The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report

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Veteran Austin Boater

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Banished to an island

The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report
Dec 28^th, 2013 at 1:10pm

Hi Everyone. Many of you know that I am relocating myself and my stuff to Hawaii. About 6 months ago I made the decision to relocate the boat as well vs selling it and trying to find something else on the island. After much research and some very sound advice from people I trust, I came to the conclusion that the Sunny should come over to Hawaii. I've been planning the move of the boat for the past several months and this past week, I completed phase 1 of the move.
I'm in San Diego waiting for my flight back to Oahu and thought I would share some of my experiences in shipping an object the size of Deja Blue to Hawaii.

I will post up my story and some pictures. When the boat arrives in Hawaii, I will revisit this thread and complete the pictorial.

So, there are really two parts to the move. Road transport and Ocean transport.

There are many choices for road transport and only two practical choices for ocean transport.

For road transport, I could use a yacht shipper, post a bid on Uship, use a trucking company, ask a buddy to tow it, or do it myself. I chose the, "do it myself" option because I trust me and I needed to ship my truck too. I was craving a road trip too after 7 months living on a Rock in the middle of the Pacific.

For Ocean transport, I mentioned there are only two practical options. Pasha Hawaii out of San Diego or Matson out of LA. I chose Pasha because they are building a better reputation for damage-free shipping, a better loading ramp and the price was less than Matson.

The non-practical choices were; a cargo barge out of Seattle (50% cheaper than Matson), the deck of the fuel barge out of Long Beach (60% cheaper than Matson) or the US Navy's opportune lift program (free, but a huge pain in the ass).

I booked with Pasha and never looked back.

More in the next reply......

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2006 32 Sunsation SS MCOB
2007 2500HD Allison/Duramax
2007 Corvette C6

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Veteran Austin Boater

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Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report
Reply #1 - Dec 28^th, 2013 at 1:33pm

Continued.....

So I planned the entire trip around the holidays because it is easier for me to take time off work and the traffic from San Antonio to San Diego is generally lighter than other times of the year.

I flew into San Antonio and conducted some local business, after which I headed to Austin to pick up the Sunny from the Mobilemercman who had the boat at his shop doing some significant scheduled maintenance on her. Jim and I determined that we should pull every possible preventative maintenance procedure on her before shipping her to Hawaii, thus giving me the best chance for trouble-free boating after the arrival in Hawaii.
Following a lake test and final cleaning, Chip from Texas Shrink Wrap came over to Mercman's place to wrap her up for the trip and the voyage. You can see from the pics, she was wrapped from bow to stern ready for some high-speed towing across the desert.

The trip itself was non-eventful. The trailer towed exceptionally well and the truck was great. The Duramax transmission on the truck and the EoH on the trailer are very helpful during long tows. I really enjoyed the road trip through the desert. The weather cooperated the entire trip.

Arriving in SOCAL there were three facets to the move :

1. Drop the boat off at the Port of San Diego
2. Ship accessories and assorted "truck junk" (the boat and vehicle must ship free of personal effects). That essentially means building a pallet at a freight forwarder in Compton, CA (I shipped a 4x4x4 pallet and about 450lbs).
3. Drop off the truck with shipper (Pasha as well) in San Diego and catch a taxi to the airport.

So that's where I am now. San Diego waiting for my flight home. More to this thread after she arrives in her new port, or if you have any questions, I am happy to answer.

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2006 32 Sunsation SS MCOB
2007 2500HD Allison/Duramax
2007 Corvette C6

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Veteran Austin Boater

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Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report
Reply #2 - Dec 28^th, 2013 at 1:39pm

Photos cont...

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2006 32 Sunsation SS MCOB
2007 2500HD Allison/Duramax
2007 Corvette C6

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97FASTech Veteran Austin Boater Offline Canyon Lake Boater Posts: 278 Canyon Lake / Houston	Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report Reply #3 - Dec 28^th, 2013 at 2:37pm Pretty awesome stuff g. Did you do two or three day drive to San Diego? My son drove home from LA area non-stop!! Crazy Sum- biotch. 22 hour drive. Betcha you can't wait till Blue gets to the Island to fuel her and give her a taste of that crystal water. Good Luck and have blast!!!!!
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nathan

Lake Admiral

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Going Home !!!!!

