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I know, I know, everyone is aware that shipping the trucks overseas is a royal pain in the ass, but it is time to vent once again. I am not really going to hold anything against Mediterranean Shipping Company, even though they have pushed back the estimated arrival of the ship on three separate occasions for a grand total of five days. I assume their delay is due to weather, and hopefully it is, because when a ship is delayed five days over the course of a 10 day sailing, I can not think of anything else except for some serious mechanical problems. I guess I have no choice but to accept whatever excuse they throw our way. It is totally out of my hands, so I really do not have a choice in the matter. At least they are telling me that the ship is still scheduled to arrive and that nothing catastrophic has happened to either the ship or to my beloved Toyotas.
When the weather turns bad, so can your shipment
The longer the ship is delayed the more bad thoughts creep into my mind
Aside from the fear of something horrible happening to our shipment, we are also having to deal with some major headaches here in Argentina. Unfortunately, we did not complete our research on shipping to South America in time to realize that shipping to Buenos Aires, Argentina vs. Montevideo, Uruguay probably ended up costing us several hundred, if not several thousand dollars more and the two ports are only within a days drive of each other. We are finding out that the process is not only expensive here in Argentina (one explanation was because importers shoulder the cost of dredging the port in Buenos Aires), but complicated… especially for us.
Both the Tundra and the Sequoia are titled to our company, S and S Global Ventures. The company consists of a grand total of two people… Steve and myself, hence the S and S. We have documents from the Colorado Secretary of State indicating that we are the principle owners and and partners in the company and that the company actually exists and is registered in Colorado. Apparently these documents are not good enough for the Argentineans. We are slowly finding out that they are notary crazy here in Argentina and as a result, everything has to be notarized in some way here, even if it has already been notarized in another country. So, on top of the fact that we have an original Bill of Lading with our names on it indicating that we are shipping the trucks to ourselves, the original titles for the trucks, the original Carnets for the trucks, the original registration for the trucks, notarized documents that we are in fact the S and S behind S and S Global Ventures, the customs officials here in Buenos Aires want us to provide them with a notarized contract from S and S Global Ventures giving Steve and I permission to drive the trucks in Argentina and a signed letter from the US Embassy stating that S and S global Ventures is an actual company. Oh yeah, and they want to charge us about $2,000 to unload and clear the container. Talk about a headache. They are loco in the cabeza I tell you.
The more experience we have with overseas shipping, the more we hate it. Without a doubt, the question of how we get our trucks across the ocean is one that we get the most. Unfortunately, we know the answer to the how, but have yet to figure out the answer to the best. For now, we quantify and qualify our shipping experiences not by what goes right, but by how many things go wrong. No matter what continent you are on or what country you are shipping your cargo into or out of, one thing is a guarantee… something will go wrong. Ultimately, I guess a successful shipping experience can best be described as one where the ship does not sink.
I am sure some of you have been waiting just as anxiously for our trucks to arrive in Buenos Aires as we have. We finally have an “estimated” time of arrive and that is the 21st of August. Hopefully the ship will arrive as scheduled because it looks like Argentina is going to be a bit of a challenge in terms of getting the Toyotas unloaded from the vessel, unpacked from the container and cleared through customs.
The Toyotas are in there somewhere
The first quote we received to “assist” us in completing these tasks in Buenos Aires was over $2,000! Considering the entire shipment over there only cost around $4,000, we kindly told them “no gracias!” Hopefully we will be able to find a freight forwarding agent and customs broker for a much more reasonable price, but as we have experienced before, sometimes you are at the mercy of other people in strange and foreign lands. On thing is on our side and that is with all of the border crossings and customs BS we have been through over the last year and a half, Steve and I have been able to develop some pretty persuasive mind control techniques, so we can always hope to pull a few Jedi mind tricks of our own on some unsuspecting officials at the port if it comes down to it.
We are all looking very much forward to starting the last segment of this expedition and we have a great crew joining us in Buenos Aires. Some of new crew member bios are already up on the website and a few more will come shortly. One thing is for sure, the adventures are still far from over!
When it comes to shipping our trucks overseas, it definitely ranks high among the least desirable activities associated with our expedition. I would even go as far as to say that it is the worst part of driving around the world. You would think that after doing it three times on three different continents, the entire process would get easier, however, nothing could be further from reality. Currently, the trucks are somewhere in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean on their way to Buenos Aires, having left the port of Cape Town a week ago… we think. The fact of the matter is, the shipping industry is so far from being streamlined and staffed by people who do not know the answers to your questions that the trucks could be on their way to Iceland for all I know. If you ask someone in the shipping industry a basic basic question such as: “Did the container I paid $5,000 for make it on the ship, and did the ship leave,” you usually get a response that goes something like: “I am not sure about that, I will check on it and get back to you.” Well, it has been over a week and we still have not heard back to see if the container actually made it onto the ship as planned. One would hope that this would be information you would not have to ask for.
