Frequently asked questions

Because that is where the rest of the market stops. Below about 28 feet a boat can usually go on a standard trailer behind a standard truck, and plenty of companies handle that well. Above it you need lifts, permits, mast work and a yard - and most outfits that advertise 'any size' quietly decline once they see the boat. We built the equipment list and the yard relationships around the jobs everyone else refuses. That said, we are perfectly happy to take a smaller boat as well - it is simply a much easier day for us, and we will price it accordingly.

Almost always because the two quotes are not for the same job. A flat per-foot figure covers the easy version - a boat that floats, in a slip a lift can reach, mast already down, nothing hazardous aboard. The mast, the keel, the tow, the DOT permit, the crane and the landfill tonnage get added afterwards, once you have paid a deposit and the boat is in pieces. Ask the other company for a fixed, written, all-in price that names those items. If they will give you one at that number, take it - we would rather you did than felt pressured out of a better deal. See the rates page for a line-by-line comparison.

Sixty feet. Above that you are into heavy-lift territory where the work realistically has to happen at a full-service marina or boatyard with its own large travel lift and deep water alongside - the vessel often cannot be moved to us at all. If your boat is over 60 feet, call anyway and we will tell you which facilities in your area can actually do it. We would rather refer you than take a deposit on a job we should not be quoting.

Yes. Our equipment and expertise are built around larger vessels, but a smaller boat is a straightforward job for the same crew and we are glad to do it - particularly if it is alongside a larger removal, on the same property, or somewhere we are already working. Call and describe it. If a general junk-removal company would genuinely be cheaper for you, we will say so.

We publish our rates. Removal is banded by length overall: up to 25 ft is $50-80 per foot, 25-28 ft is $80-100, 28-32 ft is $100-150, 32-36 ft is $150-200, and over 36 ft is quoted from $200 per foot after an on-site assessment. Full-keel and deep-draft vessels are billed at 1.3 times the applicable rate. On-water towing is $300 per hour, raising a sunken vessel runs $600-4,000 and refloating a grounding runs $600-2,000. The rates page shows worked examples, what the per-foot rate covers, and what is billed separately.

It helps enormously, but its absence is not fatal. We regularly work with estates, marina lien foreclosures, and vessels whose paperwork disappeared decades ago. What we cannot do is destroy a vessel without establishing legal authority to do so - so tell us the paperwork situation honestly on the first call and we will tell you the path.

Substantially. A sunken vessel is a pollution event with regulatory exposure attached, and the owner of record carries that liability regardless of how it went down. It is also the largest single cost variable we deal with. Call it in early - the cost of a sunken boat rises every month it stays down.

Check whether you qualify for the Vessel Turn-In Program before you pay anyone. VTIP allows owners who have received an at-risk or derelict notice to surrender the vessel to the state for removal at no cost, instead of facing charges under Florida Statute 823.11. If you qualify, that is a better outcome than hiring us, and we will tell you so.

Sometimes. If the vessel has genuine resale value we would rather tell you that than charge you to destroy an asset. Well-equipped hulls with running machinery, and steel or aluminium hulls with scrap value, can offset a large part of the removal cost or occasionally the whole of it.

A straightforward dry-land removal of a 35-footer with clear access and clean paperwork is typically a few days from assessment to gone. Add weeks for permits on an over-dimensional road move, for lift scheduling on a heavy vessel, or for title and lien work. A sunken vessel or a post-storm job is quoted individually. We would rather give you a real timeline than a same-day promise we cannot keep.

We provide our current certificate of insurance on request before any work begins, and we will name your marina, boatyard or HOA as additional insured where that is required. Ask for the certificate from every company you speak to rather than taking a website's word for it - a badge graphic reading 'licensed and insured' is not evidence of anything.

Fluids and hazardous materials are pumped and manifested first. Recoverable gear is stripped. Metals go to a scrap yard. Fibreglass is cut down and goes to a Class I landfill by weight - there is no meaningful fibreglass recycling at scale in Florida, and any company telling you they recycle 90% of your fibreglass hull is describing something that does not currently exist.

Regularly. Wreck removal and debris removal are frequently covered under a separate limit from hull value, which means the boat can be a total loss and the removal still paid for. Send us the declarations page before you pay out of pocket.