows, cabin doors, windshield, and the electronic windshield. A great way to secure these components is to ship them all separately. Additionally, ensure that the boat is saddled on the trailer securely so that it doesn’t disengage. Secure all the components hanging from the hull and also shut all the dampers and doors. You should also disconnect the batters, empty your fuel tank, and tie-up all electrical cables before shipping the boat.

Measure your boat

The dimensions of your boat are extremely important when requesting a quote to ship your boat. Normally, boat transporters try to accommodate more than one boat going in the same direction and at the same time. This is how they try to minimize your boat transportation costs. By knowing the measurements of your boat, you will enable the transporter to know what boat fits in which trailer. The main measurements you need to take are three. The first is the overall length which includes the length from the bow to the center of a stern. Next is the overall width where you measure the widest points of the boat. Lastly is the overall height and here you take measurements from the bottom of the boat to the irremovable part of the boat that stands highest. Still under measurements, include outboard motor brackets, bow pulpits, and swim platforms. In case you remove the radar arch before taking measurements, secure it back against the boat.

Hire a professional boat transport company

A professional boat transport company should have enough experience working with permit agencies, DOT, boat yard, marinas, and ports so that they are in a position to help you cut costs by avoiding costly delays. An experienced boat transportation company can help you with all the paperwork needed before transporting the boat. You should ascertain whether you’re dealing with a capable service provider by asking well-thought questions; questions such as whether or not they have a travel lift or whether they can shrink-wrap your boat. Also, make sure their insurance includes cargo insurance.

Prepare the needed paperwork

For the sake of comparison, look at the cost estimates from different boat transporters. Look at things such as delivery dates, and safety guidelines. Don’t be tempted to make the mistake of choosing a service provider based on price only. Remember, sometimes extra cost may mean better safety guidelines. Also, beware so that you don’t fall prey to transport brokers; it should be in your best interest to deal with the company first-hand other than through middlemen who may not take time to understand your shipping needs.

If you have any questions regarding preparing your boat for shipping, please contact us. We will be happy to hear from you.