On Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:06:00 -0700 (PDT), JimH
wrote:

Thanks for all the information guys. A friend of mine has a boat with
an 8 1/2 foot beam and was thinking about trailering it down to
Florida when he visits his son there later this year.

We had no issues trailering our old runabout to Florida from
Connecticut with an 8 1/2 ft beam. You do need to carefully check out
everything in advance: towing stability at speed, brakes, lights, tire
pressure, trailer jack, etc. We checked hub temperatures at every gas
stop and carried two spare tires (not needed).