Preparation

December 2002

SHIPPING
GLEANING INFORMATION*
VEHICLE INSURANCE*
HEALTH INSURANCE*
ROUTE PLANNING*
A POSSIBLE ITINERARY*
SOME MISCELLANEOUS NOTES*
ELECTRICITY*

BACK TO LOG INDEX*

*Not operative in this sample

There follows a synopsis of the progress to date. It was written as the preparations were being made. How the ideas, research, anticipations etc worked out will be revealed later! It is repeated that a lot of detail is given on these pages for the benefit of those who might wish to follow in our 'wheel tracks'! You can skip this and go straight to the log pages, if you wish.

Note: An exchange rate of £1 = $1.50 has been used.

SHIPPING
I entered 'Shipping Vehicles Atlantic' into the Google search engine and back came a wealth of information. To begin with there were two negative aspects. Firstly, the Americans use the term 'shipping' for any movement of goods, whether it be by land, sea or air. It was revealed that there is a lot of vehicle 'shipping' within the USA itself - the 'Snowbirds' moving south for the winter is one example of the people flying and the car being 'shipped'. The second revelation was that a container would not be big enough to take our Hymer. They come in 20 and 40 feet lengths and we are just over the former. But the main limitation is the height. So what of RORO? There seemed to be quite a number of possibilities and the websites invited one to complete an enquiry form. These seemed 'a bit over the top ' for an initial enquiry so I sent e-mails - with the Subject Title 'Initial Enquiry'. There were two responses one quoting $2,456 (£1637), the other $2700 (£1800). The sailing time for the latter was 4 - 6 weeks! There then came a third possibility; this was a UK company and their price was £1840.00 - sailing time 17 days. This quote revealed that there were charges in addition to the actual shipping cost: 'Our agents can handle the Customs papers if you wish. They will charge USD $150.00 payable locally. The shipping line's agents will also require a handling / drive off fee, in local currency, around USD $65.00. (£100 + £44)'

It began to look as if this was it and I needed to pick the best of this bunch but on the Hymer website forum I picked up a question along the lines: 'Has anyone experience of exporting a Hymer to the USA?'. I contacted the originator, expressing my interest in any responses that he'd had. It did turn out that David Elliot was part owner of Deepcar Motorhomes and his interest was exporting Hymers to the USA commercially. But there were two results - one frivolous, the other useful. He forwarded me the US authorities formidable rules on the permanent importation of foreign vehicles, the basic message of which was, 'Go away!'

The useful bit was the recommendation of a shipping agent: < … try ************* . They shipped me some day vans and RVs out of Jacksonville and were very good at it. German Dutch company so far more efficient than the *********.> I tried them with this result:

Dear David, Thank you for your rate request. We can offer the following rates for 1 motorhome (self-propelled) measuring 239" x 90" x 118": ......................

13th April 2003
It was a very short stop at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park but it suited our purpose - and we survived a whole night without electric hook-up. Mind you, my laptop breathed a sigh of relief when I plugged it into the mains here at Elephant Butte Lake State Park. We are (I am!) settling into a better routine with the travelling - we don't have to get to our destination asap. We can comfortably travel much further distances here than in the UK. This added up to a fairly early stop in our journey to visit White Sands National Monument. To quote: 'Here, great wavelike dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and have created the world's largest gypsum dune field.' We took in the Visitors' Center and paid attention to all the facts that were thrown at us and then we drove the 16 mile 'Dunes Drive' which took us into the heart of the area. The whiteness was overpowering and the sand so fine. It really was something to see. On a sombre note, the park is surrounded by a missile range and, not far away, the first atomic bomb was tested!

After the 25 log 'weeks', containing well over 1000 photographs, there is a 'Post Mortem' where the trip is reviewed and useful facts are assembled. These would prove invaluable to would-be USA motorhomers ...

September 2003

SHIPPING
GLEANING INFORMATION*
VEHICLE INSURANCE*
HEALTH INSURANCE*
ROUTE PLANNING *
SOME MISCELLANEOUS NOTES*
ELECTRICITY*

BACK TO LOG INDEX*

*Not operative in this sample

Several times, in the 'Preparations' notes, I said that I would comment on how things actually turned out. Here are those observations.

SHIPPING

I described how we came to use ************************. for arranging the shipping. This turned out to be an excellent choice. The export manager we dealt with, located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was *********** and she was most helpful. There are two rules on vehicle shipping - although there were no signs of a check that they were being obeyed. Firstly, the fuel tank must be less than a quarter full and, secondly, no propane is to be carried. The latter regulation and the topic of propane generally could provide a problem for some motorhomers, which we did not have. Our Hymer is fitted with a bulk gas tank. This is the norm for American RVs so there were numerous places where the tank could be filled. I needed an adapter - the US standard is an 'Acme'. Motorhomers with the more traditional set-up of gas cylinders would have to investigate buying a cylinder 'over there' plus a suitable regulator. Exchange cylinders are readily available at supermarkets.

Returning to shipping, I did discover that dates are variable! From my aircraft experience I should have anticipated this. Like aeroplanes, ships are subject to the vagaries of weather and equipment serviceability. We did make several arrangements based on the original schedules. With hindsight, it would have been better to have waited for positive news of sailings etc. I was able to follow progress of the ship on the shipping company's website. A number of forms required completion e.g. Power of Attorney with regard to Customs clearance. Yasmin e-mailed these to me and, on completion, I airmailed their return. As this is, hopefully, detailed and useful advice, I will mention one minor difficulty with receipt of those e-mail forms. I had to adjust them to fit on to the sheet of paper. I realised, later, the problem - I, naturally, was using A4. The US standard is 8.5"x11"!

From the instructions given, delivery to Southampton Docks was extremely straightforward. The port website (with maps) is at: http://www*******************. I also used Mapquest to assist me with the navigation. We found the HUAL office and a helpful gentleman helped us along. I was very satisfied with the security aspect; the motorhome was stored under cover to await the arrival of the ship ...

Numerous useful links have been provided:

There now follows a list of useful websites. Some of them were listed in the 'Preparation' section but are repeated here for convenience:

For weather information check out:
http://www****************
http://www.**************
Very comprehensive info at:
http://www.**************
Weather maps:
http://www.c*****************

Every State's tourist office has its website - National and State Parks - the list is endless. Then there are accounts of individuals of their travels. Notably:

A well presented site on the American South West - by an Englishman:
http://www.a*******************

There is a very detailed account by an Australian - but you have to tolerate his extreme thoughts and comments!
http://members.*******************

'*************************' is another log of a 12 month USA tour in a 23 foot Class C motorhome by an English couple. It was some time ago, February 1996 to February 1997, but makes good reading.

'*******************'

Not motorhome oriented but an incredible guide to holidaying in the USA - by an Englishman: http://***********

Some miscellaneous sites:
History of US50
A log of a drive
Another site of a tour - mainly photographic
Yet another of the South West
Campgrounds listed by States

... more ...

A site devoted exclusively to finding the most memorable local eateries along the highways and back roads of America
This looks like a useful site for USA travellers
Road trip adventures

Camping World - country-wide stores plus mail order to the UK

Resources for campers
Campground directory

... and more ...

Flying J truck stops
Escapees Club

... and so it continues - more than 100 useful links - the experience gathered being passed on.

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