Shipping to Georgetown

[svseachange]

Quick update. The shipment from St Brendans Isle via DHL to Top II Bottom cost $318. This was for our mail, some miscellaneous sail repair supplies form Sailrite, 5 zincs (i nch long collar zincs I have been unable to source in the Bahamas), a spinnaker halyard and a head rebuild kit.

Related, I sent about a dozen pages of legal documents to the USA, cost was just over $50, transit time is three business days.

I have not got the shipment yet. Will keep this thread updated.

[Cheechako]

ouch!

[Paul Annapolis]

I would add that a cab ride can be as much as ! 75 or more each way fRom downtown to the airport.

[caradow]

now you have my attention!
again I am meeting my boat in GT in a few weeks and did assume I could simply land at the airport and hop on a dingy to get to my boat without having to incur a very expensive taxi ride.
am I naive to the Land of the Bahamas?
Taxis are cheaper in Manhattan!
have not extensively sailed through the Bahama's before, only got as far south as Norman's many years ago then decided to head for the Caribbean.
would appreciate any information on how to navigate the financial minefields of Georgetown.
so now I hear they do not honor YIT status, expensive taxi rides and who knows what else.
My plans were to hang out for a month or two then head for Bermuda however maybe my time in the Bahamas should be cut short. yea I know they have pretty beaches but so do the majority of the islands in the Caribbean and they are a lot more cruiser friendly.

[Paul Annapolis]

yes many things are costly in the Bahamas and Georgetown being a very popular spot for cruisers means that the locals are being entrepreneurial as much as possible I took a cab ride from downtown to Emerald Bay which is further than the airport and the normal rate is 100 I paid a local hotel worker $45.00 to take me from Emerald Bay to the airport. The 8am cruisers net on Channel 68 is very helpful and often used for sharing and splitting costs of ridesyou can swing on the hook but any service you need will cost money however Georgetown can be a nice and pleasant flight pranker and meet many other cruisers but food and water and services will be costly have fun

[caradow]

thank you for taking the time to respond.
can my crew anchor by the airport to pick me up or what would you suggest I tell them as a place we could meet ?

[caradow]

sorry for continuing to be off the op however my charts are on the boat and I am using google to try and understand the lay of the land.
it appears you anchor in GT proper and use the dingy dock inside the cove where I presume you can get a Taxi to and from the airport?
anyway will leave it at that and I thank anyone who would have anything to add.

[Matt Johnson]

If you make friends in Great Inagua (nicest people ever so very easy), they can ship items in duty free and pretty cheap as they have a US address for Morton Salt. Strange, but you just ship to the Mortons address in Florida, and a week later it arrives at the docks in Great Inagua. While we did not do this ourselves, we spoke to a group of Motron's employees, and they all said it's done all the time.

Matt

[svseachange]

Everything costs much more in the Bahamas except rum, corned beef, lamb chops and butter. But all in all we spend less money cruising in the Bahamas than in the US. Anchorages are beautiful, plentiful and free and all in all there are fewer places to spend money.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by Paul Annapolis

I would add that a cab ride can be as much as ! 75 or more each way fRom downtown to the airport.

No way! It's under $40. And many folks share the cab ride. $10 bucks a head.

[svseachange]

Originally Posted by caradow

it appears you anchor in GT proper and use the dingy dock inside the cove where I presume you can get a Taxi to and from the airport?
anyway will leave it at that and I thank anyone who would have anything to add.

I have not been to the airport, however as Vasco says, cruisers seems to share rides to/from there every day. The shared rides are usually arranged via the cruisers net at 8am on VHF 72 or on the Georgetown hailing channel, VHF 68.

The taxi stand is at the head of the dinghy dock.

[Paul Annapolis]

.... all of which I said above but thanks for correcting me about channel72 and not 68. And the water taxi is expensive and usually much later than he says
..

[caradow]

thanks to all!
however svseachange please keep us informed with your imported boat gear and the YIT status.
again I will be flying in with a few items so it would be nice to know what to expect.
good luck, I know what you are going through having brought in items in the BVI's, St. Lucia, Grenada and the Cayman's. I have never had to pay duty however had a few tense moments in St. Lucia with a new inverter.

[roetter]

This is my information from a guy who has lived there for years.

With a cruising permit it is tax free if it is important to move the boat. So anchors, sail stuff, engine parts are usually ok.

I had a fairing for the hull, a water system pump and a rubber washer sent. I paid duty on the rubber washer. Was $1.50. I did not argue about that even though it was for the fairing.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by svseachange

I have not been to the airport, however as Vasco says, cruisers seems to share rides to/from there every day. The shared rides are usually arranged via the cruisers net at 8am on VHF 72 or on the Georgetown hailing channel, VHF 68.

The taxi stand is at the head of the dinghy dock.

All the taxis in GT are privately owned and driven by the owners. Most of the drivers are well known in the cruising community. If you have guests coming in it's best to talk to one of these owners. They know all the flight schedules, the delays etc. My daughter and granddaughter were due in on a flight. I contacted one of the drivers ( I usually use the same one). He went to pick them up, called me later on the vhf to report that they were not on the flight, not an uncommon occurrence. He then went and met the next flight and got them to the dinghy dock. On another occasion my wife had to go to the airport to pick up my granddaughters who were coming in. She had to pick them up because they were minors travelling on their own. The cab owner only charged one way. If you're in GT and expecting guests or parcels it's beneficial to build up a rapport with one of these friendly and accommodating taxi drivers.