Buying in Florida, sailing back to Australia, Costs, regulations, customs.

[savoir]

Originally Posted by StuM

I've never managed the crossing in under 72 hours southbound on any boat and I've done it on quite a few.

I've only managed it northbound on my Belize (best time on the usual, slightly longer route inside Lizard is 65 hours).

Sigh ! There you go ruining a good story with facts.

[knockabout]

StuM
it's surprising last time through the top end we stayed close in and went to Seisha / met some cruisers that came in from Thursday isl /15nm from official new guinea to officially in Australia / the way the currents and tides are for some time they were having trouble staying in either place / the sea breeze came up and helped them out

[Jim Cate]

As of one year ago, the procedure was to send an e-mail to Customs including the usual data about name and registry of boat, port of departure, proposed port of entry, ETA (being >96 hours later) and crew details, including p/p info. This could be sent well in advance of departure. They send back a confirmation e-mail promptly, which you should save. If the departure and/or ETA change, they appreciate but do not demand an update. As always, if you keep t hem happy, things will go better for you.

AQIS is another matter! They do not require advance notice, but will charge you 385 AUD if you enter during 8-4 weekdays, double that other times, so timing is important!

Jim

[Izenears]

Hi....
A few years back I went with one of my oldest Buddies to the Caribbean to pick up his catamaran and sail it back to Australia. That is a story in itself but not for publication. The Cat did arrive back in Australia and I left it in Panama arguably missing the best bit, the Canal transit, the Galapagos and Polynesia and, for me the most important, the act of stepping off a boat having sailed the Pacific. Ever since then I have had a deep inner yen to do that passage, I have lived it in my daydreaming and REM. I also know I will die without doing it. It is easy to say ‘what the hell, you only live once, go do it and worry about the consequences later’ but by now you have reached the age of reason and responsibility, you cannot ‘desert’ your family, you cannot be selfish, you must be sensible and prudent. So now I live that dream vicariously through Youtube. I watch hours of debate about cat vs monohull, self-building and renovation, endless monologues about what it is like at a moment in time on a sea in a boat. I have learned a fistful of tricks, I can fix a diesel engine and sew a mainsail or install lazyjacks. I can vital a boat for the three-month crossing, set a drogue in a storm, read grib files and talk on SSB. But the odd thing is I could do those in the Cat I sailed on, I just didn’t think about them. Now, as I watch the internet movies I am starting to understand just how much I actually did know or learned from that 1,500 thousand nautical mile trip. The Pacific was just going to be the same but longer. I surf www Apollo Duck and find, every now and then, boats that will do the job going for a song because of someone else’s problems but because I live in Australia, I am too far from the real world to get there.

My mate did another thing, he sailed back with his children, a boy and a girl, (neither of which had any blue water experience) all grown up and going their own way. The boat was the magnet that pulled them together for a while in an adventure they would all never forget. That was, for him, the greatest gift of all and I get it. We both remember that is was very much a case of being the ‘trip’ rather than the places visited. I didn’t much care for the Caribbean islands as most of their population was being diddled by the few that managed with money that poured off the cruise boats. But I loved watching the rollers lifting the back of the boat, the surfing down the front of the waves, the navigation and arriving where and when you thought you would. I learned to live with the heat and found that holding onto things on a boat was 24 hour palates with the net result of losing 15 kilos and feeling fitter even if I did smoke then.
You cannot dream away those kilos and smells. Google maps gets you anywhere without effort and who cares if it rains on a car. I thank your God for my access to Youtube, my dreamweaver and look forward in high expectation to your video on your sailing adventure.

Script edited from my audio blog. The information you seek is books and pages long but findable. Everyone will have their opinion, don't do anything without your eyes wide open, plan for the worst and make yourself ready. Take it in small bites like Sushi; in the end you will eat the miles and find yourself in Oz stepping off on the wharf and saying 'I did that'. Don't do what I did and let it pass, I promise you you will regret it but don't even think about it unless you dream it! Good Luck

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

AQIS is another matter! They do not require advance notice, but will charge you 385 AUD if you enter during 8-4 weekdays, double that other times, so timing is important!

Jim

I was pleasantly surprised in March this year to find that they've recently reduced the fees. It only cost me $160.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Alexandra.

[manawatuman]

Thanks eveyone for all the replies. made for some interesting reading.
i was going to sail from sydney to the caribbean but thought of flying there buying a boat and spend the season cruising.
storms and little sleep dont scare me, but the thought of bloody red tape and all the hand outs has me lost in a sea of mud.
after researching this for two years i really should of focused more on the taxes, duty, transfers and registration processes...

[Sailing Soon]

Originally Posted by Izenears

Hi....
A few years back I went with one of my oldest Buddies to the Caribbean to pick up his catamaran and sail it back to Australia. That is a story in itself but not for publication. The Cat did arrive back in Australia and I left it in Panama arguably missing the best bit, the Canal transit, the Galapagos and Polynesia and, for me the most important, the act of stepping off a boat having sailed the Pacific. Ever since then I have had a deep inner yen to do that passage, I have lived it in my daydreaming and REM. I also know I will die without doing it. It is easy to say ‘what the hell, you only live once, go do it and worry about the consequences later’ but by now you have reached the age of reason and responsibility, you cannot ‘desert’ your family, you cannot be selfish, you must be sensible and prudent. So now I live that dream vicariously through Youtube. I watch hours of debate about cat vs monohull, self-building and renovation, endless monologues about what it is like at a moment in time on a sea in a boat. I have learned a fistful of tricks, I can fix a diesel engine and sew a mainsail or install lazyjacks. I can vital a boat for the three-month crossing, set a drogue in a storm, read grib files and talk on SSB. But the odd thing is I could do those in the Cat I sailed on, I just didn’t think about them. Now, as I watch the internet movies I am starting to understand just how much I actually did know or learned from that 1,500 thousand nautical mile trip. The Pacific was just going to be the same but longer. I surf www Apollo Duck and find, every now and then, boats that will do the job going for a song because of someone else’s problems but because I live in Australia, I am too far from the real world to get there.

