Hawaiibassfishing Forum

I was looking at boats out in Florida, You can buy some nice new boats for a really good price. I was wondering if anyone had any experience shipping their boats from the mainland to Hawaii. I'm guessing it would probably cost a lot. I would appreciate any ideas or shipping companies that anyone used.

Any savings on a (bass) boat in FL would quickly be killed in shipping cost, but since no one sells bass boats in HI, buying in CA would be your best bet. Shipping even from jsut CA to HI could come close to $4000 just for shipping alone. One reason its more expensive to ship a boat than a car is that anyone can drive a car to the dock, from pier to pier, drive it onto a ship, etc. With a boat, you have to hire (a union) tow service to tow it onto a boat, hire another (union) company to do the same once it gets here, etc.

And you have to put a boat into a container... If you do ship a boat, it won't fill the container, so you still have room to ship some other stuff (at no extra cost, because you already paid for the container.

Matson wanted over $4000 to ship a 17' 5" Bass Tracker from Calif.

Go with DHX Hawaii out of Seattle or Portland... it was half the price of Matson.

Also, the max length on a boat for Lake Wilson is 18'.

I can't find my rule book, but I read it as any boat over 19 feet not used for fishing.
I don't think anyone would say anything if you had a 20 foot bass boat. Although I can't see why anyone would want one that big in Lake Wilson.

Those rules were written back when the only boats on the lake were 14 foot wooden john boats and 12 foot sears game fishers with a great big 5 HP motor. (the 5 MPH speed limit was about as fast as they would go... and they didn't throw any wake at that speed) If you go 5 MPH in a new bass boat you'll have a wake big enough to ride a surfboard on.

Might be time for the HFFA to talk about some rule changes...
Like a NO WAKE policy around shore fishermen and other boats???

your best bet will be though a freight company like was said above. I checked into it last year but wont be doing something like that for a while.

The Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR §13-62-3 Prohibited activities. No person shall engage in the following activities within the Wahiawa 62-2 §13-62-3 public fishing area excerpt on boat size & speed:


(6) Operate boats: ( excerpt from HAR )
(A) Exceeding eighteen feet (5.49 meters) in
length;
(B) For purposes other than fishing;
(C) Exceeding speeds of five miles (8.05

As far as HFFA ( and anyone else that fishes the lake ) maybe no rule changes needed but just a reminder to adhere to the rules (HAR 13) and exercise common courtesy to all fisherman.

All I know is if I come back to Hawaii...which is highly likely I will use my 20ft Nitro till I get ticketed And than that probably wouldn't stop me either But it kinda reads that if you are fishing than you can use a boat over 18ft.

boat sizes aside,as long as we all keep it withing reason i dont see a problem with size of outboard or boat, just keep in mind there are alot of kayaks and rubber rafts and guys with electric motors and at full plane on a bassboat in our little lake it wouldnt take me for disaster around a corner. now as far as shipping, i got my first fiberglass 18ft tracker from oregon, shipping is either longbeach or tacoma to hawaii, they wouldnt put it in a container, you can get the container yourself but the dealer and the shipping companies wont put it in for you, i had to have it "flat racked" basically strapped ontop of the containers, and they wouldnt let it be wrapped, wanted it open for customs inspection, it rode 2 weeks in the salt and sun and was pretty sad shape when it got here, but hell back then it was the only real bassboat on the lake!! now its on kaui, they call it the cadillac over there. i like my smaller 16ft aluminum rig, easier to trailer and still seats 3 comfortable.

oops it cost about 1500$ to flat rack 5 years ago

DLNR, DOCARE & DOB (boating) wouldn't allow any boats bigger than
18 ft for the Wahiawa Centennial celebration. (ten years ago)
HFFA and the Wahiawa Community Business Assn. co-sponsored a free
tour of Lake Wilson day. Some volunteered their larger saltwater boats for rides to help alleviate the large crowds expected that day.
Only 2 of DLNR's 18+ foot boats were allowed to participate with the flotilla of "regular" bass boats. No private boats 18+ feet were allowed.

The State was adamant about following the lake rules; even for a once in a lifetime 100 year celebration of Wahiawa Town.

I'd look into trying to get a Lake rule change first. Chances...slim to none.

But, it would be risky...an expensive risk $$$ to bring in a 18+ or 20 footer here and then try to convince the State to allow it on the lake.
Good luck to all traveling down this path.

BOZU

DLNR = Blind leading the blind. Free thinking not tolerated.

Ahnkochee wrote:DLNR = Blind leading the blind. Free thinking not tolerated.

I'd expect nothing more from our fine government!

As I recall, there were two Rangers. Both were bought when the Red Man touring Pros were here, they came twice. First time was there TOC, second time they were paired with HFFA members, they had some very big names fishing. Hibdon, Yelas, Reynolds just to name a few. Those two boats were bought after the tourn. back in 87'. Dave Yingst and Ray Rapale were the buyers.

a solution would be to buy a basic, no-frills jonboat and outfit it with a plywood deck yourself. some of the cost associated with shipping a fully outfitted, finished-out bassboat is the sheer mass of the thing. imagine - the boat would be shipped on it's TRAILER, too.... It's not only lengthy, but it's HEAVY and bulky, with the motor hanging off the end of it and all. it's practically the same as shipping a car, but more complicated.
a 15 foot tin jonboat might be only about 150 lbs. (hey, that's less then I weigh!), and it can be "stood up" inside the container. Try looking at a website called Direct Boats.com (they ship at a set price).