Moving to the Caribbean

[Sea Devil]

With the advent of 90/180 and the cold weather I looked at shipping Golden Haze to the Caribbean and keeping her in a marina there.. Much cheaper than sailing her there myself - so I made a video about the results of my research..

 

[capnsensible]

Ninety days to the Canaries! ??? normally takes me less than a fortnight. ?

Shipping is a good idea though. Saves a lot of wear and tear, especially as you know what it's like to sail over, nothing new. The companies like Peters and May are very good.... in Gib I occasionally used to pick up boats or drop them off to the vessel for the short run to one of the marinas. Very lucrative!

A pal of mine used to run a large charter catamaran, med summers, Carib winters. The crew found it quite tiring after a long charter season, high end punters, to then do the transat. Delivery ship eased that burden.

Some top tips in your video. Thanks.

 

[Sea Devil]

My boat is quite small - beneteau 323. It would take me a week to get down channel to Plymouth or Scillies to wait for weather - 5 days to Bayona - 6/7 down to Gib - 5/6 to the Canaries but would need a couple of crew to do that...if you were doing it in a fortnight then I bet you had crew???

The cost I have at the moment from Peters & May is 8000UKPounds out of Southampton to Antigua - cost of Hydrovane 4500 and SSB installed another 4000 plus marina fees so financially its a no brainer... when you add all the other bits and bobs

My one problem is single handing in the cold month of late October from Boulogne to Southampton - Not as young as I once was and the cold really gets to me... Might try to find a crew for the passage - don't want to spend a fortune in a Southampton marina waiting for the ship to load but equally don't want to get there too late and miss it!

 

[lustyd]

You probably knew this, but the shipping company doesn't need a hydrovane, those tend to be more use when sailing your boat accross an ocean They probably have SSB on board too!

Edit - I just realised you were comparing the costs

 

[Sea Devil]

Yes... It's an interesting comparison - Out of interest I suspect very few merchant ships now have SSB.. They all have sat phones I think

 

[geem]

With the advent of 90/180 and the cold weather I looked at shipping Golden Haze to the Caribbean and keeping her in a marina there.. Much cheaper than sailing her there myself - so I made a video about the results of my research..

I have no doubt that shipping a boat over is the right answer for some people but to be shocked at the result of your cost analysis is pushing it a bit far. You have added items that most people already have onboard such as a dinghy, liferaft, spinnaker pole and added the vast cost of SSB that hardly anybody uses these days. These are not really legit cost comparisons. The 90 day limit is not really a problem if you are crossing the Atlantic. I will be heading from the UK across the Atlantic later this year. It is a shame however not to be able to spend time on the way down their in the nice parts of Spain and Portugal.
If you do all the prep work in the UK and leave in 90 days before you plan to head across the pond its all doable. You just have to want to do it.

 

[emnick]

Worth noting that many insurance companies wont provide hurricane cover or named storm cover anymore. The ones that do will be expensive. There are some reports of piracy en route from Grenada to Trinidad .

 

[Sea Devil]

Yes insurance is a bit of a problem - but I have several companies preparing quotes... The issue is partly boats are cheaper and less valuable on the other side of the pond so I have greatly reduced my 'value' on comprehensive - on the basis that research shows I could replace Golden Haze for much much less in the Caribbean than in the UK - northern Europe - so it's not really a worry - suspect once I get the boat over there It will be until I sling my hook. As for pirates I was attacked and robbed by them in the Red Sea once so am pretty wary but I have sailed the 90 miles between Grenada and Trinidad - Chagaramus Bay a dozen or so times and find it hard to believe Skull and Crossbones story of the waters between those two very sophisticated and modern countries. Venezuela just along the coast is dodgy because of the poverty but stories of piracy in those areas are mainly yachties doing deals with drug suppliers - And the Americans who frequent Trinidad in their boats are always rumour mongering - or were when I was there

 

[RupertW]

Our plan was very much (although now almost 2 years delayed) to sail from Med to Canaries then across the the Caribbean a bit later for at least 3 months there and get shipped back. I look forward to the trade wind sail and the cruise but not fitting out the boat and self for the trip back, and all the extra time off work losing money when cheaper to fly back to get some work back in the UK then pick up the boat in Mallorca or whatever. The boat can then be fixed up at our leisure and with boatyards we know.

 

[Sea Devil]

I have no doubt that shipping a boat over is the right answer for some people but to be shocked at the result of your cost analysis is pushing it a bit far. You have added items that most people already have onboard such as a dinghy, liferaft, spinnaker pole and added the vast cost of SSB that hardly anybody uses these days. These are not really legit cost comparisons. The 90 day limit is not really a problem if you are crossing the Atlantic. I will be heading from the UK across the Atlantic later this year. It is a shame however not to be able to spend time on the way down their in the nice parts of Spain and Portugal.
If you do all the prep work in the UK and leave in 90 days before you plan to head across the pond its all doable. You just have to want to do it.