My mate did another thing, he sailed back with his children, a boy and a girl, (neither of which had any blue water experience) all grown up and going their own way. The boat was the magnet that pulled them together for a while in an adventure they would all never forget. That was, for him, the greatest gift of all and I get it. We both remember that is was very much a case of being the ‘trip’ rather than the places visited. I didn’t much care for the Caribbean islands as most of their population was being diddled by the few that managed with money that poured off the cruise boats. But I loved watching the rollers lifting the back of the boat, the surfing down the front of the waves, the navigation and arriving where and when you thought you would. I learned to live with the heat and found that holding onto things on a boat was 24 hour palates with the net result of losing 15 kilos and feeling fitter even if I did smoke then.
You cannot dream away those kilos and smells. Google maps gets you anywhere without effort and who cares if it rains on a car. I thank your God for my access to Youtube, my dreamweaver and look forward in high expectation to your video on your sailing adventure.

Script edited from my audio blog. The information you seek is books and pages long but findable. Everyone will have their opinion, don't do anything without your eyes wide open, plan for the worst and make yourself ready. Take it in small bites like Sushi; in the end you will eat the miles and find yourself in Oz stepping off on the wharf and saying 'I did that'. Don't do what I did and let it pass, I promise you you will regret it but don't even think about it unless you dream it! Good Luck

Great post Izenears.



Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Izenears]

Thanks for the 'Like'. Dreamtime is a big Australian tradition although our First Nation people have their own unique slant of what that means. For me it is the trying to imagine the dream coming true and you know, it may one day. There is a Cat I like in Spain owned by a fastidious owner and well founded if old but well priced. Who knows, someone might read this and say 'you know what that dream is on my bucket list, why not take the plunge. 3 people buy the boat, sail it to Australia and sell the boat. Pretty good chance we would get the money back. Costs incurred on the drip divided by three. Simple model but find those two others is not easy. Still you never know. Maybe that Dreamtime will pay off. If you know of anyone who fancies exploring this idea, let me know. The boat would be purchased this Nor Hem Winter and leave Spain for the double Ocean crossing in December 2017. Ooo Roo. B

[svwanabe]

Howdy all
I to am considering buying a boat OS and possibly bringing it back to Aus sometime. I have Alaska on my bucket list and want a boat set up for cold climate cruising.
I find the info on the Gov site a bit confusing (as they always seem to manage to do) as to whether or not the costs of bringing the boat back to Aus are added on or deductible. Not importing is a possibility and maybe leaving it in either NZ or Asia as flying there from Brisbane is pretty cheap. As an Aussie owner does the boat have to be registered in Aus or can it be anywhere of choice???
Previous info I've seen is that as soon as the boat is bought it has to be registered as an Aussie boat???
Oh the joy of having to plow through a mine field of red tape just to go cruising
Thanks Noel

[Djarraluda]

Originally Posted by svwanabe

Howdy all
I to am considering buying a boat OS and possibly bringing it back to Aus sometime. I have Alaska on my bucket list and want a boat set up for cold climate cruising.
I find the info on the Gov site a bit confusing (as they always seem to manage to do) as to whether or not the costs of bringing the boat back to Aus are added on or deductible. Not importing is a possibility and maybe leaving it in either NZ or Asia as flying there from Brisbane is pretty cheap. As an Aussie owner does the boat have to be registered in Aus or can it be anywhere of choice???
Previous info I've seen is that as soon as the boat is bought it has to be registered as an Aussie boat???
Oh the joy of having to plow through a mine field of red tape just to go cruising
Thanks Noel

Noel,
Yes, the costs of transport, or the costs of relocation of the boat to Australia is added to the cost of the boat before GST is calculated
Registration is a State by State thing, there is no necessity to register as an Aus Ship, although it makes it easier for voyaging overseas
Roger

[savoir]

There are many threads on this subject so why not read a couple ?

HINT : The best one is in the multihull section.

[Popeye46]

Now, after registering your new purchase remotely, if you sail the boat to Australia quickly enough to be legitimately called a 'delivery trip', you will be able to write off much of the cost of delivery against the purchase price of the boat. This is important as the Australian Government will charge you GST (10%) of the purchase price; less the cost of delivery as long as it is done "In a timely fashion".

"If you go on the Customs website it states that duty is paid on the value of the boat plus the cost of delivery". I did think that delivery was an acceptable deduction until I went to the website. Furthermore I believe you pay for what they consider would be the commercial value of that delivery, from America that would be around 25K.

[Greig]

Hey Manawatuman
How did you get on with your purchase and delivery?
Just bought a yacht in BVI and im looking at bringing it back soon to NZ. If you have any usefull advise it would be much appreciated

[JPA Cate]

Bulawayo,

In our experience, one just sends them an e-mail from one's departure point. Then, if one is delayed, you use your on board methods of sending them an update.

They want you to keep safe, the Australian Border Force, and they also want to know where and when you are due.

It is best to arrive during working hours M-F before 4 PM because of the Quarantine charges, but they have been lowered.

Ann