Mobile Al through the Panama canal.

[MikeMck]

Well as trucking my 78 37C from Mobile Al. to San Diego is just not economically feasible. On the truck height is close to 16 ft.
For what it would cost me to truck it I can run the Canal.

Now the catch. Fuel stops along the way. How to map them out? Obviously will require fuel bladders in cockpit and foredeck. Should give me 750 gallons. 500 mile range. I just don't know if that will cut it.

Anybody made a trip through the canal? Point me to link to anybody that has or resources for planning?

Real early stages of thinking about it. I would hate to sell her in Mobile. Just finished a 2000 mile journey 3 great lakes and the river system to Mobile.

Mike

 

[tom5518]

On the truck height is close to 16 ft.

Is that with the flybridge taken off? Back in the day they shipped these boats all over via the highways.

 

[Cricket]

Did you look into putting it on a freighter, or using one of the yacht transport services like Dockwise?

 

[MikeMck]

Not willing to pull the flybridge off. Back in the day Hatteras would just add the ground transportation to the price of the boat. Same math does not work on a 40 year old boat.
Putting it on an ocean transport would exceed the ground transportation cost. Tried using Joule yacht transport. $11K if under 15ft loaded on the trailer. Over 15 ft. $25K. Due to additional pilot car required and route being 500 miles longer.

 

[Boatsb]

Pull the flybridge and put it on a truck. Dont try that run in an old 37 without a buddy vessel to get you home safe.

750 gallons will hurt the seaworthyness of the vessel. It was not made for a run like that.

Either truck it or ship it but dont put your life and others at risk.

 

[MikeMck]

Pull the flybridge and put it on a truck. Dont try that run in an old 37 without a buddy vessel to get you home safe.

750 gallons will hurt the seaworthyness of the vessel. It was not made for a run like that.

Either truck it or ship it but dont put your life and others at risk.

I'm 65 do I have to make sane decisions? :{). I understand your point but I might point out I can follow the coastline the entire route. Not much different than my last 2000 mile trip through 3 great lakes and multiple rivers dodging barges the entire way.

Also understand the buddy boat concept. My last trip was 1/2 the loop and buddy boats were a natural occurrence.
Until I know distances between diesel stops I'm not sure how much fuel will be required.
Your advice is sound but if I can run 300 miles between fuel stops it was made for trips like that.
Too many unknowns at this point for me to make any decisions.
Your input is appreciated and not taken lightly.
Mike

 

[BOATER BOB]

Leave the boat in south fl and fly to boat when you want to go boating.

 

[Freestyle]

It's a great adventure to add to your impressive resume. But do it for the adventure and not the cost savings. I helped a friend run his 64 Nordhaven from Cabo to Tampa two years ago. After I saw your post I asked him to ballpark the cost and he said $30-50k. (The range is a rounding error in his world.) He said the pilot and canal fees were about $3k if that gives you pause.

He also had safety concerns after a brush with pirates off the coast of Southern Mexico. A freighter deviated course and shadowed him after a non-AIS contact kept closing without making any VHF response to either his boat or the freighter's calls.

Again, do it for the adventure.

Bruce

Freestyle
1986 62 CPMY (54MY with cockpit extension)
Tampa

 

[jim rosenthal]

Taking the bridge off is no big deal. These boats were shipped with the bridge on the foredeck; I believe they built wooden cradles for them and they shipped them like that every week, I suspect.

Your route by sea through the Panama Canal takes you past some very troubled areas; including Venezuela, I think. This is not prudent, frankly. Would it be an adventure? Certainly. Might you end up dead? Certainly.

Your two rational choices are 1) removing the bridge, which was built that way, so it's not a big deal (I've done it on my boat- basically you tag and unhook all the wiring, and you remove the steering pump and just bag it all and tape it in place up there) 2) ship by boat as deck freight. You can use a yacht carrier, built for the purpose, but you could also just have it shipped as deck freight. This is done all the time by the Far Eastern builders in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Taiwan- all those boats that come here as new vessels are shrink-wrapped and shipped as deck freight. Your owner's manual contains a graving diagram which shows how to support the boat on a cradle and may even have dimensions for it.

I suspect trucking would be quicker, easier and cheaper. Don't get hung up on the bridge removal thing; any competent yard with a small crane or lift can do this.

As to the float-on, float-off yacht carriers, they still exist, but I don't know about the cost or the routing. They are very trick, and it must be a great deal of fun to watch, but they cater to a very wealthy clientele, so the cost might exceed that of the other two alternatives.

Oh, and I think your fuel calculations might be optimistic, as far as running the boat on it's own bottom. And keeping a lot of fuel on deck in bladders adds its own complications in weight and stability.

