Hire Captain to Deliver from MD to FL?

[Enunemaker]

My wife was so happy when I showed her the Dufour Arpege 30 I purchased as our "next step" from our Aquarius 21 toward circumnavigation. She was not as happy (Angry Admiral is not fun!) when I told her it is located in Maryland, just south of Annapolis, and we live in New Port Richey, just north of Tampa, Florida. My plan was to float her down the ICW, cross the southern tip of Florida via Okeechobee, and then north to home.

I've attempted to search the archives without much luck so before you tell me I'm a moron, I'm already well aware of that.

The help I'm looking for is advice about my options: piloting down the ICW myself; hiring someone to do so for all or most of the journey; or coordinating over-the-road transport with a distant marina for demasting (dis?) and loading.

Is there an obvious best choice?

I've read 50 miles/day and no night boating are advisable on the ICW, am I foolish if I choose to ignore these guidelines?

Where does one find pilot for such a delivery? Any idea of the approximate costs to do so?

Anything else we should consider?

Humbly and Gratitudinally (I made this up?!?!),

Admiral Christine's Hubby


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[geoleo]

allow 7 weeks via icw and wear out engine. truck it is best to a yard near home far far cheapest way-many trucks today can load /unload the boat themselves

[darylat8750]

50 miles a day would be a realistic average. The intra coastal waterway is not difficult and would be a great experience . Can be done easily with a depth sounder, a compass and paper charts. Fancy plotters, iPad with nav app or OpenCPM added to Active Capt. takes a lot of the guesswork out of it.

The reason I have a boat is to cruise so my thought is to move it yourself down the intracoastal. If you have time constraints move it for a couple of weeks then leave it in a marina until you can get back to it. Move by truck would be the cheapest....

[Dr. Strangelove]

I "crewed" for an old college buddy with a 44' cat powerboat (he has done a little better than me, lol) who was doing The Great Loop with his family. They left out of Bradenton, Fl, went through the Keys, enjoyed the Bahamas, and came back to the ICW in FL. I replaced the wife and kids from Charleston to Annapolis, MD. They had "had enough". We had an "effing" blast. This type of trip may be just what you need to see if your "circumnavigation" plans are realistic or not. My buddy and his family had every intention of completing The Great Loop, but just ran out of steam at Annapolis.

I don't know that I would think that 50mi/day is accurate, in an auxilary powered sailboat, or even desirable. Getting there is half the fun!

[Cap Erict3]

8000 lbs, 9' beam .

A fella just towed a Hunter that size behind his F250 from Missouri to south Texas. Some old codgers and I helped launch and rig it.

You have options.

BTW, I travel the ICW @ night. Radar,AIS and using the vhf just like the tugs.

[Enunemaker]

Thank you for the feedback; truly appreciated. And...glad we weren't in MD last week! 30" of snow is why we want to sail in the first place!

[JPA Cate]

Enunemaker,

Wow. A 30' DuFours, eh? Okay. I think if you think to make 50 n. mi./day, you're going to be pushing the whole time. You've a 27-29 ft. waterline, right? Hull speed is 6-7 kn.

Okay, at 7 kn. 7 plus a little bit hrs., but unlikely, as an average. [We had a Yankee 30, and her best ever day's run was 162 for 24 hrs., under storm jib in the Pacific, with a named tropical storm giving winds from astern.] If you are limited to daytime hours, and you are doing it in winter, 50 n.mi. per day will be difficult to make, imho, but bear in mind I have not cruised there, and will let go my opinion according to what others more familiar with the route say.

a.

[valhalla360]

If you are still working and can't get away, I would truck the boat. It will likely be cheaper and with less likelyhood of damage. By the time you pay the captain for a couple months work, add in fuel, oil changes, slip fees and repairing any damage. I can't see how a reliable insured delivery crew could come close. (In either case make sure they are fully insured...truck or delivery captain)

If you can get away for a month or more, I would plan on cruising it down. If the ICW is too tough, I think that would kill the round the world idea. If you need to, you can do a month and get 600-800miles along and find a marina to store the boat until the next month. After the first trip the distance to the boat will be drastically less as the trip to the east side of Florida is only a few hours.