I confess the cost analysis is strictly for me and I made the spread sheet for myself but - just marina fees at around 30-40 a night add up.. the Hydrovane is a must... 2nd head sail is a must - All I was trying to do in the video was show what my own personal or rather Golden Haze needs were... Yes you can do without a SSB but then you probably should have a Sat Phone with external antenna as recommended by the ARC and just grip files for weather are going to cost whereas the SSB is virtually free...
I want to get to the Caribbean to sail there - I have already crossed the Atlantic so it's not a challenge I am looking for - I just want the easiest cost effective way or re-locating my present boat so I can sail in the trades and sit in beach bars drinking rum and coke with my west indies sim card in my phone... But its all just opinion and personal preferences

 

[Sea Devil]

Our plan was very much (although now almost 2 years delayed) to sail from Med to Canaries then across the the Caribbean a bit later for at least 3 months there and get shipped back. I look forward to the trade wind sail and the cruise but not fitting out the boat and self for the trip back, and all the extra time off work losing money when cheaper to fly back to get some work back in the UK then pick up the boat in Mallorca or whatever. The boat can then be fixed up at our leisure and with boatyards we know.

I agree shipping the boat is really not for everyone and if I had not already crossed the Atlantic I would favour that route - what surprised me was how cost effective shipping was compared to fitting the boat out and doing a transatlantic..
I want to get the boat there permanently so and I don't feel the need to repeat the excellent transatlantic sailing adventure again

 

[RupertW]

I agree shipping the boat is really not for everyone and if I had not already crossed the Atlantic I would favour that route - what surprised me was how cost effective shipping was compared to fitting the boat out and doing a transatlantic..
I want to get the boat there permanently so and I don't feel the need to repeat the excellent transatlantic sailing adventure again

I think we are actually in agreement - I want to do it one way then ship the other way.

 

[dunedin]

Yes insurance is a bit of a problem - but I have several companies preparing quotes... The issue is partly boats are cheaper and less valuable on the other side of the pond so I have greatly reduced my 'value' on comprehensive - on the basis that research shows I could replace Golden Haze for much much less in the Caribbean than in the UK

Sounds like you have done comprehensive research. But in which case why not save yourself the shipping cost and simply sell here and buy a boat out there? Beneteau 323 a nice enough boat, but easily sold here and lots of alternatives presumably out West.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Very good post. The Brexit issue has caused a lot of problems for everyone one way or the other and many people are not aware yet. Your plan makes sense and I think there will be many people making similar plans. Personally, I have the option of getting a passport from one of the EU countries, which I am lucky and I can sail and stay outside the UK. Others, many of whom supported Brexit, where quick enough to transport their boat to France before Dec 2020 so at least they can use their boat as their "home" for a limited period. All the best with your sailing in the Caribbean.

 

[Sea Devil]

Sounds like you have done comprehensive research. But in which case why not save yourself the shipping cost and simply sell here and buy a boat out there? Beneteau 323 a nice enough boat, but easily sold here and lots of alternatives presumably out West.

Well you make a good point but I only purchased her a year or eighteen months ago and had no intention of going west then.. Was going to keep her in the marina just down the road from my place in Boulogne... then I made this video about crossing the Atlantic and it brought back good memories.. So then I started to think about shipping her when I worked out costs and looked at 90 days in the EU...
I really like the boat - right size . got good quality equipment - mainsail furling into the boom - I would have to pay brokerage fees on both ends of the deal... No where to live out there whilst I looked at boats - vat implications on bringing a boat into France - Martinique of which I am a resident - how to get all my charts and boaty stuff out there... This is all thinking out loud on the keyboard - but mainly too much hassle - load on ship in Southampton - me fly to Antigua and get in her and sail to Martinique.. 300 miles more or less

 

[E39mad]

Peters and May are a long established and recommended shipping firm. We used them when I worked at Northshore to ship new Vancouver's and Fishers over to the agent in Japan in the early 1990's.

Good thread and will be interesting to see what other Brits do this year especially those with none EU residency and whose yachts are EU/Med based.

 

[pvb]

Interesting video, and I reckon you're right - it's the easiest way to get your boat close to a Caribbean beach bar! Hope your plans work out well.

 

[wully1]

If I wanted to sail in the Windies I’d sell my boat here, fly to Florida, buy a heap of a car and go find me a boat..

I think the overcrowding there now would put me off.

A bit.

 

[Sea Devil]

Interesting video, and I reckon you're right - it's the easiest way to get your boat close to a Caribbean beach bar! Hope your plans work out well.

thank you - fingers crossed - long time to November!

 

[Sea Devil]

If I wanted to sail in the Windies I’d sell my boat here, fly to Florida, buy a heap of a car and go find me a boat..

I think the overcrowding there now would put me off.

A bit.

Yes it's possible but the cost of a car and accommodation plus the route south from Florida to Windies is all up wind - really hard work - but...