Atlantic crossing back to UK?

iangrant

iangrant

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Firmly stuck on dry land at the moment, thinking about the trip back to the UK from St Lucia/Antigua.. and some of the options.

ARC Europe - thinks it may be a bit drawn out, too much stopping off?
Ship her back? .. quoted over 8,000 GBP
Crew hunt and the uphill sail back via Bemuda and the Azores as a NARC


Ian
 
Um, spose it depends if you have enuf time to use the boat whilst it is over there? Caribbean blue water anchorages paradise yawn snooze from dec-april is tempting.

poster "fatipa" did not seem to have loads of crew volunteers for his florida-uk jaunt. Mebbe a different matter if you landed in antigua end of race week, but not sure.

£8k sounds quite cheap! Though you need to protect decks with plastic cover or at least a liberal coating of marine polish left unbuffed...
 
Sail it and leave at least 4 weeks to explore the Azores, we missed Bermuda as we sailing downwind so well going NW from St Barts.

I was thinking next time of leaving the boat in the Azores over the winter, and return the following season to do more exploring. If its cost related its very cheap leaving boats in the Azores. A friend has left his boat there for one winter and then had a great Summer season exploring the islands.

If I could get the time off I'd love to bring a boat back, as long as the owner didn't mind me stopping off for a few weeks in the Azores, waiting for a weather window of course.
 
Re: 8k?

You did well getting that quote. Mine is the almost same cost (well, £7,500 to be accurate) and I assumed your's, being a bit more gravitationally challenged than mine would be considerably more. I'm freighting mine back. I'd love to sail her but can't really afford the time and I suspect things even out a bit once running costs (me plus boat) and wear and tear are added to the equation.
 
Re: 8k?

they don't give a hoot how heavy it is (unless solid gold i spose...) - it's the amount of space it takes up on deck - length x breadth. In this regard your boats are v similar. It doesn't matter how much you protest/flipflop and say that compared with a swedish lunk your boat is suddenly an utterly flimsy lightweight and even the woodwork is made of hollow fake balsa leaves....
 
Re: 8k?

So the reason why they ask for the weight before quoting is to make sure it's not made of gold. Praps I should fill it with Kate Moss talc and offset the cost entirely?
 
Re: 8k?

Just had a re- quote from Peters having corrected the size they quoted on: (gave them displacement)

Thank you for your inquiry to ship your boat from water Antiqua to water Southampton in 2006.



"I now have pleasure in quoting you based upon the following dimensions. Please note that any variations in the weight or dimensions could result in additional charges being made.



Length: 12.3m

Beam: 3.78m

Weight: 11500kg



GBP7439 Freight + Insurance

Ex water Antiqua to water Southampton

Price includes cradle and lashings

Subject to cargo inducement and sailings

Excludes customs charges"

Hopefully there ain't no customs charges?
 
I've done ARC and ARC Europe. I'd do the former again but not the latter. It costs a lot and you don't get much more for your money. Plus I'd prefer to set my own timetable. 2/3 of the fleet left Bermuda on a poor forecast on the appointed day and had a F8 first night out. The rest of us went a couple of days later. It rather broke up the feeling of community. They had a cruise in company around the Azores booked but it was too windy on those days so it had to be cut short and done with ferries.
 
Re: 8k?

Well the gits seem to be sending me to Tortola for the pick up so I've asked for the rate from Antigua, just to compare. S'pose a pre-return trip via BVIs might be nice but then so would Antigua. Praps we should tie our hulls together and get a quote for a cat!
 
Re: 8k?

Now responded (refreshingly quick) saying they can do Antigua after all. They also added that "Price is based upon square metres only" so I'm offering the saloon and berths up for sub-contracted freight deals from the carib. Anything legal considered.....!
 
Had some friends that ship there boat back after doing the arc. quoted a similar price a few years back. But while the boat was in the carib they rented the boat out to close friends which contributed to the delivery back to the uk via cargo ship. If you have the time to do both ways it would be great but there is the wear and tear on sails etc.... which may need replacing on return.

have a great crossing in November. If you are staying for xmas dont forget to take sprouts. xmas dinner is not the same without them and there aint many in the carib. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Went to the ARC Challenge forum last Saturday at Ocean Village. Met a few friends from R Portugal, but that is another story.

BUT..... there is no doubt that coming back is scarier, not to mention rougher and potentially more dangerous to equipment, sails and crew. Now call me a wimp if you like, but when we met the guys from ARC Europe in Lagos, just a couple of crews, they described winds from nothing to F9. I would rather opt out of that sort of thing.

A friend of ours suffered two or three knockdowns on his way back a few years ago. Nevertheless, he went again last Nov's ARC, and his boat is still out there. He just loves the crossing!

We had a quote for Cornish Maid of around £8K from Peters and May for shipping home.

Incidentally regarding daily expenditure, the Challenge forum suggested cost of approx £1000 per month. One member of the panel, who went with her Father last Nov just 2-up, said her Dad was spending around £4k/month all in. Which I found very expensive. Mind you I understand that he was probably paying for his whole crew (of more tha two, obviously!)
 
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