I wouldn't plan on 350miles per week (50 per day). That is a work trip with zero enjoyment. A great way to turn a reluctant wife off to cruising.

I would drop that to maybe 150-200miles per week. You may have the occasional 50 mile day but plan on more like 30-40miles so you can relax a little and see the sites.

[skipmac]

Some ballpark figures to get the boat to NPR from MD

Trucking - If the beam is just 9' then I believe you can move it without special permits or a chase car. Distance is about 1000 miles so going with a commercial hauler as a rough estimate $2.00/mile. For hauling then launching, mast in/out, etc I would add another $1000.

Captain & delivery - I have heard rates mentioned of $100-$200 per day or more. Plus food, fuel, travel expenses, etc. Bu water the distance would be more like 1400 miles. If you assume 50 miles/day you are already over the cost of trucking.

DIY - By the time you get yourself to MD and cover all the costs to get the boat to NPR I'm guessing you will have at least $2000 out of pocket. Factor in the time and what that's worth to you.

[marlinmike]

I'm sure there are some excellent delivery captains out there and there are plenty of not so good ones. The advise to truck if limited time is good and if you have time it will be a very enjoyable trip to make, along with some nice stops in the Chesapeake and others along the way, life is too short to rush through.

[wayne.b]

Originally Posted by Enunemaker

My wife was so happy when I showed her the Dufour Arpege 30 I purchased as our "next step" from our Aquarius 21 toward circumnavigation. She was not as happy (Angry Admiral is not fun!) when I told her it is located in Maryland, just south of Annapolis, and we live in New Port Richey, just north of Tampa, Florida. My plan was to float her down the ICW, cross the southern tip of Florida via Okeechobee, and then north to home.

I've attempted to search the archives without much luck so before you tell me I'm a moron, I'm already well aware of that.

The help I'm looking for is advice about my options: piloting down the ICW myself; hiring someone to do so for all or most of the journey; or coordinating over-the-road transport with a distant marina for demasting (dis?) and loading.

Is there an obvious best choice?

I've read 50 miles/day and no night boating are advisable on the ICW, am I foolish if I choose to ignore these guidelines?

Where does one find pilot for such a delivery? Any idea of the approximate costs to do so?

===

I'd second all of the recommendations to ship it by truck. It will be easier, quicker, cheaper and much less wear and tear on the boat. That can be a nice trip by water if you have the time and can do it at a leisurely pace. But with a newly purchased boat that hasn't been shaken down yet, there's an element of risk also.

[Paul Annapolis]

There are pluses and minuses for all the various options here depending on the time of year and the level of onboard involvement of the owner. However there is also some misinformation here. A professional captain and crew will cost a lot more than $100 to $200 per day--perhaps more than twice your top figure--if you want experience and reliability. An amateur crew might go for that minimum wage, but why would you hire amateurs. A professional crew will move a lot more than 50 miles per day. The average on a 30' might be 75 but some days will make it 100 or more if going offshore by inlet hopping on either coast. In some cases trucking is best, but not all the time. There are many factors that will help you decide the best way to go. You may find it suitable to hire a professional captain to help you get ready and move the boat for the first week or so with you aboard, providing guidance and coaching along the way. Thank you.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Enunemaker

My wife was so happy when I showed her the Dufour Arpege 30 I purchased as our "next step" from our Aquarius 21 toward circumnavigation. She was not as happy (Angry Admiral is not fun!) when I told her it is located in Maryland, just south of Annapolis, and we live in New Port Richey, just north of Tampa, Florida. My plan was to float her down the ICW, cross the southern tip of Florida via Okeechobee, and then north to home.

I've attempted to search the archives without much luck so before you tell me I'm a moron, I'm already well aware of that.

