Probably a change in their schedule that got corrected.

 

No kidding! I keep seeing MINIs all over town and it just makes me want mine even more. Patience is a virtue. It's too bad I've never had any.

 

Just looked at week 29, there are a couple posters' whose MINIs took a long time to report "in transit", and ship still unknown. I suspect we may end up in the same way.

 

Western Higway (K-Line) at lat. 47 degrees 28 minutes, long. 008 degrees 18 minutes on August 9th 12:05 (UTC) posted time.

 

well.. it's raining out.. gloomy stay at home day and just gives me more time to obsess! LOL (played a bit making a signature to pass the time away)

Yesterday I received my detailing package and now I am waiting a few more accessories. Anyone here planning on adding tinting? If so, how much a tint will you go with?

Hope that nannies over at Southampton are taking good care of our babies, insuring they remain safe and undamaged!

 

Sikamini, you gotta tell me how you're finding all this specific ship info! What am I missing?

 

Just talked with my MA this morning. It seems he can more easily discover what ship a car is on. I asked him to let me know by the end of next week what ship my MINI is on, and he said that would be no problem. I don't want to bug him endlessly, but it does seem that he has access to that information, and can provide it on request. So, I continue to wait.

 

I've been checking into the AIS and sailwx.info sites:

http://www.sailwx.info/
Call sign 3EJK5 for Western Highway reporting position.
Call sign WGAX for Independence II not reporting yet - shows week old data.

At this time the data I see is from when Independence entered Europe from her return trip from the US last week. Expect we should get a new report from her soon.

The sailwx gives plot points when the ships report in. They may not report evryday and when the ship gets close to the shore you need to switch to the local AIS.

Coastal areas in Europe:
http://liveaisworld.yachtmarine.com/LIVEAISWORLD.html
This one may also give info for other areas (some overlap).

http://www.vesseltracker.com/en/Home.html
This one is maily good for Europe and if you sign up you get accurate data.

Mainly I search out all AIS info to find call signs and names.
I think I have too much curiosity.

 

Hi Tinker - yes, I'm getting tinting added to the entire car, including the sunroof since it isn't really covered except with the pinhole cover, which in the summer might make it pretty hot in there. I'm getting a 20% (legal) tint on everything except for the two side windows (35%) and the sunroof which will be 5%. Just enough to cut the glare and heat I think. I'm having it done at the dealer before pick up. Total charge quoted was $290, including install.

 

How long does it take to have the tint done? I'm interested in having it, however, I wanted to see my mini before making that decision. But for less than $300 that's not a bad deal. I'm also interested in having the running floor board lights installed, but that's more like $700.

 

Maybe I've just got too much MINI on the brain, but I was thinking:

The WW schedule has Independence II with a Southampton date of 08/08/08 and a New York date of 18/08/08 (10 days).

But the Fidelio has a Southampton date of 12/08/08 and a New York date of 21/08/08 (9 days). Not only is it 1 day shorter, but Fidelio has a stop in Halifax scheduled in between! How is that possible?

So, my question is, are the dates listed departure dates, and not arrival dates? Maybe? Just maybe? Not that it matters, because the NY VDC is closed on weekends, and the 18th is a Monday, but... Oh, nevermind. I have to stop. This is making me a crazy person.

 

I talked to my MA and he said that it might add another day to the delivery time, but I want it, so if I've waited THIS long, I guess it will be worth it. I considered getting the checkered lighted doorsills, but decided for the price it really wasn't worth it. If I would have put everything in it that I liked, I'd have one heck of a bill. As it is, I have it pretty well loaded with gadgets, which I'm pretty happy about (if it ever gets here).

 

I'm guessing they have installed warp drive engines. Don't know...that is kind of strange.

 

There are 280 MINIs loaded onto the Independence II!

 

WOW you guys have some pretty detailed info on these ships. I am still waiting at the port to get onto a ship

 

I think I am getting the hang of this. The Fidelio appears to be departing Gothenburg Sweden today for Zeebruggee Belgium than arriving and departing on the 12th from Southhampton

 

yes Bemmerondus, you got it!! As for the tracking - I am glad Sikamini is so good with it - I am not even trying!!! Keep those updates coming!!

Calmante, 280 Mini's!! I forget - did you get on the Independence?

I definitely want to add tint too.. never have before, but I have friends where these tint guys come to them. Do you think it is better at the dealers?

Still need to decide on the rally lights.. I like them.. a lot, just don't know if I really, really want them. Strips too.. I really like them, just don't know if they are 'me'.. if you know what I mean.

Chugiakgirl, you seemed to load yours up pretty similar to mine, except I didn't get the sunroof - that was a confusing one for me with the polls being 50/50 for and against. I personally, have light color eyes and the sun bothers me, and here in FL - there is hot and sunny days - all year long, so I passed. However, I LOVE how the sunroof looks, so that was really a tough call.

So WHO here on this week 32 actually made it on the ship? Seems like a lot aren't updating the info. I know so week 31ers are still at port too.

 

Tinker, yeah, I made it on the I-II... I'm kinda surprised that not too many of us made it on a ship yet! I'm really really grateful that I'm one, though!

 

Yeah, here in the Midwest we only get a few months of HOT...so I went for it. I kind of liked the one I drove at the dealers...I hope I made the right choice. I'm hoping to move back to the Pacific Northwest one of these years and if I still have the Mini, it would be great for letting in some more light.

 

Calmante, love your car's name...heh heh

 

I wonder why so few MINIs on the Independence. She probably picked up BMWs in Germany, but what else is she carrying? Do you have a fix on her location? So far she has not reported a location, but she cannot be more than three hours behind the Western Highway. For some reason she was actually leaving faster out of port going to the English Channel. Fidelio is in the North Sea, and Maersk Wind was in Bremen the last time I checked.

 

At first, I thought that figure seemed low, but not when you take a closer look. MINI sales are about 45,000 a year for North America. If you divide that figure by 52 weeks, you get 865 MINIs a week. Then, if you consider there are about 3 ships a week leaving Southampton, that comes out to 288 MINIs on a ship, average... So 280 is right in line with that.

 

Thanks! Couldn't decide between two of my favorite historical Ian's...

 

That sound right, but what else would they put on her. BMWs, Mercedes? Buses, trucks? She has to be fully loaded I would think, for a good run. Does your access allow for you to see the location of the ship? How about the destination ports of the other MINIs?
So the US market is about 24% of the MINI production, based on 3500 unit production per week.

 

I should explain how I got that number... If you haven't seen Josh Wardell's excellent blog about his MINI, you should check it out. He also has this nice entry about tracking his MINI: http://www.jwardell.com/mini/2006/10...-ordered-mini/

On that page, he explains how you can tell how many MINI's were booked onto that voyage by MINI. It's easy, you just track by "Booking Number" on the WW site. That gives you a list of each VIN that MINI booked for that ship (it doesn't give you VINs of other manufacturers, because that would be under another Booking Number).

Those numbers are North American numbers, by the way, but I've read that the US is due to surpass Great Britain as the number one market for MINIs, which is interesting.