Buying in the Islands

[Martin J.]

I'm looking for a 38' to 45' cat and was wondering about the logistics of buying it in the Islands?
How do taxes, titles and all the papers work. I will want to sail her around the world after and want to be all clear of future paperwork problems...
Any feedback will be good. Thx

[Emerald Sea]

Which islands? And which specific island. CF folk are an international bunch and were not very good at clairvoyance.

[MarkJ]

The whole world is your oyster.

Even some think Australia is an island. Its not. Its a continent.

But Greenland is an island, as is Ireland an island. The laws for boat buying in Greenland are different to anywhere. You need a shovel to dig the boat out.

[Martin J.]

Lol! Basically we'll buy where we find the boat for our budget! Could be anywhere from the canaries to Panama...
You don't need to be a clairvoyant to understand the basic question...if you're from st-thomas, you probably know the ropes in st-thomas and if your from trinidad you probably know the ropes about there and so on and so forth. Don't think I have to mention every single island and/continent on earth....but will love to hear about the ropes in everyplace if the non-clairvoyant CF members who are willing to share feed me back constructive info
Cheers

[Canibul]

good luck with that. "The Islands" worldwide will be so different from one place to another as to basically be apples and oranges. In general everything is more expensive on an island because everything from lock washers to automobiles has to be imported. So start with the cost where manufactured, and start adding transportation, insurance, crating, import duty etc. to the original. Can you find a good deal on a used boat on an island? Sure. Just like everywhere else. Depends on the circumstances of the seller. Doesn't really have anything to do with where it is. Some divorcee will sell you his boat for a hundred bucks in downtown Las Vegas.

[Martin J.]

Ok...to make things a little clearer for everyone.

It's going to be a production cat. FP, Lagoon, Dean, etc. I won't buy it and take off on my trip!!! I will buy it and shake it down on my way back to the southern US for the final outfitting.
Pricing will be relative to what will have to be upgraded and/or added for my trip.
This is why the paperwork aspect is what I am asking about? My question is simply to hear about those who have already purchased one anywhere out of their country of origin and what kind of stories they have to share relating to this question...regardless of the place. It's understood that every place is different and that is the reason why the more I know about different places, the better I will be at taking my final decisions

No need for all sorts of criticism...simply respond if you have something constructive bring to the Topic which will surely help plenty of others in my situation.

Cheers

[Privleoplag]

you will run into all kinds of situations.. and will have to look at each boat individually that you're considering. i.e. Where is it registered, where was it built, what country are you buying it in. If you are u.s. citizen, if it's foreign built, and you're bringing it into the U.S. you will have import duties to pay. Maybe no sales tax.. but maybe sales tax depending on what state you land in.
There will not be an easy answer.

[savoir]

The more I read the confuseder I get.



I guess I'm not clairvoyant.

[Martin J.]

I know how complex it is...
I'm a Canadian citizen and the boat will never come in Canada...
The boat will be bought in the States or the Caribbean...outfitted in the States and from there sail slowly to Australia. The whole trip will take about 5-6 years....

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Martin J.

I know how complex it is...
I'm a Canadian citizen and the boat will never come in Canada...
The boat will be bought in the States or the Caribbean...outfitted in the States and from there sail slowly to Australia. The whole trip will take about 5-6 years....

The States are an Island???? Ummmmm geographically, politically or culturally?




Theres hundreds of threads on this stuff. If theres a specific question there will be people to answer. But it feels like you are asking us to do your research for you. Might be better to go do your research with other threads and then get help on specifics

[PjotrC]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

The States are an Island????

Conversing on the subject of islands, which was all the world to him, the governor viewed with suspicion the absence of a word in my documents, referring even to an islet; this, in his mind, was a reprehensible omission; for surely New York, to which the papers referred, was built on an island. Upon this I offered to swear to the truth of my clearance, "as far as known to me," after the manner of cheap custom-house swearing with which shipmasters, in some parts of the world, are made familiar. "Not on the island!" quickly exclaimed the governor, "'for thou shalt not disglorify God's name,' is written in the Bible."

Joshua Slocum, Voyage of the Liberdade, Chapter XV

[jangann]

I think you'd do well to talk to a good broker in someplace like The USVI or BVI. Are you thinking of getting a former charter boat? The Moorings and such companies sell many boats and I'm sure can advise you regarding the process of flagging it in another country. I'd make some contact with their brokerage (look in any sailing mag for their boats for sale) and make contact. Advice is free, remember! And they might have just what you want.

Best of luck and fair winds.

[savoir]

cool hand luke - YouTube

[Ron Rico]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

The States are an Island???? Ummmmm geographically, politically or culturally?

Two outta three ain't bad....

[brownoarsman]

I'd second talking to a broker in the BVI. On my flight back, I sat next to a couple who had traveled to the BVI to look at boats for sale and test out a model they were considering on short charter. Their plan was to buy in BVI, and sail back to Florida to refit.

It was their understanding that the identical boat in the BVI sold for substantially less than its counterpart in the US based on the relatively large supply in the BVI (lots of boats coming off charter, a few people buying a boat, moving to the Islands, and deciding it's not for them, etc.) and low demand (have to fly there to inspect, there's only 20,000 people in the BVI to begin with, and only a fraction, mostly foreign, have the money and inclination to buy the boat). They couldn't say enough good things about their broker: how he was able to give them a list of boats he had personally looked over that he thought would meet their requirements before they came down, his understanding of the rules for registering it in the US, etc. Of course, I sadly don't have his name!