Quixote was delivered by water from San Diego to Sausalito by Capt. Arnstein Mustad, departing July 27 and arriving July 31, 2011, stopping for fuel in Oxnard and Morro Bay. I’d give an positive and unqualified recommendation to anyone to use Arnstein for a boat delivery. He was very professional and clearly very experienced.
Distance overwater: 460 NM
Time underway: 77 hours 30 minutes
Avg. Speed: 5.9 kts
Total Fuel Consumed: 64 Gallons
Average burn: 0.8 phg @ 2800 RPM
There were a few hicups in the delivery which made me really glad to have a top tier crew handling the boat. Most significantly, the injector pump in our Yanmar 3GM30 failed a couple hours north of San Diego. Arnstein sailed her back into the slip, arriving around 10 PM, met the diesel mechanic aboard the next morning, project managed the part replacement, and departed again that same night.
Another unqualified recommendation and thank-you to PacWest Marine in San Diego. They sent a mechanic out at 8 AM and had the job done by the afternoon. Awesome.
Anyone who read my “nightmare is over” posts concerning the delivery of our last boat from Hawaii to San Francisco via Long Beach would probably guess I’d use different vendors and methods this time.
I got a few quotes for both overland and overwater delivery, including listing the shipment on uShip. The costs for overland delivery, from a reputable and well-insured hauler with an appropriate truck/trailer combination, were significantly higher than over-water. In addition, the “boatyard on both ends” factor adds another couple thousand dollars at a minimum.
Overall, a very smooth experience. Thanks again to Arnstein.