Quote:
Originally Posted by pilothouse king
I've sent dozens and dozens of boats 41' - 61' there and New Zealand. All on either Dockwise or Seven Star. All went fine, though the times between when they were scheduled to arrive here , and when they actually arrived were upwards of 3 months apart-more times than not. The shipping along the west coast of central America to Vancouver has been extremely erratic, with them flat not stopping at all where they were promised. I've pretty much given up on even attempting a delivery there. THE BEST I can tell people, that if you can get your boat down to Golfito Costa Rica, it's most likely will be picked up BUT that can leave you in possible trouble with their cruising permit allowances. I sent a 58' out of there, and got lucky in finding a Captain there that took care of the boat, and loaded it for me. I was there with dozens of others waiting, and waiting for the ship to arrive. It did-3 months later. Also where they ended up dropping the boats in Australia once was quite far away from where promised, but at least they made it.
Since their merger I haven't yet shipped or priced a delivery. I'll no longer have the option
of shopping prices between them. Previously I've gotten prices down from $65k to $35k playing the competitive angle on a 45'er.
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Hmmm, they sound pretty hopeless then.
I used Aurora Global Logistics here in Brisbane. I shipped a 50' boat from Vancouver BC to Brisbane last October. There are regular monthly departures on Swire vessels that bring lumber to Australia from the PNW and take steel back.
Aurora were great, happy to recommend them. Get them to handle the Customs/import side as well - it makes it very smooth. They are agents for Peters & May who handle the Nth America side. That part worked, but just. Their Chicago office handled it, but didn't seem to know much about the Canadian requirements. I was on the boat and did some of it myself.
I did have some damage from loading in Vancouver, but it was covered by insurance and repairs were first class. Loading should be simple, but the particular Canadian stevedores who loaded my boat made a mess of it.
Were I shipping again I would endeavour to use the Dockwise float-on, float-off vessel. From the West Coast that means getting to Golfito, and there appears to be only one departure to Australia per year.