Traveling with harp at an angle

[Alyson Webber]

Hello, all!

I am moving in a few weeks, and I am turning to my friends here in the forum to weigh in on the best solution.

The situation: We have a 6 hour drive to our new home, and just my husband and myself as drivers. My husband will be taking the uhaul and towing our Subaru Impreza, I will be driving our Prius (my normal harpmobile). The part that isn’t normal is we now have a 3-month old baby who needs to travel in the back seat of the Prius.

The options:

1) the harp fits into the Prius with the car seat if we load it base first behind the passenger seat and put the car seat behind the driver (the seat is split so most of it lays flat). The harp ends up with the extended soundboard taking the majority of the harp’s weight with another point of contact on the side of the body where it rests on the seat as it is tipped with the knee towards the ceiling. I plan on padding these points well with pillows… But us it enough? Torsion on the harp? The pros are this way it’s is in air conditioning.

2) we flat load it into the impreza (haven’t tried this, but I think if no one is driving the seat can be moved up enough. We’d have to leave in the middle of the night to avoid the majority of the daylight as it would not be air conditioned. There is always the possibility we’d be driving in significant daylight, however, since we’re going through Atlanta and traveling with an infant. Plus, my husband doesn’t really want to leave in the middle of the night.

 

Which technique do you think is least harmful?

[balfour-knight]

Hi, Alyson,

So nice to see your post here!  My sweet wife and I wanted to say that we think you might want to put the harp in the Impreza.  It is not yet that hot here (western North Carolina) and in North Georgia, so you could pad the harp really well and leave the windows down a bit as the car is being towed.  Also, be sure to park in the shade if you stop for any amount of time over a few minutes.  Carol Lynn says you could put clothes, blankets, towels, etc. all around and on top of the harp to insulate it from the possible heat.  We have traveled this way for years and not harmed the harps!

Best of luck with your move and with your new little bundle of joy!

Harp hugs,

Balfour and Carol Lynn

[Alyson Webber]

Thanks Balfour and Carol Lynn!

I had written a response to you and then the baby hit the phone and it all went away! Ha!

It’s nice to know someone has traveled like this in the region and have not had problems. We’ll also have a canoe strapped to the top of the Impreza which may offer some additional shade.

Looking forward to heading north!

[Alyson Webber]

Oh, and we probably won’t be able to stop in the shade as we’ll have to stop for about an hour every couple hours of driving to feed and let the baby (and dog) stretch. We could maybe turn on the Impreza and run the air conditioning then, though.

[teifiharps]

Hi Alyson,

Sounds like your harp is a concert harp, is that right? Long journeys in direct sunlight are difficult but your covers should hopefully keep off the worst of it off. Remember humidity (too much or too little) is key in keeping harps happy as well as temperature. Also make sure you don’t place it so there is no weight bearing on the mechanism.

regards

Owen

[balfour-knight]

Hi, Alyson,

Have you moved yet?  We were just wondering how it all turned out–hopefully very well!

Harp Hugs,

Balfour and Carol Lynn

[Alyson Webber]

Hi Balfour and Carol Lynn!

Yes, we moved last week. My in-laws ended up coming out and helping us drive up, so my father-in-law took the harp. I lagged behind the caravan with the baby, so the only thing I could do was beg them to pretend there was a dog in the car that couldn’t come out.

I’ve gotten it unpacked in a safe place and it was even still pretty well in tune!

Thanks for thinking of us! Looking forward to our new Appalachian adventure!

[balfour-knight]

So glad to hear that everyone and the harp are safely moved!  Hope to see you sometime in this wonderful “neck of the woods!”

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I’m glad to hear you found another solution. When I first started moving my harp, I had a station wagon, and a twin mattress to lay the harp on. Unfortunately, a twin is not quite wide enough, and either the column end or the knee-block would protrude, and though I used cushions, it was not level. Could that have led to its needing a new neck at the five-year warranty check?

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