Well... I get the feeling based on your updates that you moved into phases in the morning when I didn't until later in the afternoon. IIRC, you made it sound like you heard about paint shop in the morning (US time), and I'm thinking I didn't get there until yesterday afternoon. I am a little disheartened that my call to ASK-MINI right before they closed for the week just now gave me no new news.... Still Paint Shop. Grrrrrr...

I did agree with folks who say that the automated guy is only updated once a day. When I checked at 3am Central this morning it still said Body Shop though the human the evening before said Paint Shop. Then when I checked again at 8am Central the automated had caught up and said Paint Shop as well. So that bracketed the "3-4am Pacific" time that was mentioned (by you, Ray?) as the possible once-a-day update time for the automated system.

Now, we'll see if it has an update tomorrow or Sunday? Does the train run on Saturday? I assume the shipyard is open just fine, as there are arrivals scheduled over the next couple days.

 

Y2K Falcon

I can guarantee you that your car will be on the Elektra on 9/2, Wednesday. I hope that make you feel better.

I even took the Faust off the ship name list

 

You did say you wanted Twiggy to go in last so she can be the first to exit.

By the way, thanks for posting the webcam capture of the Porgy as she was docking last night.

 

Ohh, Y2K Falcon, I forgot the ASK-MINI live desk is closed on weekends. Still, I think you have no reason to worry (although I'm sure the next two days are going to be rough!). The final assembly and quality inspections only take a day. All indications are that the factory operates every Saturday - and on Sunday once in awhile. Since the Electra doesn't set sail until Wednesday [correction: Tuesday], you should be OK.

Something else that might help reassure you. Before my MINI was completed, I tried to see if Wallenius Wilhelmsen had a booking reservation for Twiggy - "no records found." But, after she was loaded, I saw there was indeed a booking made on July 7th. I think the factory schedules production to match up with the ships that come and go.

And, as a final comforting thought, the Porgy started loading at 8:20 am today and there was a constant flow of cars until 3:30 pm. Then, an hour and a half later, four more MINIs were loaded (Twiggy was one of them). Twiggy did not arrive at the dock until 3:00 pm - it looks like those four late MINIs might have been hauled down from the factory on a truck since the last train had already left. If the Porgy had left at 6:00 pm as originally scheduled, it is highly unlikely Twiggy could have loaded at 4:57 pm. I think they hold the ships for cars that have a booking reservation.

I am sure your car will be done in time to be loaded on the Electra. I know, that's easy for me to say - and I'm not the one who will be losing sleep worrying about it.

 

So, you both think I'll be ready by the 9/2?




But the Elektra comes on the 1st.

 

I think the train runs only when a ship is at port. The Google Earth photos of the Cowley MINI plant show a lot of storage lots - I doubt the port can store many cars. Remember, they build up to 800 MINIs per day.

 

Good one! You probably thought UAL and I were testing you. I knew that the Electra sailed on the 1st, but with all the excitement today I guess I've lost track of time. In any case, you are a sure bet to be on board the Tuesday sailing.

 

You will make the Elektra on 9/1. They will find a way to get your car onto that ship.

 

RayRatt

After going through the production process together (same production start date), I went back and re-read the thread, "How to Track your MINI: Revised, Expanded and Updated"

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d-updated.html

I found some statements to not be correct for this current climate (five or six day production week instead of seven, factory not running at full capacity, production shutdown for one or two weeks.)

"your final quality check at the plant is completed on Day 8."
This statements sounds like they are saying it takes one day to complete quality checks. It seems the quality check period is much shorter. We went from being in the paint shop one day to being transported to the point of exit the next day.

"Typically it takes about 36 hours for your MINI to arrive at the Southampton docks once you’ve passed Final QA. This is of course entirely dependent upon the freight train schedules which are out of anyone’s control."
If it takes 36 hours for our cars to arrive at Southampton, our cars will not be on the Porgy.

After going through this production process, I conclude that the production start date is carefully planned in advance, so the car will make it aboard a certain ship they have targeted for transport based on work week length.

Believing in this statement makes me extremely confident the Y2K Falcon's car will make it aboard the Elektra.

 

Well, I'm officially on Day 9. :(

Automated still says Paint Shop. And probably no update there until at least Sunday AM. Oh well... I'm just whining. It sounds like I'm fine, as long as there isn't something whacky going on.

I'm still wondering if I'm the last NAMer, (or last at all?) '09 being built..




The Elektra finally woke back up, after a long vacation in Bremerhaven (Germany) since 13/8. It had a couple things loaded that start "WMWMM" yesterday (BMWs?) and in the last hour moved across a little harbor on it's way to open waters. It's now in a little channel, perhaps being assisted by tugboat Lesum before it heads to Belgium, presumably to pick up chocolates for our Minis to enjoy on the long transatlantic voyage!



