Catamaran Shopping: Move Cat from East to West Coast?

[roland stockham]

It is very difficult to ship up the west coast and overland is crazy with a cat. Only practical way is on her own bottom. Alow a ton of time, Panama canal can take a couple of months and is the last practical place for a haul out until you get to N Mexico. Be prepared to be on board and at anchor once you get through the canal as there are few services on the west coast. Ditto having enough spars, even basics like pipe can be hard to get. Fitting fuel scruppers is also worth considering, going north you will likly use the engine a lot unless you go well offshore and fuel quality can be an issue, basicly think of Panama to Baja as remote and plan for full independence.
Aalso look at the weather. Hurricane seasons will proably mean you won't do this in one season so where will you stop?

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by rbfin

Disclaimer: I am a 100% wannabe cruiser, own(ed) a few sailboats (36'-25'), lots and lots of daysailing, but I've only sailed on a Cat twice. But I have plans to cruise SoCal at some point.

So...

In searching around (Yachtworld, etc.) I see many cats on the east coast and Florida that appeal. The basic question is: is there any reasonable way to move a 40' cat from east to west coast? The first reply to this question will be a snarky "sail it, duh"... but in lurking and such, that would put a ton of wear and tear on the boat. So, I get it that sailing it to the west coast is one of the options, I just wonder how it stacks up with other options, if indeed there are other options.

Thanks in advance,

Have you considered what it will cost to keep a catamaran in a slip in So Cal?
Any slips are hard to come by out here and they're all expensive which is probably why most of the cats stay in Florida. That and the fact that we don't offer much blue water cruising out here as there's nowhere to go except Hawaii, Catalina and up and down the coast. That said, shipping the cat may be your only option as it could take your several months to claw your way up the west coast from Panama even in a cat.

[Paul Howard]

In 2012 we sailed our Manta 38 catamaran from Toronto on the Great Lakes headed for Alaska. Left in October, passed through the Panama Canal in January and headed up to Golfito, Costa Rica where we waited for the correct time to sail out to Hawaii and then back to British Columbia, as we were advised not to try the bash up the coast.
It was an easy sail, wind direction wise up to Golfito, though we did encounter some heavy weather on both sides of the Panama Canal.
In Golfito I went up the mast to check the rigging and fittings before heading out on the 4,500 (approx) mile sail to Hawaii.
The main cap shroud on the port side had three broken strands at the fitting at the top of the mast. Everything had been good when we put the mast up at Catskill, New York, in the previous October.

I asked around about getting the rigging changed and essentially it was going to take some time, as none was available down there. It was recommended that I take the mast down, strip the rigging and carry it as luggage on a flight to Florida, have new standing rigging made up, fly back to Costa Rica, install the rigging and then set sail.
By that time the seasons would have passed and a year's worth of cruising would be lost just hanging around to wait for the best time of year to again ready to set sail.
Golfito is a stop off and loading point for Seven Seas yacht transport and a ship was headed there in a couple week's time.
We hastily made arrangements for 39ft x 21ft of deck space, about $18,000USD including insurance and paperwork. Ten days later the boat arrived in Victoria, B.C.
We had flown up and waited for the boat's arrival. All went according to schedule, the boat arrived in good condition. We saved about 8,000 miles of sailing and a few months at sea.

We motored to Anacortes, Washington, and spent $5,000. on new rigging and some other details.
Then began our PNW cruising. After two seasons on the west coast we sailed the boat back to Toronto, leaving the Olympic Penninsula about Oct. 1, 2014 through the Panama Canal and back to Toronto, arriving in July, 2015.
We caught the correct seasons and weather and my wife and I, then in our early 70's, had an enjoyable cruise.
We put about 800 hours on the engines on the way back, the Panama Canal costs about $2,000.USD to transit each way by the time you pay for everything, including line handlers.
Extra insurance for the offshore portions of the return trip cost about $2,800.USD, when we pay about $600.CAD for insurance for local cruising.
So, faced with the same situation, I would ship again.
Though it is a long way around and we could have bought (and sold) a boat on the west coast for the difference of purchasing and selling price about the same as the shipping and still cruised the PNW as I had always wanted to do.

[Herb Miller]

Is it feasible to have someone sail it for you?

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by LeeV

Yep, it’s a dilemma, although for me it’s the opposite direction! There’s a 50’ cat on the west coast I’d like have here in Md! I can’t even imagine what it would cost to put it on a freighter to ship here. Yikes! No, I can’t take off to sail it home as much as I’d like to. ��

Does that boat begin with S?

[Hoodsail]

after reading forum comments, what about going mono? with the amount of $$ being discussed to ship in addition to purchase $$ and slip fees $$, you could buy quite the monohull on either coast....ship her, sail her and then ....

[Red Sky]

18 months ago, 48’ mono, Ensenada to Ft. Lauderdale, $20,000. I would guess $30,000 for a cat to go the opposite way.

Zeemarine, the ship was the industrial diamond.

[LeeV]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

Does that boat begin with S?

Hehehehe! I was wondering if anybody would ask!

I used the 50' number but it's actually 55; LB

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by LeeV

Hehehehe! I was wondering if anybody would ask!

I used the 50' number but it's actually 55; LB

Oh, I get it. It begins with O.

[Zzmeyer]

Originally Posted by Red Sky

18 months ago, 48’ mono, Ensenada to Ft. Lauderdale, $20,000. I would guess $30,000 for a cat to go the opposite way.

