Importing a Boat to Australia

[jpemb7]

Hi Lucky
Wow! That is brass monkey weather. When I said I liked sailing in cold weather I didn't mean the kind where you freeze solid as you step into the cockpit- like something out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
However, I have sailed to Alaska via Japan. That was during summer of course. When the fog clears the air is crisp and sharp and you can see forever. Glaciers, icebergs,bears, whales,otters,king crab,salmon- magic.
Do you have the Belize in Norway and have you done much sailing there ? Strangely enough, I checked out a Belize in Mooloolaba yesterday. I got to say I was very impressed. I looked up a Norway website to check out some of the scenery. It looks magnificent. I'd like to sail up to the Arctic Circle and see the northern lights (in Summer of course). That west coast looks like a bit of a challenge.
I think all western border control bureaucracies (had to check the dictionary) are staffed by ex- military SAS types these days who want you to obey orders and smile while you do it.
Lucky, as you are an Aussie how can you register your boat under a Norwegian flag ?
Can you answer this question for me ? If I bought a boat in Norway and changed it to Australian registration how long would I (visa) and/or the boat (customs) be allowed to stay in Norway before the SAS types would force me to leave ? I am thinking about the time I would have to prepare the boat for departureafter purchase.

Thanks
Jim

[Howard N]

I'd like to sail up to the Arctic Circle and see the northern lights (in Summer of course).

Jim, it might be a little difficult to see the northern lights in the summer. It doesn't get very dark in the summer.

[jpemb7]

Damn this global warming ! Thankyou Howard, I'm sheepishly learning something new everyday. BTW the Norwegians could learn something from the Japanese. We were in Kushiro in northern Japan for the Fog Festival. The Japanese had planned this huge light show (lazers and stuff) bouncing off the fog. The day of the Fog Festival and guess what ? No fog. It was a beautiful clear night, stars and all. But the Japanese don't let beautiful weather spoil a bad day. They brought out their fog machines and turned the night to soup. Great light show.

[jpemb7]

If I import a boat from overseas into Australia. What boat should I choose ? There are a minefield of opinions, priorities and emotions to tippy-toe through in making this decision. I've thought about the project, done a fair bit of research and come to the conclusion that the safe, all weather, high performance, load carrying catamaran that could be single handed doesn’t exist. (imho) Or if it does I can’t afford it.
I have read hundreds of posts on forums and blogs.
I even downloaded “Catamarans by Gregor Tarjan” onto my Kindle e-book. $25 from Amazon .com. (The kindle really isn't designed for this sort of thing.) The new found knowledge gleaned from this book did clarify some things. It also helped me realise that I had to narrow done the field somehow.
Then it came to me like a slap in the back of the head. (ouch!) Because I am like, thousands of miles away from my next boat. The solution is to find a sister ship here in Australia, one that I have ready access to and can become very familiar with. That way I can thoroughly check out the model, evaluate its pros and cons, weaknesses and strengths. Find an opportunity to get out and sail that model in charter or with a local owner. Sure this would eliminate a lot of good boats but does it really make sense to fly thousands of miles to buy a boat I've only read about on the internet.
With that in mind I am going to try to buy the sister ship of the "best" production catamaran that I can access easily in my local area. It also has to be a boat that is readily available overseas. This makes sense to me.
The boat needs to cost no more than A$350000/U.S $325000/E225000. My first preference would be an owners version. I am going to look at boats from within budget up to 30% higher in the anticipation of getting some sort of discount when the bargaining begins. I don't know if all of the boats below would be within budget but they are for sale in my local area. So I should be able to at least view them.

FP Belize 43 Nautitech 40 Privelege 42 FP Venizia 42 Fp Lavezzi 40

FP Maha 36 Fp Bahia 46 Lagoon 38 Broadview 385 Leopard 38 FP Lipari

1. If this was your choice which one would you choose ? Please explain.

2. What do you think the chances are of getting this boat within my budget ? Please explain

3. Which would you avoid ? Please explain.

I would really find your feedback helpful, particularly from owners with first hand experience.

Thanks

Jim

[Wellington]

We want to buy an ex-charter cat in Martinique / Guadeloupe / BVI and sell it 3 years later in Australia. It is difficult enough for Australians to import their own boat, what about foreigners hoping to sell their boat in Australia ?
Thanks

[andreas.mehlin]

Me and my girlfriend purchased an Endeavourcat 30 in Panama 2007 (used). Sailed it to Australia (Bundaberg).

Thre process of importing the boat was not very difficult. First of all. It needed to be inspected for termites. First an visual inspection and if that one was ok, the quarantine lady booked a dog for another inspection.

We had the boat for less than two year after the purchase. That made it easier and they could calculate the GST and duty from the price on the purchase-contract. 10% + 5%. If the boat is made in US and it still sails under US flag the duty is off.