Both the Thundra and Little Pepe fit in a 40′ standard container
As you can see, we have had some tire problems recently
You would think that for the money we are paying, shipping companies would let you know the status of the goods you have so willingly and trustingly placed in their care, and it does take a lot of trust. I do not even have a physical receipt or any other proof in my hands showing that I stuffed a container full of $100,000 worth of Toyotas and expedition gear. The only evidence that I have of shipping our trucks are the photos I took after I spent 4 hours loading them in their container. To make matters even more frustrating, I do not even have the vehicle Carnets in my possession either. You may recall that Carnets are very important and extremely valuable documents, but due to a misunderstanding between the shipping company and the South African Customs officials, the customs officials decided to hold the Carnets for ransom until someone paid for “services rendered…” having a customs official come down to see that the container was sealed properly. Again, for the money you pay, you would think that things like this would be taken care of, but instead, I am the one having to listen to the customs officer complain about not getting his $20, even though I just coughed up several thousand for the shipment. I even offered to pay him the 200 Rand on the spot myself, but because the evil face of corruption pops its head up quite frequently in South African government sectors like customs, they will only take an electronic payment from the company that is supposed to have arranged for everything in advance. Now, instead of bringing the Carnets with me, I have to “trust” that they will be couriered to me without any problems.
Hope rope holds…
Four hours later and the container is ready to go
Bye, Bye Toyotas, I hope we see you again
Oh well, I guess it is the nature of the beast. We get a lot of e-mails from people asking us questions about the expedition and a lot of them revolve around the logistics of shipping vehicles overseas. We have a lot of experience in overseas shipping, but the only advice we are really in any position to offer is, good luck and be prepared to be disappointed. I can not recommend any shipping companies either, because we have tried three different ones and have had problems and setbacks with each and every one. I guess I have to look on the bright side, our trucks have arrived at their destinations in one piece… more or less. Some Dutch friends of ours somehow had their vehicle totaled somewhere in-between dropping it off at the dock in Rotterdam and picking it up in Cape Town. I do not know where you would even begin to sort something like that out, but the sad reality is that something like that is not that far out of the ordinary for an industry like overseas shipping.
July 29th, 2008 by Steven Shoppman in Denver, Colorado
We are changing up some of our video gear for the last segment of the expedition, and with this we need to sell some of it. One of our FS-100 Focus Enhancements digital recorders is for sale. Click the link below to learn more about it, and if you have anyone in the video industry that may be interested please have them contact me.
July 22nd, 2008 by Steven Shoppman in Bergen, Norway
In 1893, the crazy Norwegians living in the north of their country were mostly cut off from the outside world. With giant fjords and mountains blocking easy paths to and from the northern coast, inhabitants could hardly receive letters, let alone even consider the idea of leaving. What is now called the Hurtigruten group changed all of that. After the first express voyage spawned regular service after that, citizens in the north could receive letters in 3 days instead of up to 5 months in the winter. The truly remarkable aspect of this achievement was that the initial sailings of these express boats were done with only two official coastal charts and a small smattering of lighthouses in a place that is dark most of the time in winter.
About 4 years ago, this same route was mine during the summer. I spent about a week as a bum on the Hurtigruten reading “Who Needs a Road” while sitting in the sun at 3am on the top deck of the boat. As a poor young traveler, I boarded the boat with no room booked, slept on the couch in the lobby and to my surprise never was forced to purchase a room. With so much time to sit and read as I passed through fjord after fjord, I managed to finish the book in a couple of days and was convinced that I needed to drive around the world.
Four years later, I am driving around the world. However, this time, instead of being on the Hurtigruten in the midnight sun in the summer, my journey journey was in the winter. This time, it was even more of an adventure. We had always planned to go up to North Cape, and were not sure the best route to head back south. After sending an email to the Hurtigruten to see if they would like to have us film and write about our journey with them, they obliged giving us a free ride and transportation of the trucks. Not only was this a cool way to travel south, it was a lifesaver on the cost of gas with one gallon reaching over $8. We looked at our options for the different ships that were heading south finding that only certain boats were able to carry the trucks. We talked to the marketing guy, Stan, at Hurtigruten and were informed that the updated schedule had the Richard With, their flagship boat, available to take us south the day after our scheduled convoy to the North Cape. Perfect!