Zeemarine, the ship was the industrial diamond.Attachment 203447

That's a great price. I don't think you could get a delivery captain for that price. I've at gotten two quotes for my 48 foot cat $50k from Fort Lauderdale to Ensenada. Is this your boat? Do you have first hand experience, contact info for Zeemarine? Thanks.

[LeeV]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

Oh, I get it. It begins with O.

Yep, as in OMG, I can't find anything I like on this side of the country! ;-)
And 55 is way to big for us; I just like the boat! :-)


Best regards,
Lee

[Kita]

Originally Posted by Herb Miller

Is it feasible to have someone sail it for you?

That's what I was thinking, if it's that good of a deal.. there are people that do that.. as far as wear & tear.. load & unload & travel & redoing the rigging has its own sort of were & tear!

[LeeV]

Originally Posted by Kita

That's what I was thinking, if it's that good of a deal.. there are people that do that.. as far as wear & tear.. load & unload & travel & redoing the rigging has its own sort of were & tear!

In my case, no. The boat isn't a "steal," it's just a boat I like that may or may not be a good deal depending on the survey. I'd look it over carefully if it was in my area. Once I add in all the fees for a delivery crew it's way beyond my means or expenses I'm willing to pay.



There are lots of delivery folks (some good ones on this forum, and reading these posts), but if I ever had somebody deliver a boat without me, I'd at least like to be able to get to the boat to check all systems, update or upgrade where needed, and that's difficult when it's across the country. Flying back and forth to, let's say, Florida once or twice is affordable. Doing so to California becomes exponentially much more costly.


Here's an example of a mono delivery from Norfolk to Ft. Lauderdale (then extrapolate to work it from San Fran to/through the Panama Canal, and up to Annapolis!)


RATES:

CAPTAIN:: Starting at $350.00 per day for sailing vessels and up to $425.00 per day for larger vessels.
Starting sailboat daily rate is less than a power boat daily rate.
DECKHAND : $150.00 per day.
CREDENTIALED SEAMAN : $175.00 per day.

FEES:

PROVISIONS: $25.00 a day per person (food and water) per diem while on the vessel.

TRAVEL and OTHER COSTS: Transportation cost round trip (from our base to your vessel departure point and return travel to our base from your vessels destination for all crew members) using practical means: Rental car +fuel, Amtrak/Train, Uber, Lyft, Taxi, Bus or Airfare.
CREW TRAVEL PAY: Is half of crew members the agreed daily rate.
FUEL COST: Fuel, oil or other consumables used during the trip will be at the owner's expense.

A DEPOSIT WILL BE REQUIRED ON EXPECTED FUEL COST
DOCKAGE FEES: We do not ad on to the cost of dockage fee. Power vessels on the intercostal will likely occur marina docking fees.
We don't run the boats 24 hours a day so we will sleep on the boats in marinas if appropriate anchorage is not available.
TRANSIT FEES or Port Cost, Sailing permits: At owners expense no ad ons.
A DEPOSIT IS NECESSARY to schedule you on my calendar and commission crew.

EXAMPLE OF: Itemized Breakdown of Cost

This is an example estimate of TIME and is contingent to the actual speed of the boat regardless of wind or currents.
Departure Norfolk VA to destination Fort Lauderdale FL
Approximate Mileage 800 nautical miles (depending on actual marina locations) divided by speed 7 knots (Sailboat) = 114 sailing hours.
Hours divided by 12 hours days is = 9.5 days depending on weather.
Estimated Days: 10 to complete voyage. Additional days not included in this estimate would be and extra charge at agreed daily rate above the cost of estimate.

NOTE: The speed of the boat that we use to calculate sailing time comes from you, the vessel OWNER! If you tell me the boat is faster than it really is the estimate could be off by hours or even days resulting in more cost to you. DON'T EXAGGERATE!

1 Captain @ $350 per day +
1 Deckhands @ $150 per day +
Other crew 0 @ $ 0 per day +
$350 + $150 = $500 per day
Crew for 10 days @ $500 a day = $5000
Provisions per diem @ $50 per day 10 days = $500
$5000+$500=$5500

Daily Crew travel rate is half of the crew agreed daily rate $175 Captain and $75 Hand = $250 day for two travel days = $500
Transportation To Vessel $250 x 2 Amtrak = $500 +
Return Travel $ 250 car =$1250
$5500+$1250 = $6750
Estimated total is $6750

[Red Sky]

Originally Posted by Zzmeyer

That's a great price. I don't think you could get a delivery captain for that price. I've at gotten two quotes for my 48 foot cat $50k from Fort Lauderdale to Ensenada. Is this your boat? Do you have first hand experience, contact info for Zeemarine? Thanks.

Don’t quote me on the price for your cat, I could be way off.

I’m a friend of the owner, we took it to Ensenada 5/18. The owner took care of the arrangements, I was just crew from S.F. Easy peasy, pull up next to the ship and the load crew takes over. We did have to disconnect the triatic stay between the masts ourselves for the crane spreader and then reconnect after it was in the cradle. 10 days later, it was in Florida. When accounting for the time commitment it would take to sail it to Florida, the owner figured it was a wash.

I mis-spelled it originally: Zeamarine.com

[Greg4cocokai]

I brought a leopard 43 from Florida to Loretto, Mexico last September. Had the new owners, very unexperienced, and the total for me without fuel, and without provisions was $14.5 K. very minimal wear and tear on the boat, around 300 hours on the engines coming up from Panama. Was a great trip, the hurricanes kind of help!Just have to plan accordingly