Builds Golden Boy / was 'an as-yet unnamed gulf spec diesel 1991 HZJ pickup' (2 Viewers)

[John Young]

My shipping company has now provided some more details:

Container SEGU5209055 , Vessel: CPO NORFOLK, Voyage: 0MS8TW1MA ETA NEW YORK, NY Port: December 23rd, 2020​

​

There are some online tracking tools you can use with this information.

For the container, it appears to be located in the Jebel Ali port, in Dubai, at the moment:

The CPO Norfolk is currently a couple of days out from loading it in Jebel Ali:

 

[John Young]

The CPO Norfolk is still on schedule to pick up the container tomorrow.

 

[John Young]

So it looks like the container was loaded onboard the ship today:

But the ship has not yet departed:

It turns out Golden Boy is going to India first, which is a bit of a surprise:

The last time I shipped a couple of trucks they sat in Belgium for 45 days for some reason. I'm quite happy that this looks like a straight shot, with no more loading or unloading. I've asked the shipper several times about using Norfolk or Baltimore, in which case I can save close to 1K USD on US delivery by picking it up myself, but it never seems to be possible. I may be shipping the turbo diesel 80 RHD to LHD drive conversion in Q1 2021, and I will ask again about using a port other than NY.

 

[John Young]

Golden Boy and the good ship CPO Norfolk seem to have parted ways. Here is where the Norfolk is:

And here is where Golden Boy's container is:

The old boy is getting quite a trip, albeit locked in a metal box.

 

[John Young]

Golden Boy is now on a different cargo carrier, and has left India:

 

[John Young]

At the risk of boring anyone reading this thread, Golden Boy has passed through the Indian Ocean and is now off the coast of Yemen.

 

[Honger]

Every time I ship trucks I do the same thing!

 

[John Young]

Golden Boy is now [EDIT] on board the container ship Athenian, which has just passed Gibraltar, with 7 days to go until arrival in NYC.

I just spoke to the receiving logistics company in Pennsylvania. Looks like customs clearance in NY and transport will bring Golden Boy to us here in Virginia just after New Years.

 

[2fpower]

So where does Golden Boy sit now?

 

[John Young]

So where does Golden Boy sit now?

Position Received: 2020-12-16 00:45 UTC
17 hours, 6 minutes ago

Vessel's Local Time:
2020-12-16 00:45 LT UTC

Area: UKC - Gibraltar

Current Port: -

Latitude / Longitude: 35.96292° / -6.51698°

Status: Underway using Engine

Speed/Course: 18.5 kn / 268 °

 

[2fpower]

Gotcha... did you intend to say "now" - instead of "not"

 

[John Young]

Gotcha... did you intend to say "now" - instead of "not"

View attachment 2526522

 

[John Young]

The Liberian container ship Athenian is out of range of the shore for the free vessel location services, but absent mishap, Golden Boy's container is three days out from NY. I did get a few emails from the shipping agent, the most relevant bit of which read:

This is to advise that:​

The container with your overseas shipment is arriving to the US on Dec 23, 2020​

Usually it takes up to 10 business days to clear the container through customs and 3-5 business days to bring it to our warehouse, deconsolidate, and prepare for delivery.​

​

Our dispatch department will start working on the delivery schedule as soon as the container is released and will contact you as soon as the delivery date is available.​

 

[John Young]

It appears that the Athenian made it safely across the Atlantic and is just off the coast of New Jersey / New York as per its scheduled arrival at 5 pm today.

 

[John Young]

And The Athenian now is docked:

 

[cruiserdan]

Yay!

 

[John Young]

Small update: The logistics company wrote today to say:

Dear Mr. Yang,​

Thank you for your email.​

Your car is likely to be shipped 1/11-1/15.​

We will let you know once the pick-up of your car is scheduled from our warehouse.​

The challenge then will be to get inspected and register Golden Boy in Virginia. This is looking like a bit of a challenge. The Virginia DMV is only doing business by appointment. And the next appointment available is quite a ways off:

My younger boy and I will hunt for a better appointment somewhere else. The boy's mother had to drive all the way to Virginia Beach recently to do a registration--over three hours each way with no traffic (an uncommon event).

 

[Defuzer1]

getting closer.

 

[cruiserdan]

The government is totally disrupted and there is no way for any competent individual to be able to pick up the pieces and make lemonade out of the available lemons.

 

[John Young]

The government is totally disrupted and there is no way for any competent individual to be able to pick up the pieces and make lemonade out of the available lemons.

2020 has been, well, . . . a year. And things are a bit surreal at the moment. When I despair of the state of our government I look to Winston Churchill:

. . . which could be a slogan for this website, I think.

And besides, we are past the Winter Solstice (December 21 by the calendar or possibly November 3rd for other reasons, depending on your point of view) and Spring not that far away! And there is Golden Boy to look forward to!

I thought it was Churchill, but it turns out that the English theologian and historian Thomas Fuller appears to be the first person to commit the notion that 'the darkest hour is just before the dawn' to print. His religious travelogue A Pisgah-Sight Of Palestine And The Confines Thereof, 1650, contains this view:

It is always darkest just before the Day dawneth.​

The source of the proverb isn't known. It may be Fuller himself, or he may have been recording a piece of folk wisdom. In 1858, much later than Fuller of course, Samuel Lover attributed the notion to the Irish, in Songs and Ballads:

There is a beautiful saying amongst the Irish peasantry to inspire hope under adverse circumstances:- "Remember," they say, "that the darkest hour of all. is the hour before day."