This was in direct conflict to the information that I had found online, but he was the boss. The important note about the sailing of this ship was that it would get us into Bergen the day before the next ferry from Bergen to Newcastle in the UK. Since that ship only sails every three days and my parents were to arrive in London the same day of our arrival in the UK, we had no choice but to make it on this ship. It was falling together like clockwork. Go to North Cape, take a night to get organized, board the Richard With, hang out on the ship for a few days, get into Bergen in time for an interview with the local newspaper and board the next ship…no problem. After we reached North Cape we were all elated. “Let’s go open that champagne!” “Halfway around the world North to South and now we get to ride on a ship!!”
When we got back to our hotel, the manager allowed me to use the phone. I needed to call the reservations desk on the Richard With to confirm some rooms for us the next day. Mark and Bouey went down to the kitchen to open the champagne. I called the reservations lady and said, “Hello this is Steven Shoppman with TWBR, I think Stan already contacted you about booking some rooms on the Richard With and I am calling to confirm them.”
“We have already sailed. Didn’t Stan contact you?”
“Oh there most be some kind of mistake. This is the Richard With that sails tomorrow from Honningsvad, right?”
“Yes this is the Richard With, but we sailed this afternoon about 3 hours ago.”
“This must be some kind of mistake, we just talked to Stan and booked this.”
“Stan made a mistake and had the wrong schedule.”
My heart dropped. Things were not going so smooth anymore, and the popping of that champagne bottle seemed to be a little premature. I called Stan and he informed me of his mistake with two options to correct it. Since the trucks would not fit on the ship the next day, we would have to wait two days for the next ship, which would not arrive in Bergen in time to catch our next ferry. Drats! I asked Stan if he thought it would be possible for us to leave right away to catch back up with the Richard With and board it in Tromso, a small city about 8 hours away. He told me it was a longshot, so I said, “Ok, we are packing our bags now, please inform the Richard With that we will be boarding in Tromso.” The three of us hastily packed the trucks in the gale force winds sweeping through the parking lot, gassed up and started the race against the clock to Tromso. Three tunnels, four bridges and two hours later we were back in the plains of northern Norway on our way to the junction to head South to Tromso, still three tunnels, four bridges, and 5 hours away. As we approached the junction we saw a line of cars and a full restaurant of people. Something did not seem right.
When driving in the far north, all the roads are covered in a thick sheet of ice. At first it is a little disconcerting driving at high speeds on the ice, but you get used to the grippiness of the gravel that is embedded in the ice and it actually seems to perform even better than dry pavement. Just before we reached this junction at Skaidi, we were driving in extreme winds with snow falling horizontally, blowing so hard it seemed imminent that the trucks would be blown off the road. A dust of snow blew across the road giving it a look as though the road was made of with white fluff. Once we arrived and saw the lineup, it could mean only one thing. The road south was closed due to the same winds we had experienced already. To do our diligence we asked the plow drivers if we could take our chances on the road as we were tough adventurers and needed to get to Tromso ASAP. A few chuckles later, we were denied.
After calling the road conditions hotline, talking to more locals and getting out the maps, it was clear that we would never make it to Tromso in time. I called Stan and worked out that if we went to Hammerfest, Steve Bouey could get on the ship the next day in order to meet the reporters in Bergen. Markand I would then have to wait for the Trollfjord the day after to take us and the trucks as far down the coast as we could go before disembarking with enough time to carry on the race to catch the Newcastle ferry.
Steve Bouey borded his ship as planned, to his dismay, it was the oldest and smallest of the fleet. At that point we had no choice though. Someone had to get to the reporters in time. The next day Mark and I drove the cars onto the ship and to our surprise boarded the nicest ship in the fleet. Bouey really got the short end of the stick. Not only were we on the nicest ship in the fleet, we had first class dining and one suite for each one of us. Bouey REALLY got the short end. We then checked out the rest of the ship to find a workout room, hot tubs on the roof, and countless other amenities for our enjoyment. Four days went by and we were experiencing hands down the most luxurious part of the expedition so far.
With the Northern Lights in the sky above us, we floated south enjoying a little quiet time down the coast. Mark and I had a chance to meet the captain, get a behind the scenes tour of the ship, and have ample time to research the best place to leave the ship and complete the Norway tour. Alesund was our decision, against the advice of the crew on the ship. They told us to get off sooner, but we did not want to get stuck again in a storm so we chose the closest port still giving us enough time for the drive. The Newcastle ferry was scheduled to leave Bergen at 11:15 am and we would dock in Alesund at midnight, giving us about 10 hours to take two short ferries and cover 450kms in the middle of the night over two different mountain passes on ice covered roads. No problem. The concierge did us the courtesy of getting us the ferry schedules for the short crossings on the way to Bergen. The first was only 10 minutes from the dock and left at 12:45 am. We raced there and were on our way. First ferry down, on to the next mountain pass.
