Barging a Vehicle from Seattle

Perhaps buying a vehicle from Washington with 90 percent of the transaction taking place over the internet isn't so queer after all.  To tell you all the truth, I had a hankering to post something just to see today's date.

Back to the vehicle.  Initially, we were planning on buying something in-state, but after having a dealer in Anchorage flake out on us, we decided to go with Joe in Seattle.  Talk about a man that not only accommodates customers, but he does so in a way that makes the whole experience slightly enjoyable.  Why didn't we just get something here?  This place is very small and the vehicles that we have come across have owners with no intention of selling them.  Ever since we arrived here, there has been a pressing urgency to get wheels.  Walking has been fun but having to ask for rides to get mail or bring groceries home has not.  Plus with winter coming, I think the barges out here become limited.  And this is why we took the plunge.  Granted, we could have brought our ex-ultra-compact car out here but the island would have consumed that little guy in no time.

All in all, purchasing a vehicle primarily through e-mail has been interesting.  The minute we began working with Joe it was clear that this man does this sort of thing all the time.  "Eh, here is the barge company we will use to put your vehicle on and send it over there.  Call them to get the price to send it over, and I'll include that on the price.  Of course all this will take time as I first need to send papers over that must be signed and sent back through the mail"...  We did have the luxury of using the phone at the school to help the process along today.  Thank goodness.  Though, we would have been completely comfortable sealing the deal over the internet.  Technology has come such a long way and has really improved our quality of life--it is a must in remote places.

So then what happens?  Well, he gets the signed papers, we talk again, and then our vehicle is placed on a barge that will sail the ocean and reach us in a week or so.  All for a cool two grand plus $60 insurance, just in case the barge tips and feeds the deep blue our new vehicle or something falls and smashes it.  Hold your horses...  A cool what?  Spendy?  Mayhaps.  We could have bought something and drove it to Homer and put it on a ferry, but that required a passport to get through Canada, gas, and oh did I mention the cost of ferrying a vehicle on a two day trip here?  What about buying one while we were in Anchorage?  Possible.  At that point we had no idea what to expect.  Since everyone's opinion was so different, we opted to see it for ourselves and decide based on that.  What about Anchorage?  Well, overall it was actually cheaper to buy it where we did believe it or not... As they say hindsight is 20/20.

Look at how the sun hits it.  Here is the kicker, it was taken on a sunny day in Seattle just this morning--it was sideways raining here today.  Not complaining-just taking note--thought Seattle equaled rain, guess not.