I hear that, Pav.... Been dar, done dat! Firing up sailwx, AISLive and Google Earth!

Congrats Howdyem and JoshK! And Lady Aquila... You gotta be on Manon.... I'm sure of it!

 

Now that we're all finding our way onto ships, I have to ask this question: how are we going to cope when our young'ns are lost in the shuffle during transport through the VDC to our respective dealerships?... I get the impression we're gonna be more in the dark than ever!

Do you guys have any idea?

 

Well, 'the last time' my mini was easy enough to track since the Titus Cap'n called out position every 6 hrs or so. Lots of tracking info. So AISLive as Titus entered and left Southampton VTC... Plus there are webcams if you are really "vigilant". At about Puerto Rico the Sailwx position reports quit... Then the AISLive picked up on through the canal. More webcams available. I actually saw Titus (and posted the screenshot) going through the Miraflores Locks. Quite cool actually. After the canal, though, I had to use my imagination for about a week. Well, since I know how fast Titus was traveling (from Sailwx) before the canal, I then estimated her arrival into the San Diego AISLive tracking... Hit it within a few hours.

So, here's the deal- If the Cap'n calls out position, you get quite a few updates.... Plug them into Google Earth, BAM! You have it....

 

Hey Max,

Actually, I was referring to after the ship lands on North American soil. After its taken off the boat (at the VDC), until it reaches the dealership. Is there any way to track it?

I'm on the Undine right now - and I'm loving the Cap'n of that ship. He's got more updates than Windows Vista. Lots of little red dots to look at.

 

LOL!!!!!

Pav,
Once we are offloaded off the Undine, your right, we will be kept like mushrooms, "in the dark" until delivery. I'm thinking I might camp out on the side of Sunrise Hwy for a few days. That's the hwy the delivery truck will have to take when delivering Minibird to the dealer. I'll get a sanpshot of the truck passing, and then I'll know it's only another day or 2.

 

Ahhhh, of course! Birdman is right, once the ship docks, we are like mushrooms...

The good news is it is only about a week away at that point...

Well, usually about 1 week... Unless they crush your mini at the VDC or something... I'm sure that doesn't too often, right?

 

if the oxford plant coud send you a picture of your baby once it came out of the birth canal, how many of you would want a picture of it right out of the birth canal sent to you?

i'm partial to it... i would like to see what it looked like so i can make sure everything was the right color, etc... but then on the other hand... i kinda want to be surprised when i get to the dealer! i wonder if my dealer would cover my baby until i got there and unraveled her right in front of me? i've seen some cute pics on the forums of that...

 

Hmmm, I like the surprise of seeing it for the first time at the pickup....

Then again, a webcam (OK, or still) of it rolling off the assembly line would be kinda cool... You know, for the scrapbook...

Maybe an item for Mini's suggestion box?

 

I'd LOVE to get a pic of it in Oxford. It would be REALLY cool, if they provided a pic of the car in each area of production as it went thru.

 

Manon is at the docks... 626 Mini's now showing in the booking. First mini's showen as "loaded on vessel" at 1505 local time, which is 0705 Pacific Standard Time!!! Many mini's loaded so far!

Manon is scheduled to leave at 2000 6/25 local time...

 

My Mini was finished being built on 6/15 and got to the dock on 6/18. After a whole week of just sitting on the dock i still can not see any shiping information on WW site. How long do the minis normaly sit at the dock waiting to be shiped? Could this be a result of there not being a shipment on 6/18?

 

If you are going to the West Coast, there was no 6/18 shipment... At least not on WW... A lot of folks sat on dock even after completion in the week before. (6/12, 6/13..)

andcbii: are you going to the west coast? If so, I'd be surprised if you weren't on Manon!!!

PS: there are now 628 mini's in the Manon booking, so more are being added at the last minute!

 

My mini isn't going to the west cost..

 

andcbii,
You wont be on the Manon if your going to East coast. Here is the East coast schedule. Good luck.

http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppSche...pe=generatePDF

 

andcbii,
I'm in the same situation you are, waiting for an east coast ship---have been on the dock since at least the 21st, and still no information on WW. I'm hoping for the Asian Chorus, but I'm surprised you weren't on the Patriot, which left on the 22nd. My MA says there are 3 other cars coming to our dealership which were produced just after mine, and they may be planning to send them together. I sure hope the others get to the port in time--this is killing me!

 

Andcbii and mickie- Remember, for East Coasters there are shipping lines other than WW for shipping to East Coast VDC's.... It's possible you are on a non-WW carrier...

Apparently for West Coasters, they use WW... Not sure if it's exclusive but seems so... for instance, k-line doesn't even have ships scheduled for Hueneme. (west coast vdc)...

Good luck!

 

I emailed my mini dealer today and they told me that my mini was shiped and should be in South Carolina the week of the 9th. Must not be a WW boat going to the east coast. You might want to email your dealer and see what they say if you are getting shiped to the east coast too.

 

andcbii,
Congratulations! It's nice to know you are on board. I talked to the dealer and they didn't show mine on a boat yet, so I may have missed the one to South Carolina. I'd be more likely to go to a northern port, though.

 

OK, we got lucky... Fire up your Google Earth... Manon's first position report is logged... She was just southeast of Plymouth as of 0600 UTC 6/26/07.

Check out her progress yourself:

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shi...html?call=SIWN

She's due in Manzanillo (Panama) 7/7/07

 

andcbii,
I just got a call from the MA and he said my mini left on the 22nd for Charleston! I'm wondering if it went on the Frisia, a K-line ship that left that day. There is someone else in another thread who is on that ship. The website gives an arrival date of July 5, though, and the MA also gave a date of the 9th, so I'm not sure if that is the right ship. A couple days difference isn't that critical, though--I'm just glad to know it is on its way!

 

According to the W & W web site, little T-Bone was discharged from the Freedom Monday morning, 6/25 at 8:00 a.m. I guess he's hangin' round the VPC. I guess I won't know a anything now until the dealer breaks the good news.

 

''

Congrats Phil, you are just a week or so away! Ah, I hope he didn't go the VPC, they don't like mini's there.

I'm sure they took him to the Vehicle Distribution Center, where he'll be well cared for!

 

Did you guys see Minibird going out to see?? Yes, he is on the Undine which just left the Halifax port a few minutes ago, bound for NY. Only 2 days for arrival to the VDC. Here's a shot of the amazing event!! ;-)

 

Thanks Max, the excitement is starting to build. Sadly though, I probably won't get the car for four to five days after it arrives at the dealer; two to three days for prep and then 1/2 to one full day for clear bra installation. Whatever, it won't be too long now.

By the way, I was told by my MA that the facility in Jersey is actually called Vehicle Processing Center or VPC Go to: http://www.laguardiaairport.com/Abou...PortsContacts/
and check the second contacts block that starts with leasee: or go to http://www.nccbmwcca.org/index.php?id=8,189,0,0,1,0

Actually, who cares what it's called as long as they do a good job and get T-Bone and all of our cars to us safely.

 

Hey, tell your dealer to speed it up! OK, I'm sure the wait will be OK... You are almost there! Yeah, who cares what they call it... It seemed common Mini vernacular had it a "Vehicle Distribution Center" (online calls it that too). I'm just hoping they don't send yours to the VPC, I hear that place is CRAZY! (ok, kidding).

FYI, my first mini, Max, was killed somewhere in shipping or at the West Coast (Hueneme) VDC... That wasn't a pleasant call to receive after waiting 8 weeks!

Max the 2nd is on his way though... speed it up, Manon!