Deliver my boat - Southport, NC to Solomons, MD

[brak]

I am looking for someone to deliver my (well equipped 35ft center cockpit) sailboat from Southport, NC to Solomons, MD. Timeframe is pretty flexible, but sometime during April would be best. Budget is limited - I can pay $100-$150 a day (assuming 7-8 days) plus provisions, fuel, and reasonable transportation expenses.

I am probably not going to be available for the ride, so bring your own crew.
Reply with experience and/or references.

P.S. Sure hope this will be a better experience than my last disaster of a crew search here

[gtod25]

"It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the job it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and, if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better." John Ruskin (1819-1900)

I am trying not to be rude, but for $150 for a captain and crew you will get;

a. Some burned out guys looking for beer money.

b. Some inexperienced persons trying to get some sea time.

Forgive me if my calculation are off but what distance are we talking about. My quick calculation makes it 350 to 400 miles on the outside. Obviously a little shorter on the ICW. I am sure the experts will correct me but a good captain should be able to push it is 4/5 days. Surely it makes more sense to pay a little more and avoid your " last disaster of a crew search"

[brak]

It is 560 miles by ICW and I'd rather the boat will be motored inside. It took me 8 days of motoring and can perhaps be shortened by a day with really good planning and good weather, but not much more due to bridge schedules etc.

I found that professional captains want $300-$500 a day and very liberal expenses, (one told me "he likes to eat out when at a marina" - i.e. I have to pay his restaurant tab, in addition to provisioning and marina costs, every day!). Still, if I could throw $4000 on boat transportation - I would gladly do so without posting here. However, I cannot - so that is out of question. On the other hand, if I had time on my hands - I would gladly deliver a boat for someone for about as much as I am offering (and I would not mind trusting my boat to someone like me ). The only limiting factor would be that person's experience has to be acceptable to my insurance company. I do expect a person to have good boating experience, especially in that part of the country. I would prefer someone who has USCG license. I don't mind that person is a relative novice.

BTW, $100-$150 a day is generally what one would pay for a captain when chartering a boat in the islands (or at least this is what Moorings and Sunsail had on their price list it was last time I was there, 2 years ago)

[gtod25]

Just as an aside, I used to get $150 a day in the islands. But keep in mind.... 3 Italian ladies in bikinis on a sailboat in the Tobago keys V. trogging up Chesapeak Bay in April .......... pass!!!

[brak]

Haha I always knew there were non-cash benefits to working there Well, anyway - if there were any ladies in bikini on my boat - I'd make sure to find both time and money to be there myself

April should be a better month to be in Chesapeake, though, than something like June. Though clearly that's nothing like Caribbean

[sailingdog]

Figure the boat can go six knots at cruising speed under power—hull speed for a boat with a 30' waterline is about 7.5 knots, so this isn't an unreasonable estimate.

You say it is 560 miles, or approximately 94 hours of motoring at six knots. You say it can be done in eight days of motoring... which is 11.75 hours of motoring per day, not counting stopping for re-fueling, stopping for lunch, etc. Chances are that most novice delivery captains are not going to be willing to motor in the ICW at night.

Say your boat has a fairly decent size fuel tank and can do said trip with three tanks of fuel, they'd have to stop four or five times to get fuel, since they wouldn't want to risk running out of fuel, and assume getting fuel will take about an hour with everything involved.

So, you're offering to pay 800-1200 for a captain and crew to work about 115 hours over the course of eight days... or less than $4.00 an hour if there are only a captain and crew. Hmm... yeah, I think you're going to attract a really qualified captain and crew.

Of course, this doesn't account at all for adverse currents, bridge delays, weather delays, or mechanical problems. I seriously doubt that a trip of this length will have no mechanical problems. Of course, the captain can run the boat at hull speed, and put a lot more wear and tear on the transmission and engine, and burn a lot more fuel, but he might shave a day off the trip.

IMHO, most sailors, who would be interested in doing this trip for the experience, not the money, would probably prefer to go outside and sail the boat, rather than motor up the ICW. However, you've already made your preference for a motor delivery via ICW known.

[bubb2]

Originally Posted by brak

It is 560 miles by ICW and I'd rather the boat will be motored inside. It took me 8 days of motoring and can perhaps be shortened by a day with really good planning and good weather, but not much more due to bridge schedules etc.

I found that professional captains want $300-$500 a day and very liberal expenses, (one told me "he likes to eat out when at a marina" - i.e. I have to pay his restaurant tab, in addition to provisioning and marina costs, every day!). Still, if I could throw $4000 on boat transportation - I would gladly do so without posting here. However, I cannot - so that is out of question. On the other hand, if I had time on my hands - I would gladly deliver a boat for someone for about as much as I am offering (and I would not mind trusting my boat to someone like me ). The only limiting factor would be that person's experience has to be acceptable to my insurance company. I do expect a person to have good boating experience, especially in that part of the country. I would prefer someone who has USCG license. I don't mind that person is a relative novice.

BTW, $100-$150 a day is generally what one would pay for a captain when chartering a boat in the islands (or at least this is what Moorings and Sunsail had on their price list it was last time I was there, 2 years ago)

Brak, I hold an 100 ton Master's of Oceans. I made my living for 10 years delivering boats up and the East Coast. $300 to $500 an day is not outrageous. I charged $450 the first day and $300 a day or any part of a day thereafter. Just so you know It cost me $50 to $75 a day just to pay pay for my liability insurance based on the value of the boat. I am sure you want Your Capt. insured. Crew was $75 a day and all three of us got $25 a day meal allowance. Travel expense were taken care of by the boat owner.
Considering the time involved and the financial returns I very rarely will do deliver"s now. Has to be the right boat and the right owner.

I got an phone call the summer of 2006, by an new owner who wanted an boat moved just 20 miles. I was recommend by his surveyor. As soon as I told him my price, He told me I was out of my mind. He hired the cheapest bidder. The "Capt." run the boat up and onto and over an channel marker. Bent shaft, lost rudder not sure what else more. But his Capt. turned out to inexperienced and not insured. An year went by I got another call this time from the boat owner's insurance co. to testify as their expert witness as they were trying to recover damages from the "Capt" the wreaked the boat. I told the attorney My rate is $450 the first day $300 any day thereafter. He told me I am out of mind, that I am cheep!

[brak]

A few numbers are off for my boat.
She motors easily at 7kts (currents notwithstanding), and would require only one refueling for this trip (might actually get away with no refueling at all, but running last day on essentially empty tank probably isn't a great idea). The diesel loves running at full speed (full speed is achieved at about 75-80% of max. rpm which, presumably, is where it should be)
70 mile days generally took me 10 hours of motoring a day. The only place where someone else might do better is in planning bridge crossings - I missed a few.
So, i am offering something like $10-$15/hr if we count this as an hourly rate, plus food and transportation.

Anyway, as much as I am sure people can critise this - I don't have too much choice here (other than letting my boat sit where she is for a long long time)

[sailingdog]

So, a captain and one crew would be making $5 an hour each... big improvement.

[brak]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

So, a captain and one crew would be making $5 an hour each... big improvement.

Captain makes $15, crew works for free Or he can single-hand

Anyway, I see your point - but such is life. If I could pay $50/hr to those guys - I would. In fact, if I somehow end up getting a tax refund rather than owing Uncle Sam this year - I'll spend it on the most expensive captain, with a salty beard, a blue blazer, a parrot on his shoulder, smoking a pipe and all that, and cover his daily restaurant tab including a bunch of bloody maries or apple martinis - whatever he likes