Meanwhile, someone tell the captain of the Porgy to start transmitting again.

 

Y2K Falcon

As long as your car gets completed on Monday, it will make the Elektra on Tuesday.

You are not going to miss the party! You are going to be partying along with Banannastand, Blouise, and Maui Meg on the same ship.

 

I totally agree, UAL. Like I wrote yesterday, when Twiggy was listed on the Wallenius Wilhelmsen cargo as "received at terminal" at 3:00 pm, the list also showed she had been "booked" on July 7th. I ordered my car on August 1st but the production slot I received was originally reserved by my dealer on June 23rd.

So, like you said, the entire production process appears to be driven by the date the ships will be in Southampton. For whatever reason, Twiggy was a little late getting to the dock (a dirty diaper?) so they appear to have held up the departure of the Porgy until those last seven cars (3 BMWs and 4 MINIs?) were loaded an hour and a half after all the others - just an hour before the original departure time (which didn't leave enough time to remove the ramp, close all the doors and prepare for sailing).

So, I agree that Y2K will likely fret and worry (just like I did) needlessly - his car will be ready to load on the Electra on Tuesday.

 

Check my work, UAL_, but I think that the Undine's NY arrival has been bumped to 9/4. Maybe it was slowed initially due to now deceased TS Danny.

I was actually going to up the OCD stakes, and take a path map for Danny, and overlay the paths of Undine, Porgy, and Elektra by date on it.

But thankfully, I see that Danny has been downgraded, and is no longer being tracked.

 

I had been wondering if there would be a way to show the updated path of our ships in relation to the hurricanes and tropical storms that are bound to get in the way - especially for Porgy since it has to go through the Panama Canal.

 

Thanks for the reminder. I guess I have to look for changes on the schedule on a daily basis to make sure I am updated.

 

I'd be more worried if the lost signal happened in the mid-Atlantic. Especially if it was near a hurricane. Maybe the captain turned it off to keep the pirates from knowing where he is?

 

Keeping close watch on the Undine! lol. I turned in my 2006 Cabrio yesterday, very sad. They loaned me a 2009 MCS Hatchback to drive. Wow what a difference, feel so much larger and with actual windows in the back seems so much brighter. Don't get me wrong I loved my Cabrio, but the visablity is so much better now. Now I can learn all the bells and whistles of the new car and when mine rolls into the Dealership I will be prepared..

 

Yee God Guys, PIRATES!!!! I totally forgot about them, let alone the possible Hurricane stuff...

 

If you replace "Typically" with "On average", then I'd probably agree with this statement. Boats every few days... Most/all cars getting to the port on boat days....

So any car off the line right after a boat leaves gets the maximum wait at the factory, and others get a just-in-time train trip.

Typically makes it sound linear, when really it seems to be more driven (pun intended) by the boat schedules.





It helps to pass the time. *shrug*

 

I read that thread, "How to Track your MINI: Revised, Expanded and Updated," like is was Gospel. With a scheduled completion date one day prior to ship departure, I was alike, "this car ain't getting on the Porgy." But what do you know! The people at Mini made it happen--they got the car on the ship.

 

The last thing I want to hear is "ahoy maties - batten down the hatches - pirates off the starboard bow"

 

With the Undine scheduled to dock at the New York VDC in a couple of days, we need to gather our collective detective efforts to track the arrival. We will use this information to track the arrival of the Elektra as well.

Here is what I got so far.

BMW VDC
20 Colony Road, Jersey City, NJ

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Colony...image&resnum=1

1) We need an arrival time and a berth assignment

2) We different webcam angles of the New York harbor area so we can watch the Undine and Elektra dock.

 

I doubt we will be as lucky finding a site as good as the one you found with the Southampton VTS webcams.

Here is a picture of the Vessel Traffic Center at Coast Guard Activities on Staten Island where they monitor vessel traffic in the New York Harbor.

 

It looks like the Undine quit broadcasting its location after it cleared the south end of England too. Maybe it actually is a company policy because of the pirate threat?

Meanwhile, I have not found any live webcams that show the New York harbor (at least none that show the area where the Undine and Electra will pass through). I suspect the 9/11 paranoia caused the government to eliminate that kind of information from public view.

 

This is as good as I think we are going to get - ship locations in New York harbor without a live webcam.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/def...0.6759&zoom=12
Click on the satellite view and zoom in to see all the cars on the dock at the VDC. So, sit back and wait for the Undine to arrive!