Trucking Christa Across the USA. An Update

Moored Naples Florida

For my original post on trucking Christa to California click here. Below is a picture from my trucking operation in 2005.

I submitted bids on a website called uShip. I have to say I do recommend the site for anyone needing to ship about anything. It is the ebay of shipping. You plug in the parameters and shipping companies will bid on the job. As with ebay, uShip has a comment section that gives you the warm and fuzzy about the professionalism of said company.

However, I did not use any companies found on uShip. I have developed over the pasted year a working relationship with a fellow named Bob Queen, a shipping broker and retired Marine LT Colonel. His company is Boat Express Specialty Shipping.  He worked me up some numbers almost year ago as I was wrestling on what to do in terms of my continuing to sail or not. Whether I could afford to ship Christa or not, and from which port to ship. He stayed after me for my business. I love that. He came in at $8,496. uShip was all over the place the first week I had the bid up and running. Mostly, well over ten thousand. Bob's quote seemed more than competitive. I sent him the $796 down payment to schedule the truck for the week of May 10th. Bam. But then, a Texas trucking company sent in a bid on uShip for $7,900 all in. Oh Man! $600 is a lot of money. So I called Bob and discussed the situation. He understood, being the old grizzled Marine and he knocked off $300 and that is where things stand. For Shipping, my total is $8, 196.00.

I'm shipping Christa out of Ft Myers Beach Florida and haven't got the rate schedule for the yard yet. I am shipping to KKMI Shipyard in Richmond California and I do have some painful numbers. To pluck Christa and put her back in the water will cost $390.00. I will need to re-step Christa's mast using a crane. Crane and operator is $300 an hour, billed in 1/4 hour increments. Figure 1/2 hour to get the mast stepped. And I will pay $36 each day Christa sits in the yard. This charge is a real bummer, as it puts pressure on me to drive across the country quicker than I had wanted.

I have always been working with the round figure of 10,000.00 all in to get Christa settled in California. This figure seems to be in the ballpark. 

Can't believe how quickly time has marched by since my arrival in Naples. Seems just like yesterday I was running aground in Naples harbor. Time seemingly accelerates when your working 6 days a week.

My next move will be to identify what day I need to sail the 30 miles north to FT Myers Beach, which will depend on when I stop working. Time-line still is for a May 15th departure via the Green Hornet, making tracks westward.

Any questions just shoot me an email.

Capt Chris