"Fall haul-out: putting the boat up right"

The water stays warm here long after the calendar says fall, so a lot of Lowcountry boats stay wet into November. Then the first hard cold front comes through, the fishing slows down, and everybody decides on the same weekend that it is time to pull the boat. That is when the phone starts ringing.

If you know the boat is coming out this season, the single best thing you can do is decide early. Not because we want the booking, but because October and November are when storage yards fill up and every hauler in two counties is working a list.

Where is it going, exactly

The most common holdup on a haul-out is not the boat. It is that nobody settled the destination. Storage lot, dry stack, the side yard at the house, a friend's barn out in Meggett. Each one changes the plan.

Check the access before you commit to it. A spot that a truck and trailer cannot get into is not a spot, no matter how much room it looks like on foot. Overhanging limbs, a gate that is six inches too narrow, soft ground after a wet week, a turnaround that requires backing a hundred feet down a dirt drive. Tell us about all of it up front. We would rather hear it on the phone than discover it with the boat already loaded.

Sort the trailer out first

Trailers sit for months and then get asked to do the hardest work of the year. Before haul-out day, look at the tires, including the spare, and check the bearings. Bearing failure on the way to storage is one of the most common calls we get in the fall, and it always happens at the worst spot on the road.

If the trailer is not roadworthy, say so. We move plenty of boats for people whose trailers are out of service, or who do not have a trailer at all. That is what the rollback is for. It is a normal boat transport job, not a special favor.

What we need to know to quote it

Length and beam. Rough weight if you know it. Whether it is on a trailer, and whether that trailer rolls. Where it is now and where it is going. And a few photos, because photos answer questions we would not think to ask.

Pontoons need extra planning for width. Sailboats depend entirely on mast and height, so ask before you assume. We handle boats up to about thirty feet. If yours is bigger than what we run, we will say so rather than take the job and figure it out later.

Give yourself a window, not a day

Here is the part nobody likes. Emergencies come first. If a wreck closes a lane on Highway 17 while your haul-out is scheduled, the wreck wins, because someone is sitting on the side of the road. That is the deal with a towing company that also hauls, and it cuts both ways: the day your boat breaks down, you are the emergency.

What we do is give you a straight window and keep you posted rather than promising a time we might not hold. Book with a little slack in it and it all gets easier.

While you are at it

Pull the drain plug and let it dry out. Get the battery on a tender or take it inside. Fuel stabilizer if it is sitting until spring. Cover it properly, because sun does more damage over a Lowcountry winter than most people expect.

And if you are the sort who takes the boat back out the first warm week in March, keep the storage spot in mind when you pick it. Getting it back out is the same access problem in reverse.

We haul boats to and from the ramps, marinas, and storage yards around Edisto, Wadmalaw, Johns Island, and the rest of the Lowcountry. Call (843) 813-6335 and we will get it scheduled.