Crew Wanted: What do YOU charge for 'delivery'?

[DominoX]

I'm in the PNW and am contemplating buying a sailboat somewhere along the west coast ... possibly Alaska, Canada, Oregon, California or even Mexico.

I've looked at uShip and other carriers to get a feeling for shipping / delivery charges.

But I'm keen to explore the possibility of sailing the boat home to WA with an experienced delivery captain who knows the west coast waters well.

What might something like that cost? Since I don't yet have specific details like "from where? what boat? when?", I'd be interested in just a ballpark "per day" figure where I cover all expenses (provisions/fuel, etc).

Appreciate any guess-timates that you could provide if you've done this sort of thing before.

Feel free to PM if you'd rather discuss privately.

Thanks in advance

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by DominoX

I'm in the PNW and am contemplating buying a sailboat somewhere along the west coast ... possibly Alaska, Canada, Oregon, California or even Mexico.

I've looked at uShip and other carriers to get a feeling for shipping / delivery charges.

But I'm keen to explore the possibility of sailing the boat home to WA with an experienced delivery captain who knows the west coast waters well.

What might something like that cost? Since I don't yet have specific details like "from where? what boat? when?", I'd be interested in just a ballpark "per day" figure where I cover all expenses (provisions/fuel, etc).

Appreciate any guess-timates that you could provide if you've done this sort of thing before.

Feel free to PM if you'd rather discuss privately.

Thanks in advance

PM sent.

A delivery going north can be brutal as you are fighting wind and current. Going south is much easier.

[ErBrown]

We did this when we bought our boat last October, though of course it was East coast to Texas.

Our experience was that on average, most skippers want $300-400 per day. I also believe most will charge a bit more for themselves to take the role as skipper/instructor than they would for their time when working with hired, well known crew. This is understandable since they don't know what they're getting into you as the owner from a skillset, work ethic, attitude perspective. We chose to break our trip into two legs, Maryland to Bahamas and Bahamas to Texas. Used the same skipper for both legs and he charged us $400 per day for the first leg since he didn't know what to expect from us. The second leg he charged $300 a day, despite it being the tougher of the two, because he knew we where reliable, and capable of standing our own watches and allowing him to sleep.

I'd do it again in a heart beat, great way to learn the boat while having a bit of a safety net in the way of a very experienced skipper along, just in case. I think some people have trouble taking orders on their own boat but if you go into it with the right attitude and realize you're hiring them for their experience and knowledge, I really think it's a great option. Way better than just having the boat magically appear for you.

In fact I actually think this is the right time to be in some more challenging conditions to benefit from their experience and see how the boat handles, again with that safety net.

Of course that's just based on our experience, so YMMV but we really enjoyed both trips...though the gulf kinda sucks...particularly in January .

Good luck and enjoy the process

[donradcliffe]

$2/mile, plus expenses like marinas and fuel, $3/mile if the owner is aboard.

[72harley1000]

I usually charge between 250-350 per day plus expenses, depending on the boat and the trip. I am a licensed captain with over 100,000 miles of ocean sailing experience. I also have crew available for deliveries. You can email me at flordjr@aol.com for any more information or possible help on locating a boat, as I do that also.
Captain Frank Lord

[daniellmason]

I charge $250/day plus expenses if I deliver alone or with my own crew and $300/day if the new owner wants me to teach along the way.

[Scout 30]

An option, in order to avoid fighting the wind & currents, would be to sail to Hawaii & then the PNW although hiring a delivery captain for that trip might be a little pricey.

[Invictus69]

I assume the boat size determines the delivery rate? I would expect that somebody paying 6- or 7-digits for his/her boat would pay the skipper more that he/she pays his/her lawyers per hour

[Chris151e]

I paid my delivery captain $300/day plus expenses to bring my boat from San Diego up to San Francisco with me aboard. It was mostly motoring but we unfurled the jib at times to smooth the ride. He also served as my consultant when I was buying my boat and I relied on his detailed inspections of several boats to make my final decision. I highly recommend him, and you can get an idea of his extensive experience by looking at his website. PM for that info.

[Tingum]

$250 a day if Marina Hopping, $350 a day offshore. Only non smoking boats. I enjoy teaching new owners so no additional charge. I prefer larger vessels.

[FamilyVan]

I'm out of the game now, but I used to charge $500 CDN + expenses ($375 USD)/day. I only delivered TC inspected vessels ranging 60-500 grt. If it was a short hop (day trip) then just a cool $40/hr + expenses.

Uninspected yachts of moderate size should come in lower than that.

Sent from my XP7700 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[TacomaSailor]

"I'm in the PNW and am contemplating buying a sailboat somewhere along the west coast ... possibly Alaska, Canada, Oregon, California or even Mexico."

Why buy the boat anywhere except in the Pacific NW / Vancouver BC-Vancouver Island? You have a huge selection there and no cost to bring it home.

What advantage do you anticipate when purchasing further south in California or Mexico?

Not trying to be critical - just curious after living and sailing in Puget Sound for 30+ years, California six years, and Mexico four years. We've looked at hundreds, maybe thousands, of boats in all those locations and can see no reason not to buy the boat near home - where ever that is.


1980 or newer 28' to 45' $34,000 to $150,000

190 boats in Washington and BC
338 boats in California

[TacomaSailor]

"But I'm keen to explore the possibility of sailing the boat home to WA with an experienced delivery captain who knows the west coast waters well."

If you buy in SoCal or Mexico you will, indeed, learn a great deal about:

- sailing hard on the wind into 4' swell, 3' wind waves, a steady 15-knots apparent wind for hundreds of miserable hours

- motoring for endless hours into that swell and wind

- navigating endless miles of fish traps and crab pots

- countless hours of 100-yard cold fog

- bar crossings

- weather forecasting to determine if you can wisely continue into the forecast NW small craft advisories increasing to NNW gales

It will be a tremendous learning experience. You'll compress years of on the water cruising experience in SoCal or Puget Sound into just a month or two of very intense experience. When you arrive back in Puget Sound you will know for sure if you do love sailing and want to continue.

I started sailing in 1972 and raced hard for years all over Puget Sound. By late spring of 2001 I had made three long oceanic passages and had done many thousands of hours of inland cruising. I loved sailing and long distance cruising.

In April/May 2001 I sailed / motored a 42' sailboat (not one I owned) 1000 NM up the coast form Puerto Vallarta to San Diego - 14-days of misery into a constant 15-knot NNW wind and swell. The first thing I did when I got back to San Diego was to put my boat up for sale and declare I was never ever going to sail again in my life.

I came to my senses weeks later and did two more long cruises to Mexico in our boat.

The trip north to Seattle is challenging and might be the best learning experience you can imagine or it can be something far different.

[TacomaSailor]

"I assume the boat size determines the delivery rate? "

Yes it does - the smaller the boat and the bigger the water the higher the price!

[CLady]

The size of the boat you buy plays a part in this decision. Sailing out to Hawaii to "tack" up to WA makes a lot of sense if the boat is set up and big enough for the trip. Otherwise, if you have a lot of free time, you could "cruise" your way up to WA waiting for southerly winds of low pressure systems to "push" you up.
Still, you would have seas to "bash" through along the way. If the boat isn't too wide or too deep of a draft depth, shipping it up to WA might be a good thing to reduce wear and tear and/or damage bashing up the coast.

I'm looking at sailing out to Hawaii from SoCal next summer and returning to the West Coast up to Seattle to cruise B.C. again the following summer.