These boats are very well made vessels, which is why they are still around decades later, but they were not built as offshore passagemakers, and in recognition of that, I'd ship your boat.

 

[Pascal]

I wouldnt do it with a boat that small. It s a lot of wear and tear on the boat, adding 2000 to 3000 lbs of fuel is drastically going to affect the handling and sea keeping.

If everything goes right, it would be a great trip but between weather delays, canal delays, potential mechAnical issues and security concerns, the risks are just way too high for costs to escalate out of controls... plus corrupt officials and bribes

Other considrations...

Your insurance is unlikely to approve the cruising ground extention and if they do it wont be cheap...
Forget having any kind of weapons on board for personal security, Mexico has extremely stricts rules and a number of captsins have spent time in mexican jails

 

[rsmith]

A lot of the big 50’+ sport fish routinely make the trip to Costa RICO and back. Coming up the west side is the problem long open stretches with no protection. I remember when Roscioli was making the 65 Donzi’ one was abandoned on the run up the west side because the weather was so bad. They were rescued by a freighter. Plus So America right now is pretty much a war zone. I wouldn’t want to be a gringo down there right now.

 

[tom5518]

Pull the flybridge and put it on a truck. Dont try that run in an old 37 without a buddy vessel to get you home safe.

750 gallons will hurt the seaworthyness of the vessel. It was not made for a run like that.

Either truck it or ship it but dont put your life and others at risk.

There are great marinas and mechanics all along that route, especially Nicaragua and El Salvador, that can supply fuel and fix the boat when she breaks.

 

[Walter P]

I agree that if you do it (I don't recommend it) be sure it's for the adventure....and I'm sure there will
plenty of harrowing moments or hours. Way too many safety issues to cope with. If you want some
great adventure and a great adrenaline rush try sky diving here in the USA. It's probably ten times safer
and really exciting...

Walt

 

[rsmith]

Don listen to the naysayers at 65 your old and don’t have much time to lose. This could be a great final adventure.

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Don listen to the naysayers at 65 your old and don’t have much time to lose. This could be a great final adventure.

How the hell old are you?!?

 

[carolinacoast]

If you go, get an agent. noonsite.com is a forum for circumnavigators and worthy to explore. Had a friend look hard at this with his sailing yacht, and ultimately passed.

 

[MikeMck]

As I read through the posts I get the impression the consensus of the group thinks this is not a good idea.

This little adventure was just in the thought and preliminary planning stages. Figured if I was going to spend $25K or so I should have some fun doing it.

One posted an idea to run to Fla and fly in for my boating. This is somewhat of my secondary plan. I still do some consulting on the west coast so may end up staying in Fla and flying in for the consulting. Should I choose that path I would probably spend a year or 2 playing around in the Keys then selling the boat and replacing on the west coast. The 4 grand children are all in the southwest so would like to share my boating with them on the west coast.

A few suggest having the Flybridge removed, Cradle made and shipped by truck. I have to believe that would be cost prohibitive as the boat can be replaced on the west coast for $35 to $45K. Yes I have considered. 1 with low hrs on her 671N Detroit's and another repowered with 6CTA's in 2018.
Again I want to thank all for sharing your thoughts and input.
Mike

It appears of those responding nobody has made the trip for what ever reasons but have shared legitimate concerns. I was hoping to hear from someone who had made the trip.
Mike

 

[MikeMck]

Don listen to the naysayers at 65 your old and don’t have much time to lose. This could be a great final adventure.

Do I sense a bit of sarcasm in there? :{)

 

[MikeMck]

There are great marinas and mechanics all along that route, especially Nicaragua and El Salvador, that can supply fuel and fix the boat when she breaks.

And the names and locations are exactly what I am looking for.

 

[MikeMck]

As I read through the posts I get the impression the consensus of the group thinks this is not a good idea.

This little adventure was just in the thought and preliminary planning stages. Figured if I was going to spend $25K or so I should have some fun doing it.

One posted an idea to run to Fla and fly in for my boating. This is somewhat of my secondary plan. I still do some consulting on the west coast so may end up staying in Fla and flying in for the consulting. Should I choose that path I would probably spend a year or 2 playing around in the Keys then selling the boat and replacing on the west coast. The 4 grand children are all in the southwest so would like to share my boating with them on the west coast.

A few suggest having the Flybridge removed, Cradle made and shipped by truck. I have to believe that would be cost prohibitive as the boat can be replaced on the west coast for $35 to $45K. Yes I have considered. 1 with low hrs on her 671N Detroit's and another repowered with 6CTA's in 2018.
Again I want to thank all for sharing your thoughts and input.
Mike

It appears of those responding nobody has made the trip for what ever reasons but have shared legitimate concerns. I was hoping to hear from someone who had made the trip.
Mike