What a beaut dream trip!
G'day Chris,
Thanks for your thoughts on this little lady but having worked as an Over The Road trucker for a year in the states, I know my way around the states. The cruiser would need to be containerized in a 40' container, if it would fit, it would be then transported from Rockaway, New Jersey to San Diego or San Francisco, that's around 3,000 miles!
When I worked over there back in 1995 to 96, I was paid a dollar a mile, loaded or empty.
I bet the company, Cal-Ark Trucking, out of Little Rock, AK was getting a lot more but lets say the cost today was $5 a mile, that's $15,000US right there, then we have the cost of the container, the crane and crew for containerizing the cruiser, I have no idea on those costs.
Then there's the shipping from San Diego or San Francisco across the Pacific to Australia, the closest Aussie port I believe would be Brisbane in Queensland, and Brisy is about 24 hours drive North from my home in Victoria.
I have though about flying to the States and bringing the cruiser back to Aus' myself, via waterways across the States, then motor across to Hawaii, then Island hop across to Port Moresby in PNG but the Pacific is a bloody big pond and would seem to be even bigger in a 30' open power cruiser. And if I missed just one of those small re-fueling Islands, I'd be in real strife!
Beside, I don't know how many Islands lie between San Diego in the States and Brisbane in Australia, nor do I know the distance between those Islands nor the fuel range for the cruiser. Then there's the fact that there's no inland waterways, that I know of, connecting the East coast to the West coast of America, so I would have to motor down to Panama to get from the Atlantic to the Pacific!
No Chris, I think the cruiser is beyond my reach but all a Brit would have to do is stick it on a ship in Hoboken harbor and it's only a hop-skip-and-a-jump across the Atlantic to the UK, Ireland is a little closer
Still, to bring that lady from New Jersey to Australia, what an adventure that could be, it would be a trip of a lifetime! Well Chris mate, I may be an old retired sea dog but I'm not to old to dream...Just yet!
Cheers,
Bill