The help I'm looking for is advice about my options: piloting down the ICW myself; hiring someone to do so for all or most of the journey; or coordinating over-the-road transport with a distant marina for demasting (dis?) and loading.

Is there an obvious best choice?

I've read 50 miles/day and no night boating are advisable on the ICW, am I foolish if I choose to ignore these guidelines?

Where does one find pilot for such a delivery? Any idea of the approximate costs to do so?

Anything else we should consider?

Humbly and Gratitudinally (I made this up?!?!),

Admiral Christine's Hubby


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Not unlike you, we purchased our boat in Annapolis (also in mid-winter) and needed to move her to our home waters, in our case, in the Bradenton area. Originally I contemplated moving her on her on bottom but after carefully laying out a route and taking into account the time, fuel burn, mooring and marina costs when we couldn't anchor out and provisions (to say nothing of wear and tear on the yacht during the trip) it became clear that I was looking at several thousand dollars.

By comparison, A&B Marine, operating out of Bert Jabins boatyard on Back Creek in Annapolis quoted me $2,700 +/- to haul our 42', 22,000# boat down to Bradenton by truck. Given that the costs (including shipping prep by the yard) were comparable we (wisely in my estimate) elected truck transport. After we signed the agreement it took about 3 days for the yard to pull the stick and prepare the boat for transport once they received our deposit check and started work (about 6 days in all). They loaded the boat on a transporter on a Wednesday morning that departed for Florida that afternoon. The boat arrived at the Snead Island Boat Works, on the Manatee River, at mid-day on Friday, none the worse for wear and by 3:00 PM she was up on blocks/stands ready to have her bottom painted, new name applied and mast re-stepped. No brain damage, no learning curve of an unfamiliar boat in unfamiliar waters and no time wasted.

I wouldn't consider doing anything else given the time of year et al.

Your call, eh?

[Paul Annapolis]

SvHyLyte...You certainly provided good information about a good experience in trucking your boat. However, it appears that the costs you enumerated did not include the fees to pull the mast and re-step it in Florida. If that is the case, I am estimating that it cost an additional $2000 to perform that work, which would have brought the total to $4700. That's just my estimate, so any information you can provide will be most helpful. But it's not just a matter of money--as we are talking about a boat, made to sail to get places, rather than sit on a truck. Sometimes the bottom line costs are not all that counts, and many would enjoy the trip down the waterway--and not even put a price on that experience. And yes the time of year is certainly a factor. Also, did your insurance coverage completely cover the trucking?
Thank you.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Paul Annapolis

SvHyLyte...You certainly provided good information about a good experience in trucking your boat. However, it appears that the costs you enumerated did not include the fees to pull the mast and re-step it in Florida. If that is the case, I am estimating that it cost an additional $2000 to perform that work, which would have brought the total to $4700. That's just my estimate, so any information you can provide will be most helpful. But it's not just a matter of money--as we are talking about a boat, made to sail to get places, rather than sit on a truck. Sometimes the bottom line costs are not all that counts, and many would enjoy the trip down the waterway--and not even put a price on that experience. And yes the time of year is certainly a factor. Also, did your insurance coverage completely cover the trucking?
Thank you.

Ah...Jabins charged us about $450 to pull the stick, wrap up the rigging and load the boat. SIBW charged us about the same to re-step the mast once we had the boat in Florida. Having the mast down gave us a chance to thoroughly inspect the rig and all the fittings and make repairs/replacements where needed; to install wiring for some additional electronics we wanted installed; and, replace the sheaves at the masthead without having to hang from a bosen's chair 65' off the water to do it. Excluding the cost of the extra work we had done, the whole business, including transport insurance provided by IMIS was under $4K and no more than we would have spent on the water for 2-3 weeks or more.

Remember, the OP is talking about a 30' boat which likely has no more than a 40'+/- mast. That's not an expensive transport all things considered, eh?

FWIW...