OK, folks, here's the current state of affairs:
A month or so ago, in my apparent quest to give sanctuary to every
downtrodden Rootes car I find, I purchased a 1974 Commer AutoSleeper
motorcaravan. Small purchase price, large complication - it was in the north
of England, I'm in Nebraska, USA!
Through my connections at work, I was able to get a deal on transport,
but only out of Germany. To get the camper to Germany, though, would cost
about 500 pounds Sterling, so there goes the benefits of the transport
connection! Instead, I sent a few emails and made a few calls, and found a
reasonable price leaving the port of Southampton in England. A deal was
struck.
Now, do you remember one little detail? The camper was in the NORTH of
England - about as far north as you can go. Southampton, like it's name
implies, is in the SOUTH. Professional hauling was out of the question - 450
pounds. Fortunately, the seller has a trailer, and he kindly offered to tow
it to Southampton for the fuel costs. Remember all those news reports about
fuel costs in England? They're right! 150 pounds worth of diesel to get a
100 pound camper to the port so I can pay 750 pounds to ship it here!
Well, so far things have gone well. The seller had a lot of spare parts
he threw in with the deal, he loaded them into the camper, and trailered it
down to Southampton. He had some trouble with the brakes on his Range Rover,
but it made it OK. Upon arrival, the dock workers ask if he wants it stored
under cover. Curious, he asks why. They point out the fact that the pop-up
roof section of the camper is no longer ON the camper. Somewhere between
points A and B, the pop-up popped off, and the roof now has a rather large
uncovered hole!
The shipping company kindly puts the camper in their indoor storage
area, and arrangements are made for the same on this end. The seller scours
the side of the highway for signs of the roof on his way home, but no sign
of it is found. He will continue to retrace his steps, to see if he can find
it. I'm not holding my breath.
Once it gets to New York, and the customs paperwork is cleared, the
camper will be picked up and driven to my brother's house in New Jersey. I
can store it there until I find a way to remedy the roof situation, at least
well enough to allow me to drive it to Nebraska.
I'll post as things progress - the ship is supposed to dock in NY on the
3rd of January. That is, provided it doesn't sink, with my luck!!!
Jon Arzt
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