Moving to AK drive or ship my 26x?

[csmurray1]

My family and I are moving from San Antonio, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska this July. It is about 4300 miles. I am trying to figure out whether to ship my Mac26x or have another axle installed and drive it all the way. Does anyone have any experience with shipping companies to use or avoid? I really do not want to pay more than $3,500 to ship. I keep trying to talk my wife into driving because we could use it as a place to sleep.
I am not looking forward to this move...everyone is coming...wife, 20 yo daughter, 18 yo son, 12 yo daughter, 2 dogs, 3 cats, my boat, truck, jeep, 3 cars, and myself. UPS is lying...I hate logistics!!!

[C Striker]

If this helps, my dealer told me it cost 2,000 to ship the brand new boat from Cali to NC. I imagine it would cost me more if I wanted to ship the same distance.

[kmclemore]

Well, I drove my X from NM to PA... that's pretty dang far, and although I did it alone it was an easy tow. I'd get the new axle and go for it - besides, you'll get many years out of the new axle and no long-term value out of the shipping, and the cost isn't much different.

Send everyone but you and the wife ahead on a plane (assuming the 18yo & 20yo are mature enough), and the rest in a hired moving company van, and take a couple of days to make the trip with your wife, sleeping in the boat at WalMart's and Sam's Clubs (they're RV friendly) or at scenic campsites along the way. Sell it to her as a 'second honeymoon' trip, and bring along some wine and chocolate.

[WD]

WOW!! i cannot think of a much nastier drive! Depending which route you take, once you are north of approximately Kamloops BC it becomes pretty dang mundane in terms of scenery and throw in all the mountains and passes and narrow crapy roads and very little for towns in between – holy!

Having mechanical breakdowns along there, particularly once north of Prince George BC, would not be a pretty thing.

At very least if it were me I’d be looking to minimize the driving by driving to Vancouver BC and then catch ferries from there north to Haines AK and pick up hiway 3 from there to Anchorage. I have no experience but I suspect given little to no protection from open ocean there is no ferry service from Haines or Juno to Anchorage, if there is I'd take that for certain.

And you say “…everyone is coming...wife, 20 yo daughter, 18 yo son, 12 yo daughter, 2 dogs, 3 cats, my boat, truck, jeep, 3 cars, and myself.“ so that makes 4 potential drivers, 5 vehicles and a young daughter. You have to make two trips in any event or be shipping at least one vehicle. I’m thinking I’d ship at least one vehicle and the boat and give serious thought before driving the rest. That is one hull of a lot of miles on the vehicles, a lot of very tuff roads that will beat the dickens out of the vehicles and really, seriously not much civilization along the way in northern BC, Yukon and Alaska(with young family pretty risky in my mind).

I’d give serious thought to selling down the vehicles to one or two remaining(keeping the tow beast of course!), shipping the boat and one vehicle, or towing the boat and driving one other vehicle, taking the two oldest kids to drive up(one rotating driver to reduce fatigue) and mailing the rest of the family. Who knows, maybe you won’t need or want so many vehicles when you get there, maybe a sled or two will bring you a lot more utility(besides, gas prices are climbing again that is not likely to stop in the long run).

Bottom line I’m thinking a lot of thought and planning needs to go into a move like that, including thought about life style and the new location.

Just some thoughts, good luck and my prayers are with you.

Cheers, Bill

PS if you like to take the really skeenic tour you could come through St Paul here and stay with us for a visit and refresh along your way

[bscott]

I made that drive a few years ago with my 19 yr old son. We drove to Bellingham, WA and took the ferry--which is a huge ship with inboard car hauling--to Haines and drove the rest of the way to Valdeze where we chartered a Nordic 40 for 8 days--then on to Anchorage.

That side of the trip went OK even with the constant construction on the Alcan dodging graders, dirt trucks, snotty mud (rained alot) and RVs.

The trip back was a straight thru drive--no ferry--miserable event. We had to lay over a day because you can't buy gas on Sundays in BC. Mosquitos--depending on the time of year--massive. I can't imagine that drive to be a honey moon especially with a 4 car convoy---bring as much extra gas as you can and lock it up.

I think the suggestion that you sell the cars and send the girls ahead is a god one especially if the cars are not in tip top condition.

The ferry could be very expensive as they charge by the foot and usually need at least 6 weeks advance booking.

Lots to logistics, I doubt UPS could help.

Bob

[NiceAft]

To All.

Several months ago a member of this board (from Alaska) towed his newly purchased Mac from Florida to Alaska. I can not remember who this was. Any of you that have a better memory than I, post here, the name of that fellow who made the trip. He obviously can be of help to csmurray1.

Ray

[NiceAft]

csmurray1

I found it I should have performed a search for "Alaska" first.

Here is the post from the wife. Send her an e-mail directly, and hope for a response.

by silkefelix » Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:31 pm

Hello all,

My husband just started driving from Florida home to Alaska with our 2004 MacGregor 26M in tow. Our mast is secured on the railing in the front (with some bolts) and on the mast support rod close to the steering column in the cockpit.

My husband noticed that the mast support in the cockpit exerts a lot of pressure onto the cockpit floor, which starts bending in. Did anybody experience some damage to the cockpit floor due to the foot of the mast holding rod pushing/bumping into the floor during long distance hauling? If so, any remedies?

Also, the mast is currently positioned such that the spreaders (which for a 2004 M go off at an angle other than 90 degree) are pointed down. That way, they take a little load off the above-mentioned mast support rod, but on the other hand the spreaders are now lying on the railing cable and pushing it down. Could that cause problems with bending the spreaders? Should we turn the mast so that the spreaders point up like antlers?

