Advice for new owners from Australia coming to Europe to collect a boat

[The Miss]

Just because excitement levels are high I thought I would share an update on our boat in relation to forum.

Ta Da! Tonight AU time is the day our girl is launched into the water. Today is her official birthday. 25 years discussed, two years since the decision to go was made and only 5 months before we go and collect. Some things take quiet a bit of planning to make a reality!

happy day.

the Miss
Homepage | Miss Catana

[D&D]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Hello all,

Was just wondering 'the Miss' if you've registered your boat yet? I'm not quite sure how this works? Can you register the boat (we have the builders certificate, etc) before you take ownership / get the boat handed over? If so how does that work and how long beforehand can you do it?

Or do you wait until the boat is handed over to you from the dealer and then register it?

Our experience (in 2011, FWIW) was that OZ registration could not be completed until there was an executed Bill of Sale. You can, however, complete all the paperwork in advance so that the registration can be effective virtually immediately. The Registrar will still need to actually sight the Bill of Sale, but they accept things will be happening simultaneously in the process. So in our case once our survey was completed and no issues were raised -- Our process was no doubt assisted by the fact that the vessel we were buying was only 6 mos old -- we moved directly to complete the sale and then requested the executed Bill of Sale be sent directly by Registered Mail to Canberra, marked to the personal attention of the Registrar. As soon as the Bill of Sale was received, we were confirmed on the Register of Ships.

Simon mentioned vessel marking, but the Registrar advised us that they were not overly concerned with yacht (as opposed to commercial ship) markings, either in their exact appearance and position on the yacht, or whether the marking was complete at the time of entry onto the Australian Register of Ships. So we used temporary markings -- Note that temporary markings are NOT acceptable, even on a yacht -- during our delivery voyage and then completed the permanent markings after our arrival in OZ, ~5 months after registration. A Statutory Declaration of completed (permanent!) marking is required, but again, the Registrar advised us that Declaration could be done at a later, more convenient time. We seem to recall it was suggested the marking Declaration could be as much as a year after initial Australian registration, but it would be a good idea to check and confirm that timing.

Good luck to all you importers!

[D&D]

Originally Posted by The Miss

Just because excitement levels are high I thought I would share an update on our boat in relation to forum.

Ta Da! Tonight AU time is the day our girl is launched into the water. Today is her official birthday. 25 years discussed, two years since the decision to go was made and only 5 months before we go and collect. Some things take quiet a bit of planning to make a reality!

happy day.

the Miss
Homepage | Miss Catana

Woo Hoo!!

Break out the bubbly 'Mum & Dad'!!!

[goboatingnow]

I'm not sure where this requirement of not sailing before registration comes from, it's certainly not French law.

Remember VAT and flag registration have no connection

France will simply require that you follow the rules of what flag state you are registering in .

Dave

[Jeffrey Oc]

Congrats on the wetting of new babies hulls ,we may catch up in La Rochelle as we r picking up our new boat also ( exciting times )
Best of luck, and tons of fun.

[The Miss]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Oc

Congrats on the wetting of new babies hulls ,we may catch up in La Rochelle as we r picking up our new boat also ( exciting times )
Best of luck, and tons of fun.

Hi Jeffrey Congratulations to you as well. Regardless of new, old or reconditioned the main thing is the escape route via the big blue. Happy days indeed. When is your boat ready to go....

Cheers

the Miss

[Jeffrey Oc]

Hi Miss,
We arrive in La Rochelle on the 15th April , at this stage we know the boat will be ready mid to late April , then the fun begins , although the journey so far has also been fun ( and a fair amount of stress in reducing stuff from our lives)

Jeff

[Barra]

Take your time leaving Jeff - you are right in the middle of the French spring holidays making any additional work v slow if required. Just adjust your expectations and dont be surprised if your still there mid to late may!

see you in the med sometime

[TPF]

Hi Jeff, congratulations on the new Helia 44! We too have ordered a Helia and are arriving in La Rochelle about the same time as yourselves - mid April to early May. Our boat is due to be launched around 15 April. Working on a schedule to preserve Schengen time constraints on our cruising time. Would like to see some of the French coast and Spain before we get to the Med. as I don't think we will ever pass that way again. Best of luck with the boat and perhaps see you there in LR.

