Shipping from Antigua to U.S.

[americanfire12]

Hi,

I am completely new to this forum, so please accept my apologies if I am out of bounds on asking this here, but I am desperate and in need of advice.

My teammate, Emily Kohl, and I were the only American participants in the 2005 Atlantic Rowing Race last November and were set to break the women's record for rowing (no motors, no sails) across the Atlantic Ocean in 50 days when we were capsized by a rogue wave after rowing 1400 miles (you may have seen us on various news programs back in February). We were rescued by a British tall ship, but thought that our 24' long ocean rowing boat had a different fate. Yet, a few months ago, our boat was found off the coast of Guadeloupe in great condition and we are working hard to get her back so we can train for the next race coming up in 2007, and we are hoping that you might be able to help.

We are on a very tight budget, and are looking for inexpensive alternatives to shipping her back to the United States. She is a 24' long, 6' wide, and 5' tall wood/fiberglass rowing boat that weighs approximately 1000lbs with the equipment that she currently has onboard. She is very dear to us, and is a one of a kind vessel. We are trying to get her back to the States (anywhere, we can trailer her from any port in the continental U.S.) from Antigua. The boat is currently in a locked shed on the island of Desirade, and is due to be towed to Antigua on Wednesday where she will be put in a slip awaiting transport. We currently cannot pay for her shipping, and were wondering if a). anyone knew of inexpensive (less than $8,000/4000 GBP) shipping options, or b). if you knew of anyone that was in the area and was going to the States that might be able to take on a stowaway. We have agents that could take care of the customs side of it, but shipping on a commercial cargo ship is currently out of our budget, and the boat needs to get home ASAP.

Thank you for your time, any responses appreciated.

Sarah Kessans
americanfire12@gmail.com
(1) 480-258-0038
www.americanfirerowing.com

 

[BrendanS]

Have you considered approaching any commercial shippers for PR value?

 

[FullCircle]

How about getting your insurance company to sponsor you as they arent having to pay out now. Would make a great story for them.

 

[Bajansailor]

Hello Sarah and Emily, I met you here in Barbados briefly after you arrived on the TSYT brig Stavros Niarchos.

Congratulations on finding your boat again after she made her own way across the Atlantic upside down! And excellent news re your decision to tackle unfinished business with Neptune re entering the race next year - A Donf!
I think your best bet is to approach your sponsors, and impress upon them how lucky they are that the boat has been recovered, and tell them to just imagine all the positive PR that can now happen as a result - they can bask in reflected glory, and all for a very minor contribution towards getting the boat back home again. And once the boat is re-fitted, I am sure that they will want to show commitment by sponsoring you in the next race. Or they should do if they have any sense.

For Forumites who would like to read a bit more about how these two gallant ladies were rescued, have a look at this article on the TSYT website : http://www.tallships.org/documentNews.asp?cat=520&doc=7140

They were hanging on for dear life all night to their capsized boat, totally frozen, with waves washing over them, not knowing if anybody was responding to the EPIRB after it had been activated.
I think that would be enough to dissuade most folk from having another bash at this race - but not these two! They have got guts, enthusiasm and (most importantly) the right mental outlook on life in abundance!

 

[americanfire12]

Thanks all for the responses. We have tried to go the PR route for shipping companies, but none have panned out. There are companies that would be interested, but they are either too small to afford the sponsorship or do not run to the Caribbean. We are keeping them in mind for when we need the boat shipped back overseas for the next race...

As far as the insurance is concerned, we had race insurance through Woodvale Events (race organizers), and that route did not work either due to clauses, etc. And our insurance company that we worked with while in the States was not interested in sponsorship either.

We are working with our past sponsors and donors for money to get the boat back, and that has been our most successful route so far, albeit slow and laborious (but then again, nothing is really ever easy with ocean rowing /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif).

Thank you all for your support, and if you hear of anything else that might be able to help us, please let us know.

Fair winds,
Sarah

 

[kandoma]

I have shipped twice so far and I understand your concers. Just calling around, they give you horrendes quotes. Usually $ 20'000 for a small sailing boat. This numbers are wrong. The correct question is: how much for 1 m3. in 1996 it was 36 $ /m3 from Oskaka to Singapore and 48 $ / m3 for Osaka to Hamburg.

We shipped from St. Lucia to Barry (UK) and from Osaka to Singapore. The first time we paid for the "container" place, (we did not know better) the second time in Japan we paid per m3.

You must find a shipping agency, doing "uneven things". Most shipping agencies do only containers and outsource the oddly shaped things. Thats where the $20'000 quote is coming from: the number of containers you need on deck of a containership. Plus a hefty profit for all the trouble.

got to www. geestline.com They do the Carribean to England run and they are used to boats. Hey... they transported me, so they should know how this is done /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif You may use them and then ship to the US (giving Northshore a call and asking for advice). You should be still in budget if you can not find a direct link from the Carribean to the US by yourself.

The first time, we shipped from St. Lucia to Barry and we paid a hefty sum. I can not remember the exact amount. We have with the bowsprit something like 34 feet by 10 feet by 12 feet high and I believe, we paid for 2 containers. But Geest told us, that they changed the charging method.

In Japan, the first quote we got, was this well known $ 20'000. I made contact with the japanese company importing Fisher from Northshore and they told me, that the price they pay is in the $ 4'000 range (Southampton - Kobe) on top of the last container on a P&O containership (cradle is usually welded to the topcontainer. Next day I had the better quote of 36 $ and I accepted it.

We got transported both time on deck, the first time with bananas in the hold, the second time with second hand trucks for Malaysia.

Go searching for a shipping agent doing odd things. I would be surprised, if you do not find a direct link Carribean - US for $50 per m3.

Peter