Re: [Paddlewise] shipping to Europe

     Julio wrote:

     
Today I made my first enquiry about shipping my 50lb 17ft x 23in  kayak 
from California to Madrid, Spain. They quoted $900 to send it by boat which 
would take about a month to arrive.
     
     That might not be a bad price, unfortunately.  Sending one of 
     <anything> overseas is very expensive.  
     
     When you check the airlines, you will find different deals; when my 
     son took his whitewater boat to Chile, we duct taped the hell out of 
     it and called it a surfboard, saving many dollars --- like half the 
     cost --- in the process.  (The fact that he had taped everything he 
     owned in the world inside his "surfboard" and it would have sunk like 
     a rock is not an issue that the airline is likely to raise.)  You, 
     unfortunately, are not likely to get away with that --- a seventeen 
     foot long surfboard? --- but be creative when you talk with the 
     airlines.  Size is important, and they have to know that it's that 
     long, because it's not going to fit in a container.  But there could 
     be a different classification that could save you money, and the 
     airlines don't seem to care.  Hey, try calling it a prototype "very 
     long board" (VLB)!
     
     Jack
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/
***************************************************************************