[Jeffrey Oc]

Hi TPF,
Congrats also , I have no doubt we will catch up in L R , our boats will be possibly next to each other . With sites like this it shows what a small world we live in. I have just re-acquainted with a work college who has been doing exactly what we are about to begin, sold his boat after a no. of years in the Med., upsise to a larger cat from the same builder , and will be back in France in April also .
Amazing , and we live all of 5 Klm apart ( I was blown away )
It should be a fun time with quiet a few Aussies there.
All the best.
Jeff

[Jeffrey Oc]

G'day Barra,
Thanks for the heads up , our broker has mentioned on a number of times that things don't run quiet like AU schedules , but no stress, we will just deal with what comes . It may put a change on destination 1st up and a stop into Morocco may be on the cards.
Jeff

[simonpickard]

Bit of an update from me, as I'm going through the same processes as 'The Miss'.
One thing that's cropped up is the AMSA Builder's Certificate form they require. When I sent over a copy of ours from Hanse AMSA said it didn't provide enough information so I needed to get an original signed copy of form AMSA211 directly from the builders (in my case Hanse).

This then needs posting back to me here in Oz so I can sent it over to AMSA. Might be worth a check 'The Miss' that the Builder's Certificate meets their requirements.

Also, I found out that AMSA will take certified copies of the Docs so you don't need to send your original Bill of Sale / Builder's Cert.

One thing that's been mentioned to me is Sail numbers. Does anyone know if these are required? I know the RYA does them, you register with them, get your numbers which identify your boat, etc, but I think that's only for racing? The RYA say they are a good idea for cruisers also but I'm unsure how this works if I'm registering the boat as Australian?

Lastly can anyone shed any light on MMSI numbers? Does it matter where you get these from? I.e. should I also be getting these from AMSA or can I just get them from the Ofcom site (UK)? Does the MMSI number need to link with the same country as the rego?

Regards,
Simon

[D&D]

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Bit of an update from me, as I'm going through the same processes as 'The Miss'.
One thing that's cropped up is the AMSA Builder's Certificate form they require. When I sent over a copy of ours from Hanse AMSA said it didn't provide enough information so I needed to get an original signed copy of form AMSA211 directly from the builders (in my case Hanse).

This then needs posting back to me here in Oz so I can sent it over to AMSA. Might be worth a check 'The Miss' that the Builder's Certificate meets their requirements.

Also, I found out that AMSA will take certified copies of the Docs so you don't need to send your original Bill of Sale / Builder's Cert.

As far we recall, we were not required to supply a Builder's Certificate for AMSA to enter us onto the Aust Register of Ships, but of course the process may have changed since 2011. The Builder's Certificate issue did, however, come up when we were seeking State registration. In NSW, we used a 'Boat Agent' who provided the necessary certification to enable NSW registration...without any additional Builder's Certificate.

Originally Posted by simonpickard

One thing that's been mentioned to me is Sail numbers. Does anyone know if these are required? I know the RYA does them, you register with them, get your numbers which identify your boat, etc, but I think that's only for racing? The RYA say they are a good idea for cruisers also but I'm unsure how this works if I'm registering the boat as Australian?

We do not have sail numbers and we're on both Aust and NSW Registration(s). So definitely not required...and nor have we ever encountered any situation or communication where they were missed, but we don't race.

Originally Posted by simonpickard

Lastly can anyone shed any light on MMSI numbers? Does it matter where you get these from? I.e. should I also be getting these from AMSA or can I just get them from the Ofcom site (UK)? Does the MMSI number need to link with the same country as the rego?

We always understood (although can't recall checking any other options?) that MMSI shd be with your country of rego....and yes, from AMSA.

Good luck with your import!

[simonpickard]

"As far we recall, we were not required to supply a Builder's Certificate for AMSA to enter us onto the Aust Register of Ships, but of course the process may have changed since 2011."

Yeah this is coming directly from AMSA so maybe it's changed since you did it.

Thanks for the heads up on the sail numbers though.

I tell you what the biggest thing I'm coming up against and that's Travel / Health insurance. I can't find ANYONE who's willing to play game for this. As soon as you mention that you're not after standard multi trip insurance the prices go sky high. For my partner and myself we were just quoted over $5000 per year from Suresave.net.au. NUTS. And they are the only people we've managed to even give us a quote.

Just wondering how much others are paying? And who they are with?

Regards,
Simon

[mark_morwood]

We've been using IMG Health Insurance for living abroad - Global Medical Insurance for our medical insurance while cruising. The price you were quoted is in the same ballpark as our costs with them, though it obviously depends on age. We haven't made any claims, so I don't know who could they are at that side of things.

Mark.