60ft boat , shipping contact required ,,ex Baltimore

[Todd Pearce]

Hi does anyone here have a great contact for shipping a 60ft boat from Baltimore area to New Zealand
this is notoriously expensive to do, but ive found a great boat, actually originally built here in NZ and i have my fingers crossed it can be done at a reasonable cost, any help greatly appreciated

[Yannis]

Todd,

I can't help you directly, however consider that I also wanted to ship a boat from the US to Greece back then, and except for the paperwork which was mind boggling (everything had to be EU compliant, plus I had to make the boat 220v ready instead of 110v, etc etc), one issue that surfaced is that they could not ship any boat UNLESS they had the corresponding cradle. Which cradle (up on which the boat would be placed in the ship), would have to be constructed on the far end without anyone being able to provide any reliable measurement, and nobody would undertake such a task anyway.

It seemed impossible to ship a Bertram 28 on anything else than a proper cradle designed for a B28...
I'm not even discussing who, how and how much they would be paid in case someone manufactured such a cradle.
It was also impossible to locate any other cradle, either at the yard where the boat was lying, or at the port of departure (at customs? broker's?...) that could accommodate a B28.
I can only imagine what a 60'' boat cradle would entail and how much they would charge...

I wish you Good luck and a..."donkey's patience" as a local saying goes.

[Amberjack]

Todd-

As Yannis said you need a shipping cradle. If it is a current hull model shipped from NZ to the US on a cradle there may be used cradles sitting around the US port where they land. The East Coast dealer could tell you and probably be happy to sell you one for a couple bucks if he has any.

I looked into shipping Amberjack to Southern California and learned that boat transport via truck is seasonal. Boats go south for the winter and come back north in the summer. So the trucks are booked (expensive)heading south in the fall and empty (cheap)coming back north for another load. Just the opposite in the spring. It must be the same with transport ships. Maybe the NZ builder of your boat can give you advice.

[Yannis]

Todd,

I talked to a guy I trust who does a lot of boat imports, from the US and elsewhere.

He told me that there are exceptions to the "cradle" rule, such that the boat to be loaded on the cargo ship are first positioned on the dock at the side of the cargo ship and are lifted on the ship by the ship's own crane...as this process is carried out, the crew on the ship prepares the supporting element that is subsequently welded together. He estimates a trip from the US to NZ for a 60' boat to be around 50-60 K.

I'm waiting from him to forward to me the emails of two Forwarders that he deals with in the US, who I'll communicate to you once I have them.

[Todd Pearce]

Thanks guys, i will await the contacts Yannis, very much appreciated, i was shocked to see this boat up for sale in Maryland, but theres an interesting back story, shes a Salthouse 60, one off 3 commissioned for the 2003/4 Americas cup buy an american syndicate , they ran them for the cup and loved them ,so took them home to the USA after the cup, i believe all 3 boats remain in the USA,i know one is in Seattle but i dont know the fate of the 3rd boat, i am sure shes around somewhere though

[Yannis]

Todd, I sent you a PM,

Yannis.

[Todd Pearce]

Thanks guys, i will await the contacts Yannis, very much appreciated, i was shocked to see this boat up for sale in Maryland, but theres an interesting back story, shes a Salthouse 60, one off 3 commissioned for the 2003/4 Americas cup buy an american syndicate , they ran them for the cup and loved them ,so took them home to the USA after the cup, i believe all 3 boats remain in the USA,i know one is in Seattle but i dont know the fate of the 3rd boat, i am sure shes around somewhere though