June 12 - Tonight we had dinner with Jim & Margaret to invite them to come along on the pick-up venture. They enthusiastically accepted! At this point we are guessing that the ship will arrive June 23 based on her current speed and AIS position.
June 20 – The shipper informed us today that th…
Dave awoke and drove to the airport. While he was standing in the security line he hears, “Hey Captain!” He turns to find the two crew that helped load Apsaras standing there. Turns out they don’t travel aboard the ship, but fly from port to port to do the loading/offloading.
By the t…
In the morning Dave checks the location of AAL Dalian. She is parked “outside”. This is not good as outside the bay the swell could make maneuvering up to the ship really dangerous. Dave had figured she would come inside where it is calmer. Hopefully the swell is not too significant or it is goi…
It poured down rain yesterday evening. No lightning nearby, though. Dave slept great. Nice to be back in his own bed (for those that don’t remember we put our good sleep number mattress on the boat before we left Seattle). Got up at 8 when the marina came and picked up the loaner dehumidifier that h…
Dave got up about 7:30 and had breakfast. A couple scrambled eggs and toast. He definitely would go back if looking just for a place to sleep. He checked on the freighter again this morning. They have slowed down a bit. The new forecast is Tuesday morning.
He hit the road sometime after 8:00. Tra…
Dave got up before dawn to head to the airport. Last time we went to Panama at Christmas time security was a nightmare. But wouldn’t you know it, he breezed thru security. Too bad you cannot bank that karma.
When he got to Panama, he started fretting that he did not have a return ticket whe…
Dave is freaking out because at this point it is only two days till his departure to Panama to load the boat and still no resolution of the customs paperwork issues. Melissa pitches another fit via email to all parties. At this point the shipping company caved and gave us the boat trip back to sho…
We have continued to watch the ship. She is now docked in Florida. If the ship stays on schedule, the loading will be June 7. Only one week away. We decide to chance it and book Dave a flight to Panama for Saturday June 4. But at this point, the customs paperwork issues remain unresolved. We s…
At this point it was a day by day wait to see when the ship would arrive in Panama. The challenge was that the shipping company won’t lock the loading date till three days prior. But Dave has to be IN panama three days prior to allow enough time to get the boat ready. So Dave decides to look up t…
Next thing the shipping company sends a quote for the customs fees - $2300. WHAT?! Melissa had a complete conniption. Of the $2300, $300 was to pay for the launch to bring Dave back from the ship after loading to the marina. She promptly pointed out that this was not actually customs fees and th…
In late January, we realized it had been a year since we left Apsaras in Panama. It was time to decide what to do with her. Since we are both still loving our jobs here in Seattle, the logical, albeit painful option is to sell her. But where? In Panama there isn’t much of a market, so the choice…