Thank you for watching. Glad you found it interesting

Brilliant LA... Love your post!

“Why, thou deboshed fish thou, was there ever man a coward that hath drunk so much. ...

@@transmitthis Begone thou wastrel, thou wouldst leech the flavour from the most cordial of ales. It's a cruel world.

Thanks Mark. I'm in Spain and can't wait to get back to the Caribbean.. I found the shipping a major learning curve and so thought it might help others to see the warts and all

I think that's a very flattering email. Thank you

Max hello, The Sea has a fascination for almost all of us, but messing around in boats is more niche. It was always: far away places with strange sourdine name' that really made me go on voyages. So pleased as à landlubber you found the vidéo interesting and thank you for subscribing.

Actually Kev I found it very stressful... Living in France and the distance from Southampton then having to get to Gatwick to fly out did not help!

Thank you SV - Glad it was of some interest

Glad it was helpful! Your right - the time, effort and costs of getting the boat from UK waters to the Canaries area to the Caribbean are as if not more time consuming and costly!

Lynda hello, You are right and I should have discussed that option. The problem with a delivery crew is it is an open chequebook situation (if they still exist!) The distance from Boulogne in the English Channel to the jumping off point is over 1600 miles then wait for a weather window to make the 2,500 mile passage across the Atlantic. The costs in just fuel, marian fees, upgrades to the boat, feeding crew and flying them home, as well as paying to get them to the departure point are immense! This is before you even pay the Delivery skipper who is going to charge a daily rate of 2UK pounds per mile which would be around 8,500. I think you would expect it to cost around 20,00 but if there was bad weather which caused delays then it could far exceed the other options. A very useful alternative for shorter distances I think

Thank you KK, really pleased you liked the video

Thank you Tim - glad you like the videos

Matthew a pleasure. So pleased it was useful!

My Pleasure - thank you David for the kind words

Thank you AJW.. glad you liked it... Heading back to the Caribbean soon

So pleased you found it useful. I'm glad I did it sitting here in Martinique

Glad you found it interesting Grant. Can't wait to get back out there

Glad you liked it Joa

@@SailingGently 🤗

Glad it was helpful

Norman hi, Glad you liked the video... Yes they do indeed have and did just add serious charges when there is no choice but to pay them. Not perfect... Actually they provided the Marine Traffic link which I did follow daily - hourly but what it does not tell you is why the ship is sitting on anchor outside a port... To be fair they did update things frequently but by the nature of shipping - things change

Glad you liked it Peter

Your right John it is harder than the ads but a lot of the problem was lack of knowledge and I wish I had seen my video before I started it all... I worried about the wrong things

Sounds like a great plan Bob... re Suez have you seen my video at kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rsV3pbuE087Fp58.html ? Mind you I think the risk is much less these days and it is also mainly downwind sailing!

You're welcome Mark. Glad you enjoyed it

The boat was based in Boulogne France and from there to the Canary Islands is around 2,500 miles. From there to the Caribbean is another 2,300 miles and if you include running costs and marina fees etc plus crew payment it would have been far more expensive. Possibly less hassle but the owner is still responsible for all the costs associated with a delivery - possibly more of a open cheque book than shipping...

I'm not sure it would have been much cheaper to equip the boat and sail her myself over a period of 6-7 months from Boulogne to Canaries to Caribbean. My intention is to keep her there 'forever' and just fly out when the mood takes me and with the glorious weather 12 months of the year it's a great option - having a place in the sun!

Good question! But the boat was based in Boulogne France and from there to the Canary Islands is around 2,500 miles. From there to the Caribbean is another 2,300 miles and if you include running costs and marina fees etc plus crew payment it would have been far more expensive. Possibly less hassle but the owner is still responsible for all the costs associated with a delivery - possibly more of a open cheque book than shipping.

Glad you liked the video Graham - the book is an ongoing project which I have been discussing with publishers rather than via my site www.gentlesailing.com currently doing revisions which I hate!

Div hi, Yes on the original application form there were questions about fuel and water but not about grey/black water... they did not want full tanks but I suspect all that information was really important for big big boats and not small ones. after completing the form nobody questioned fuel/water etc again. I got the boat a couple of days early to the marina in southampton and just decided to slacken off the backstay bottle screws and remove some of the split pins to make the operation faster if I ended up single handed... it was then I discovered the frozen bottle screw... It was OK a year or so before!!! Thank you for the tip about NeverSeeze. first time I have ever had this problem and I totally re-rigged a previous boat and never had this problem!