The new owner, registered the boat by him self. We had given him our purchase contract, and he had his own purchasing contract. He had also our ships paper to show. Everything went smooth.

/Andreas

[jpemb7]

Originally Posted by andreas.mehlin

First of all. It needed to be inspected for termites. First an visual inspection and if that one was ok, the quarantine lady booked a dog for another inspection.

Andreas, did the endeavourcat have a lot of wood on it and how much did it cost you for the quarantine inspection (dog and all) ?

We had the boat for less than two year after the purchase. That made it easier and they could calculate the GST and duty from the price on the purchase-contract.

This is interesting. When I phoned customs they told me that if the boat arrives more than about 6 months after it is purchased then a it would have to be valued by a marine surveyor. So maybe its just who you get on the day.

Thanks
Jim

[andreas.mehlin]

Endeavourcat does not have very much wood details in their boat. But I don't think that have an impact on the termite survey proice. Don't remember exactly but quarantine took around 150 AUD. The dog is more expensive (belongs to a company and have to be book at least 2-3 weeks in advance) and I think it was around 800 AUD.

Hehe, yeah I think that about value is from person to person. But 6 months doesn't sound much.

/Andreas

[jpemb7]

Thanks Andreas,
The quarantine information is useful.

[jpemb7]

I don't know why more foreigners don't do this ? With the strength of the Australian dollar and the way the world economy is at the moment. I think it is a sound idea.
We met some lovely folks on a Lagoon 380 who cruised across the Pacific and sold there boat in Australia a couple of months ago. They had a reasonable price on the boat and it sold very quickly. There just isn't affordable stock here in Oz.
You have to pay 15% approx GST/Import duty and any quarantine costs as described by Andreas but here's the thing. You can temporarily import the boat for 12 months (at no charge) which means you don't pay GST/import duty until you sell it. So if you price the boat with this factored in, the up front costs are quite low. And you have 12 months to sell the boat while your cruising Australia.
I have to point out though. I looked at buying an ex-charter boat and sailing it back. There are some really cheap FP/ Lagoons and leopards in the Carribean. I'd go for a 38 fter myself. For a couple, that's plenty of room and you get more bang for your buck. But once you start negotiating there might be better value out there. I decided against this for a couple of reasons. We plan to keep the boat when we get back home so we want an owners version. There would be upgrade, repair and maintenance issues with ex-charter. This could be quite expensive rigging, sails, engine, saildrive. I'd want radar/ spinnaker/hf ssb/a drogue. I think it is doable with an ex-charter baot but for someone living in Australia there is just too much hassle and uncertainty. If you live close to where you are buying the boat then maybe it's not such a big deal.
Have you thought about buying a privately owned boat that is already geared up ?

Jim

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by andreas.mehlin

Thre process of importing the boat was not very difficult.

We had the boat for less than two year after the purchase. That made it easier and they could calculate the GST and duty from the price on the purchase-contract. 10% + 5%. If the boat is made in US and it still sails under US flag the duty is off.

The new owner, registered the boat by him self. We had given him our purchase contract, and he had his own purchasing contract. He had also our ships paper to show. Everything went smooth.

/Andreas

This is what I expected the whole exercise to be like.
I wonder if there is a difference arriving in Bundaberg as opposed to Sydney or Brisbane?
Also, what flag were you under between Panama and Australia?

[andreas.mehlin]

We were under swedish flag.

[Wellington]

Well, the ideal scenario for us would be to get in touch now with Australians interested in buying a cat from 2014. Our goal is to sail (from April 2011) for 3 years, between the West Indies and Australia. We are looking for a 5 year-old ex-charter 40-46 ft Lagoon, Nautitech or FP that we would upgrade (new rigging, new sails) and equip (radar, watermaker, solar panels...). Ex-charter boats are sold "taxes not paid", which would suit us best as we would not have to pay for them, they would only be paid in the country where the boat is ultimately imported.

If successful, such an arrangement would mean saving on taxes (Australian GST + fees would be the first taxes paid on the boat) and broker for a geared-up and updated 8 year-old bluewater cat.

If we could get the contractual assurance that our boat would be bought in Australia by a certain date, we could even take on board (pun intended) your wish-list for equipment / model (i.e. we could get an owner's version for you, jpemb7, if you can wait till 2014!)

[jpemb7]

I wonder if there is a difference arriving in Bundaberg as opposed to Sydney or Brisbane?

You know I seem to recall other people mentioning this. I wonder if anyone out there has had experience clearing into Bundaberg ? If you have I'd love to hear about your experience.

[Wellington]

I meant, we could get an owner's version for you, Jim, if you can wait till 2014 !