Cheap Boat Shipping?

[Tennessee Katydid]

Hello mountain boaters, I'm new to Mountain Buzz. I will be visiting Colorado for 10 days in June, and am trying to find a way to ship my boat without it costing me as much as my plane ticket! A good friend suggested I pose the question to this group as a number of you frequently ship your boats. My boat is a 6'4" WaveSport ZG 48. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Kathy

[kelly]

Check out Grehound Freight

[Caspian]

forwardair.com if you can ship to an airport terminal. Had good luck with DHL, better if you don't live in Denver. There was a big thread on this a few months ago, a search should turn it up.

[gh]

fedex ground

[David H]

I shipped a few Boats using Forward air and they did a great job for $65.
David

[GoJoe]

On the small chance you are flying Air Tran, I've heard they recently added kayaks to their "sports gear" list in the price range of what I've seen on this thread.

Also, I've sent longer slalom boats on Forward Air for less than $60 cross-country. Would think that you're boat would be cheaper.

[eklars]

You can actually FEDEX or UPS playboats. Just goto their website, print out the label and drop it off at Staples. It's around $45 and is sent 3 day air. Forward air is good too.

[Jobu]

i called fedex and recieved info that they will only ship boats for buisnesses.

Foward air is a pain in the ass for me because i gotta get to the city to use it.

I think the most convenient is door to door service through http://www.sportsexpress.com/ For a large playboat its 109 bucks from NC to Vail CO.

They will pick it up at the house and drop it off at the other end to a house, and they specialize in sports equipment. good luck

[Caspian]

Look at DHL or FedEx ground before going SportsExpress - they are way cheaper and at least DHL will do residential. Don't know about FedEx, but it's def. worth calling them. I have done a lot of travel with kayaks domestically and I consistently find SportsExpress to charge 50-100% more than other vendors. YMMV

[Jobu]

Casp I called both last week to have a boat shipped and DHL and Fedex both denied saying that they will not ship a kayak unless it is from a business.

Whom did you talk to (department) or did u just show up at the door with the boat? Did you package to boat? box or paper wrap?