The roads at first were mostly dry and it seemed we would have no problems. Then came the first mountain pass, and of course there was a storm so thick that 4-5 inches of snow had freshly fallen on the road before a plow could get there. It was now about 2 am and we were getting a little tired. Since all of the gas stations we passed were closed we could not get coffee or water so we had no choice other than to eat the single serving Nescafe packets we took from the hotel. We searched the back of the truck and the only liquid we could find was a jar of cherries, so down the hatch went the coffee granules followed by a shot each of cherry syrup to wash it down.
The trucks were still good on gas so we raced on. Another couple of hours went by and the gauges were nearing empty. At 4 am in small towns in Norway the gas stations are not open, but we had one hope. With a local credit card we could use the strange old pay at the pump system and be on our way. We started to flag cars down driving by the gas station to see if they would take our cash and put the gas on their card. Most would speed by or were unwilling to help. Finally a trucker sleeping in the parking lot woke up and was willing to try to help us, but his card did not work at this gas station. It was such a strange thing that a technologically advanced country like Norway would not have a way to get gas at night and not have the credit card systems linked up. Was a credit card problem really going to be what stopped us? At 6:30 am we had no choice but to roll the dice and hope that we made it to the next bigger town without running out of gas. “Okay we will coast in nuetral and the trucker told me that most of the way is downhill,” said Mark.
Fifteen minutes later we were in the gas station, and now were able to buy real coffee to try to rinse some of the granules out of our mouth from the last two rounds of Nescafe. We filled up and carried on to the next short ferry leaving at 7:50 that runs only once an hour and watched it sail at 7:53. It was math time. With a little over 100kms to go and a 20 minute ferry ride that will not start for one hour with an average speed of 60kms per hour including another mountain pass that will slow progress by at least 20%, is it possible for TWBR to make it to the hotel for the interview and still make it to the ferry terminal in time to board the ship to Newcastle at 11:15? No problem. This time we did not believe it as much as before.
On the ferry, winds were whipping across the deck so fast that I was not sure we would even be able to dock on the other side. We made it across, raced out of the ferry terminal and pushed on through the 8 tunnels, one mountain pass, thunderstorm, gale force winds, and some of the most beautiful scenery at sunrise we had seen since the beginning of the expedition. This time however, the sheet of ice on the road did not have that nice grippy gravel all over it and we were sliding all over the place. Ten o’clock passed and we were nearing Bergen where we encountered city traffic. “Come on, come on!!” I said to myself. We were almost there. Traffic is not going to be the thing that stops us from getting on this boat. 10:30 am passed, we were in the city, but could not find the hotel that Bouey and the reporters were at with our limited maps of the city. 10:45 passed, we stopped by a supermarket for directions. Mark came running back outside and we raced to the hotel, parked illegally and grabbed Bouey, the reporter and the photographer shoved everyone in the trucks and raced through traffic while still getting interviewed on the way. The photographer was snapping off shots of us breaking countless traffic rules racing to the docks. We pulled into the parking lot and ran up to the ticket counter, with photograhper and reporter by our side snapping shots the whole way. “My name is Steven Shoppman and this is our confirmation number for the ship that is supposed to leave…right now!!!” I said to the lady on the other side of the counter with bloodshot eyes and no sleep for the last two days.
“We have been waiting for you, hurry up and go through customs and get on the boat!” she replied.
I was nearly in tears from the exhaustion and excitement of knowing that someone somewhere was looking out for us on this one. I have no idea how we pulled it all off. We somehow raced through the mountains and fjords while facing nearly every element you can imagine over the course of ten hours, with no crashes. We officially boarded the boat at 11:16 am and it sailed as we were parking the cars and high fiving the attendants for making it just in time. On the two day ferry to England we made friends with some locals from Bergen and told them our story. They went home the next day to see our story on the cover of the Bergen newspaper.
Stupid bearded adventurers + Mom’s who are happy TWBR made it to London in one piece and on time = Everybody happy.
Bouey talks to the ferry guys about the expedition.
while sitting in the sun at 3am on the top deck of the boat. As a poor young traveler, I boarded the boat with no room booked, slept on the couch in the lobby and to my surprise never was forced to purchase a room. With so much time to sit and read as I passed through fjord after fjord, I managed to finish the book in a couple of days and was convinced that I needed to drive around the world.