James I am so pleased you found the video helpful. The boat was based in Boulogne France and from there to the Canary Islands is around 2,500 miles. From there to the Caribbean is another 2,300 miles and if you include running costs and marina fees etc plus crew payment it would have been far more expensive.

No not really Widley. The boat was based in Boulogne France and from there to the Canary Islands is around 2,500 miles. From there to the Caribbean is another 2,300 miles and if you include running costs and marina fees etc plus crew payment it would have been far more expensive.

I agree with all you say about them and it is certainly not a 'service' - I suspect the level of courtesy varies with company but I only have this one experience... The transatlantic starting from the English Channel is a problem. Had I been Med based I might well have just taken her myself...

I think its a budget thing really... There are some excellent boats for sale in the Caribbean but the majority of 2nd hand ones are upwards of 50/60,000 and from 40 ft... if that's in your budget then certainly I would buy out in the Caribbean - there are stacks of Catamarans all quite big 36-40 ft minimum LOA as these are used widely in the Charter trade... Quite big bucks. shipping a cat is no real problem except perhaps the price... Have a look at 7star who operate a lot out of the Med particularly Palma de Majorca with their semi submersible ships and Bos who have sailings out of Gib & Alicante

Eric hi, It's an option depending on how well your boat is already set up for an ocean crossing. Wind self steering gear or generator to power autopilot and nav gear/lights etc. How many crew and how long for total voyage which is dependent on weather.. cost of marina berths on the way etc etc. I suspect paying a skipper and crew plus the above is going to be pretty expensive with the problem if the boat gets storm bound somewhere you just have to keep on paying... but certainly it's an option

@@SailingGently thank you 🙏

Yes, I think I'm going to also just buy several boats, one for the Caribbean , one in France, the main one in Indonesia and a small Cat for Australia / New zeland

@@transmitthis Okay if you can afford to, or you buy and sell as needed.

I think it was the costs of buying and selling Bobbie that made me opt for shipping her. But I know several people who have (inexpensive) boats in both the Caribbean and at home in Europe.

Lots.. 20+. Depends on size of ship and size of boats. .. I guess

I looked at that option Nick on the recce I did before deciding to ship her. The problem is the costs of selling - Brokerage fees etc and then buying another out there, with survey and hauling costs, not to mention they tend to be more expensive and bigger than I can easily handle single handed, then bringing the boat up to scratch (because all 2nd hand boats have issues) and making her suitable for my requirements would have ended up being around the same cost. And the boat I have is in pretty good nick for her age

@@SailingGently Thanks for that, Michael, all very good and informative points. As a humble skipper of a tiny 23 footer on the south coast, I get a lot out of your videos - keep them coming! 👍

I hate it too David.... Because I flew in rather than by car I didn't have any car sun screens to use as light reflectors... really sorry it's so awful!

@@SailingGently just as long as you remain well and put out asap 😛

Is it just my screen or is your face looking very blue with two black eyes? A bit ghoulish. It does distract from the great information unfortunately.

I think its a budget thing really... There are some excellent boats for sale in the Caribbean but the majority of 2nd hand ones are upwards of 50/60,000 and from 40 ft... if that's in your budget then certainly I would buy out in the Caribbean - there are stacks of Catamarans all quite big 36-40 ft minimum LOA as these are used widely in the Charter trade... Quite big bucks. shipping a cat is no real problem except perhaps the price... Have a look at 7star who operate a lot out of the Med particularly Palma de Majorca with their semi submersible ships and Bos who have sailings out of Gib & Alicante

think its a budget thing really... There are some excellent boats for sale in the Caribbean but the majority of 2nd hand ones are upwards of 50/60,000 and from 40 ft... if that's in your budget then certainly I would buy out in the Caribbean - there are stacks of Catamarans all quite big 36-40 ft minimum LOA as these are used widely in the Charter trade... Quite big bucks. shipping a cat is no real problem except perhaps the price... Have a look at 7star who operate a lot out of the Med particularly Palma de Majorca with their semi submersible ships and Bos who have sailings out of Gib & Alicante