Truck Delivery Pro's and Con's
I just shipped an E36RH cross country over the road 2800 miles CA to Annapolis, MD. Sailing via Panama was NOT an option. I would recommend sailing the boat yourself if it is in good shape, decently equiped and already in the water ready to go. You need the crew and time. I would recommend a delivery captain if you don't have the crew and time or the experience. I would have it trucked as the last option. Here are my Pro's and Con's of over the road delivery. Your costs will be less due to the shorter trip and smaller, simplier boat and the fact that it's NOT Santa Barbara.
PREP - It took 17 hrs to prep the boat for shipping, plus a few days storage and marina fees for loading the truck. I found a great broker/boat prep guy who was also a friend of the owner. He saved me 50% on labor over the local Boatyard ($$) and also saved me a second and/or third trip out to CA to do the prep. To be honest, I am glad I didn't do the prep, after seeing what an experienced boat prep guy did for me. I had no issues during the road delivery with any of the gear or the hull. Pros: Save effort and time for you, more experienced boat prep? Cons: Cost, have to find or know an honest boat prep guy (I got lucky). Much more risk of damage to parts and rig disassembled on a truck.
TRUCKING - I found a local MD boat delivery guy with a great record on Uship. He was out west delivering a boat and was coming home to MD regardless, so he did my delivery basically at cost. My shipper was a total pro and was on time at both ends and a pleasure to deal with. I had decided that I would pre-screen all the boat shippers on Uship and only use the best, fully insured, best rating shippers. This eliminates the lowest 50% of bids in the typical shipping estimate on Uship and leaves you with experienced quality boat specific shippers who will bid against each other but still cost $2.5-4/per mile depending on his backhaul. The more time you can allow for a shipper to work out a two-way delivery, the lower your price will be. Pros: Saves time, unless you wait weeks for a lower price. Cons: Cost, have to find honest qaulity shipper, more risk to boat on highway than at sea.
UNLOAD - I dropped my boat right into the water from the truck, but the rig needed complete re-assembly.
RE-RIG - I decided to have experienced rigging pros inspect my 30 year old rig and do some needed upgrades and repairs at the same time since it was down and apart. Figure half the total boat prep to re-assemble the rig without any repairs. Pros: Rig down to inspect/work on. Cons: Cost, risk of damage, time.
The bottom line is the logistics of finding the right people and the cost of the prep and re-assembly are considerable and would probably cover a delivery captain unless you can do most of them yourself. You could certainly travel with the delivery captain and learn a lot and have an adventure if you have the time but lack the experience. You could also do part of the trip if you are time limited. I didn't have a choice and my delivery went incredably well, but it wasn't cheap and the logistics were daunting.
Mark
with the PO on board for all (or part) of a passage south from Sturgeon Bay to Chicago. Learn all you can, take notes, sail as much as you can, motor when your speed drops below your agreed upon 'Mendoza Line'. There are ample ports along the way, some with rail transportation connections (Amtrak or Metra), handy if you have crew arriving mid-trip.