We would not worry about all that if we were to drive only a short distance, but for that 5000 mile journey, we are afraid of damage.

Any tips would be very appreciated. Regards, Silke

Ray

P.S. When doing the "search" for Alaska, you will get twenty-two pages of results. go to page three. You will then be able to click on her e-mail. Good luck.

[AlaskaMan]

NiceAft

I live in Juneau and have made the drive up and down the ALCAN many times. As far as the quality of the road it's very good. Both the Canadians and Americans are always working on a portion of it and it's for the most part completely paved. This said you will always encounter gravel, potholes, frost heaves on it. The drive through Canada is beautiful. Lots of private and provincial parks that are low cost but but probably nicer than what you find in the lower 48. Fuel is more expensive in Canada and sold by the liter so there is an added cost. There are plenty of fuel stops along the way so you won't have a problem there. From the sound of it you are going to have quite the caravan. I recommend the following; get yourself a copy of "The Milepost" (http://www.themilepost.com/). This book can give you some insight on driving up. If it was me, I think I might look into having the M shipped by barge to Anchorage (http://www.aml.lynden.com/) you can drop your boat off in Seattle and possibly Bellingham Washington and save yourself some potential headaches along the way. You could also probably contact Blue Water Yachts (http://www.bwyachts.com) in Seattle and see how they ship the Mac's they sell to Alaska.
The drive is beautiful and I recommend you take as much time as you can to do it. The drive is a fisherman's vacation with plenty of streams, lakes and ponds all begging you to toss a fly in.
Hope this helps and good luck with your decision.
Regards

Mental Floss
Juneau Alaska

[pokerrick1]

Wow You have some REAL TOUGH decisions to make - - - but I'm sure you get input from other family members and that will probably make some decisions for you (ie. do the girls want to drive that far?).

Good Luck - - - and put safety first in a trip like this

Rick

[NiceAft]

Mental Floss,

Thanks, but I'm just one of several who are trying to help csmurray1. He's the one who did the original post. I'm sure either he has read, or will shortly read your post. Hopefully, he will contact you directly for more info.

Are you who silkefelix was posting about

Ray

[seahouse]

Hi csmurray1-

Just as a matter of comparison for shipping charges - my dealer charged me $2978 freight to ship a Mac from California to Ontario, a distance a little over half of what your distance is. So your $3500 limit might be on the low side, even considering markup and exchange.

Good luck on the trip, however you decide to do it.

- B.

[vizwhiz]

Let's not consider the following "advice" per se, just food for thought...

One idea, partially mentioned on here already, would be to sell ALL of the vehicles (boat included), your non-sentimental household full of stuff, and your dogs...okay, not your dogs...and find replacements as necessary once you're up there. In other words, take your clothes, your flesh-and-blood, your animals, and the "essential" memorabilia.

I assume you'll be paying for new vehicle taxes and registrations and who-knows-what-else for the cars, not to mention that the weather and conditions might revise your vehicle needs once you're up there (can your vehicles handle nasty winters...better yet, can your drivers handle those vehicles in long nasty winters?).

If you factor in the cost of the move, just a normal moving company move of your household goods (e.g. your furniture) is going to be the cost of the boat, or at least one of the cars. (Have you checked the moving company's prices for a 10,000 or 12,000 pound truckload of furniture over that distance with the fuel and other costs??)

If you pay for gas to drive four vehicles, and one that's towing a boat (low mileage), on a trip that's...what, 4000 miles?...you're talking a whopping gas bill, not to mention the overnight stays for everyone, the food for the trip (and of course the souvenirs), and the potential for repairs along the way. (Just a replacement tire is a $100 hiccup easy!) For example, if your tow vehicle gets 10 mpg average, over a 4000 mile trip, that's 400 gallons of gas...at $4.00 a gallon (and rising), that's $1600 in gas alone just to tow the boat up there!

I realize that no matter which way you go, it''s going to be a big undertaking, both physically and emotionally, but I just thought it might be worth considering...sometimes a "fresh start" can take on a lot of new meaning to the whole family!

Beyond that, I'm with Ken - make it a two-some and get lost along the way once or twice, if you know what I mean...

[AlaskaMan]

Ray - that's not me. I've lived in Juneau for 7 years after retiring from the USCG. There are other options mentioned in previous postings. If CSMurray1 is covering his how expenses then trimming down cars and such might be a good option. The Alaska Marine Highway (Ferry) could take him from Bellingham Wa to Haines AK then drive from Haines to Anchorage. Beautiful ride up from Washington State but it can be a bit pricey. He migh even kick around the idea of letting his go and looking for something else when he gets settled in. There is lots of sailing possibilities including Prince William Sound via Whittier Ak.
So many decisions to make.
Good Luck

Mental Floss

[csmurray1]

Thanks everyone. If I can get a shipper below $3000 then i am in. If not then I will have a second axle installed and go for it. I am in the Air Force so they will ship one vehicle from Dallas for free. So we will have my '07 diesel truck and boat, wife's '07 jeep with car dolly and 2007 for focus, then the two older kids driving one other car. But we are still debating whether to sell the 20 yo daughter's car and buy her something new in Anchorage. The reason we are not taking the ferry is that if you take animals (two dogs and three cats) you can only let the out of your vehicle twice a day for 15 minutes. I am not looking forward to my truck smelling like dog and cat pi$$/poop. I would rather drive the Al-Can highway and be able to let them out when ever I want.

[AlaskaMan]

Do you have a built in block heater on that diesel truck? If not you might get it before you depart Texas. If you don't then get it installed when you get to Anchorage. Enjoy Elmendorf, it's a great place.

Mental Floss