transport La Paz to Vancouver, Canada

[solosailor]

I have found a nice (rare) classic in Mexico. She need lots of attention to get her back to her former glory. What is the least expensive way to transport a boat from La Paz to Vancouver, Canada. Has anyone here done this?

[bcooke]

50 pounds ol rice. 50 pounds of beans. Sail it home.

[David]

The trucking charges would cost more than the boat. Of the thousands of sailboats for sale in northern Ca, Washington and BC can you not find something closer to home?

[Duncan]

I imagine the best way would be as cargo on a coastal 'tramp steamer'. A friend of mine did this bringing a boat from Alaska to California. I believe this involved building a wooden cradle.

[solosailor]

What do you mean by Tramp Steamer exactly?

[Rachel]

If she needs "a lot of attention" I imagine you wouldn't want to sail her home (and that's a bit of a trip - you either have to fight nature along the coast or go out to Hawaii and up).

Non-sailing options I can think of are to truck her north or ship her north. Both would be "expensive," but then you haven't said what the boat is worth, so I have no idea how the cost of transport would compare (although when you say "least expensive" it makes me think the cost might not thrill you).

For trucking, I believe it's typical to have one truck go from Mexico to the US border, and then another from there to the destination. A lot of the trucking originates in San Carlos, across the Sea of Cortez from LaPaz. I would think it would be worth it to at least get her over there if you go by land. I think the marina in San Carlos has suspended their trucking service; don't know if there are others (must be?)

Here's a link to an article by some folks who had their Alberg 35 trucked from San Carlos to Seattle. The information is five years or so old, but will give you some idea.

http://www.floatingzoo.com/pelican/proj ... ucking.htm

Another thought (if you haven't already) would be to Google things like "truck boat Mexico Canada."

Going by sea, Dockwise transports boats north on special yacht transport ships. I see they have a sailing from LaPaz to Nanaimo in May and December this year. You can fill in a form on their web page for a quote. I would imagine that would run in the neighborhood of $10,000+. Here is a link to Dockwise:

http://www.yacht-transport.com/

Rachel

[Duncan]

What do you mean by Tramp Steamer exactly?

Sorry, I am not expert in this, and I can't do more than offer the suggestion.

Here's what Google offers as a definition.

The principle is that truckers will charge you what their cost is, in terms of fuel, labor, use of their equipment, and profit. You pay the full shot, in other words. It will cost you what it costs them, plus their return for their work.

If you can check around for ships that are already headed your way, though, they don't need to charge you for all their costs, since they are already headed your way. You will need to just pay them enough to make it worth their extra effort.

I have no idea how to arrange this, although, as I said, people I know have done it.

[Triton 185]

I have had some luck with the U-Ship website. You post your load and truckers bid on the job.

I imagine the boat design must be special to you to go that far....what is she?

I live in Canada and and have had two boats transported long distance to my location. (Florida and California) If the boat is the right one and the price point works out - don't stress about the distance.

On one transport, I used The House of Boats in Texas and was very happy with their service.

Good luck!

[Curmudgeon]

Friends of mine looked into shipping their boat from Mexico to BC using Dockwise. La Paz is, in fact, one of the spots that Dockwise uses. They`ll meet you at a scheduled date&time, partially flood their ship, and then send divers down to block up your boat once you`ve maneuvered over top. They were quoted a price of $7,500 US (that was in May-June of `07) - a good deal because of the time-of-year, and direction the boat was to be moved. In the end, their boat was put on-the-hard in San Carlos for a year, and sailed back in the spring of `08. The trip took much longer than anticipated; they spent a lot of time holed up, waiting for weather windows.

[Triton 185]

They were quoted a price of $7,500 US (that was in May-June of `07) - a good deal because of the time-of-year

Please tell me the length of boat the $7,500 US was quoted for?

Thanks

[jollyboat]

Can the boat be sailed? I sailed a boat from Mazatlan to San Francisco - and it was a pretty easy to do. I left Mazatlan in April and was in San Francisco on the 15th. I stopped in San Diego for a night or two to fuel up and kiss the ground of US soil again.
Six months in Mexico was great but I was glad to be back in the USA when I got there. You might consider sailing North in the SOC as trucking from a point closer to the states might be less expensive. - I would seriously consider sailing back though - great fun.

[Curmudgeon]

Please tell me the length of boat the $7,500 US was quoted for?

Their boat is a Fraser 36 - full keeled cutter, would guesstimate displacement between 18-20,000lb. Coincidentally, John and Elaine gave a presentation last night on their 12-year circumnavigation aboard Goolka to the local Power Squadron group, so I confirmed those shipping details with them.

[Triton 185]

Thanks Curmudgeon. This seems really good considering you don't have to pay for a crane or hoist at both ends.