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Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report
Reply #4 - Dec 28^th, 2013 at 8:39pm

very cool G!! The sunny looks great. I can remember the trip from flagstaff to Austin when we lived in flagstaff. I made the 15 hour trip by myself in just three stops once! that was nuts. left flagstaff at 5:00 pm and pulled into my parents place at 8:00 am.

did you take 40 or 10? I hope the rest of their trips go smooth!

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My Happy place is on a boat at the lake with my kids!!

current boats:
1983 chaparral 235 XLC (restoration)
1977 playcraft p24 pontoon (parents own now I am the mechanic)
1975 skeeter hawk (on hold)

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Tyranni Austin Boater Offline Austin Boater Posts: 117	Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report Reply #5 - Dec 29^th, 2013 at 11:50pm Good stuff, safe travels to you both. I can't imagine how hard it was to drive right past any body of water on the way out and not grab a pair of scissors. Looking forward to hearing she's safe in Hawaii
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livesound Veteran Austin Boater Offline Austin Boater Posts: 366 austin tx Gender:	Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report Reply #6 - Jan 2^nd, 2014 at 10:24am thanks for sharing this its awesome
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g Veteran Austin Boater Offline Posts: 338 Banished to an island	The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report (Upda Reply #7 - Jan 16^th, 2014 at 3:54pm She made it to Honolulu. Off the ship yesterday and I picked both the Silverado and the Sunny up at Honolulu Harbor. Pulled her up over the mountain to the marina in Kaneohe where she awaits her first taste of Hawaiian salt. More to follow....
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nathan Lake Admiral Offline Going Home !!!!! Posts: 2120 Leander, TX Soon Gender:	Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report Reply #8 - Jan 16^th, 2014 at 7:00pm congrats
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Captain YARRR Admin Offline Doing the rain dance Posts: 2587 Round Rock, TX Gender:	Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report Reply #9 - Jan 16^th, 2014 at 7:33pm
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g Veteran Austin Boater Offline Posts: 338 Banished to an island	Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report Reply #10 - Jan 17^th, 2014 at 4:33pm Captain YARRR wrote on Jan 16^th, 2014 at 7:33pm: BAM!!!
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Veteran Austin Boater

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(Update) Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report
Reply #11 - Jan 17^th, 2014 at 4:46pm

I unwrapped her today. Almost felt bad cutting off that awesome shrink wrap, but I guess it did it's job and now must go live in Shrink Wrap Heaven....

Here are a few shots of today's tasks. Amazing day at Kaneohe Bay. Pity that I could not splash the boat today, but I did not have the time.

Enjoy the pics. These were all taken at Marine Corps Base Hawaii or "K-Bay" where my boat is stored. It is a protected bay with a big-ass sandbar in the middle. You can boat right up to it.

FAStech, I even threw a helicopter shot in there for you, so you can get your chopper-porn fix Cheesy

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2006 32 Sunsation SS MCOB
2007 2500HD Allison/Duramax
2007 Corvette C6

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Captain YARRR Admin Offline Doing the rain dance Posts: 2587 Round Rock, TX Gender:	Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report Reply #12 - Jan 17^th, 2014 at 4:50pm Holy crap that looks awesome. Except for that last shot. That one is the opposite of awesome.
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nathan Lake Admiral Offline Going Home !!!!! Posts: 2120 Leander, TX Soon Gender:	Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report Reply #13 - Jan 17^th, 2014 at 9:19pm cool pictures but like captain said not so good price. but I bet a tank last a while on the island!
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97FASTech Veteran Austin Boater Offline Canyon Lake Boater Posts: 278 Canyon Lake / Houston	Re: The Sunsation's move to Hawaii-a trip report Reply #14 - Jan 19^th, 2014 at 2:06pm Glad everything arrived with no damage. Pics are awesome. Might just be a "Sunny" month if Capt gets his boat delivered this January.(fingers crossed)
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