Importing a Boat to Australia

[Mr B]

Plus, if you do have termites on your boat, Very soon you have no boat but dust,

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by BillAU

I do understand the problem with introduced pests in Oz but I for one, would treat my live aboard boat just like I treat my home, I would fumigate once or twice a year, or more if needed.


Bill
Australia

Bill, before you sign up for twice yearly fumigation you might research the cost of such treatment... 'tis in the thousands of dollars, depending on size and location of your boat.

Further, the chemicals that are used tend to destroy varnished and painted finishes and (according to some sources) leave toxic residue behind.

AQIS isn't talking about a squirt from a Mortein spray can when they say "fumigate your boat"!

Cheers,

Jim

[BillAU]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Bill, before you sign up for twice yearly fumigation you might research the cost of such treatment... 'tis in the thousands of dollars, depending on size and location of your boat.

Further, the chemicals that are used tend to destroy varnished and painted finishes and (according to some sources) leave toxic residue behind.

AQIS isn't talking about a squirt from a Mortein spray can when they say "fumigate your boat"!

Cheers,

Jim

I was thinking more along the line of Mortein Insect Control Bombs for fumigation Jim, those Insect Bombs do a good job and with no ill efects on our furnishings. On fumigation day, around 9am I load the wife and dog into the car, pull the pin on the bomb/s, head-out the door and don't go back till late that night...They work for me Not sure what the AQIS would think of em

Bill

[meyermm]

Not much

[Jamel]

In regard to importing to Australia there are various compliances to meet i.e. LPG system and most importantly for me the electrical system which on US imported boats are generally 110-115volt systems.

My new purchase from California has a load of 110-115v equipment....apart from boat 110-115v wiring circuit there is a Honda 2000i gen set, onboard inverter and various 110-115v appliances( water heater, coffee m/c, mirowave etc).

Question is, am I obliged to throw all this stuff off after entry, or, which I would prefer to do, keep everything functioning as is as a completely isolated onboard system.

I don't intend to suck shore power back in Australia very much, prehaps rarely via a 240v to 110v transformer now and again but be mostly self sufficient with onboard charging via 200amp eng alternator and solar.

Do I have to change to 240volts onboard being an Australian registered ship?

[Factor]

Nope (assuming not in survey)

[savoir]

All you need is a transformer. I used one of these with total success and no overheating - ever, despite being in use 24/7 for 2 months.

step down tansformer australia stepdowns step down transformers

[Factor]

Dont be tempted to change any wiring yourself, most states (not sure about WA) have quite strict rules on only having qualified people working on AC. So your options are a professional rewire, or use of transformers.

[BillAU]

Can a boat bought in the USA, Central or South America, be registered in Australia, to fly the Oz flag, right after purchase? For instance, can I, an Aussie, purchase a sail-boat in another country, like the States or South America, register it under the Oz flag right after purchase, then head of to...say the Canary Islands, for a year or so, before heading back to the Panama Canal and back to Australia, or would I need to register the boat in my name in, say Delaware, to legally fly the American flag or in Malaysia to fly the Malaysian flag, go do the trip under that whatever flag then have things changed to the Australian flag when I got back to Australia and did the import a boat shuffle. By which time, I may have owned and sailed the boat for a year or two.

Bill
Australia

[Jamel]

Originally Posted by BillAU

Can a boat bought in the USA, Central or South America, be registered in Australia, to fly the Oz flag, right after purchase? For instance, can I, an Aussie, purchase a sail-boat in another country, like the States or South America, register it under the Oz flag right after purchase, then head of to...say the Canary Islands, for a year or so, before heading back to the Panama Canal and back to Australia, or would I need to register the boat in my name in, say Delaware, to legally fly the American flag or in Malaysia to fly the Malaysian flag, go do the trip under that whatever flag then have things changed to the Australian flag when I got back to Australia and did the import a boat shuffle. By which time, I may have owned and sailed the boat for a year or two.

Bill
Australia

Bill, my advice is go back to page one and read all about it!

[Aussie_Sequoia]

I have found that there isn't that many 120 volt appliances on the boats I am after here in North America. I plan to leave these appliances as 120 volts (run off of an inverter) and the majority of the rest (all of my navigation, refrigerator, lights, bilge pumps, pressure pumps, etc.) all run off of 12 volts which can be charged through the engine alternator, solar,wind or... the purchase of a new battery charger that runs off 240 shore power. Easy.

There's no law that says your boat has to run off of any specified voltage. You, of course, do need to make sure that you never try to plug the 240 volt shore power into your old system... without a step-down converter.

[ausaviator]

In Australia you do not need any qualification or a certificate to work on the electrics anywhere where you are plugged into mains via extension lead. For example you can work on a heater, air compressor, hair dryer etc, but not on the mains itself, such as a powerpoint or hooking up a light fitting -WITHIN a premises.

There is no law against completely wiring up a boat yourself as this is not mains power as such as it will only ever be connected via an extension cord.

[D&D]

Originally Posted by BillAU

Can a boat bought in the USA, Central or South America, be registered in Australia, to fly the Oz flag, right after purchase? For instance, can I, an Aussie, purchase a sail-boat in another country, like the States or South America, register it under the Oz flag right after purchase, then head of to...say the Canary Islands, for a year or so, before heading back to the Panama Canal and back to Australia

Short answer...yes.

Longer answer... yes, but if you're going to be sailing a recently bought vessel under an OZ flag for over a year, you may not be able to take advantage of the somewhat more relaxed requirements that apply to Provisional OZ Ship Registration. Provisional Registration can generally be issued merely on lodging an application to AMSA (with fees of course) with the original Bill of Sale, but it only lasts until the earlier of a year or until you make landfall in OZ, whereupon it either lapses or needs to be made Final on completion of all the requirements including vessel marking and so on.

We bought CatNirvana (as she is now named) lying in Sardinia, flying a South African flag and from a UK-based vendor; put her on the Australian Register of Ships with Provisional Registration; and then sailed her back to Sydney where we completed the Final Registration process. We were thus entitled to (and proudly did!) fly the OZ flag for our long voyage.

Speak to AMSA about your own circumstances.

[Jamel]

Originally Posted by ausaviator

In Australia you do not need any qualification or a certificate to work on the electrics anywhere where you are plugged into mains via extension lead. For example you can work on a heater, air compressor, hair dryer etc, but not on the mains itself, such as a powerpoint or hooking up a light fitting -WITHIN a premises.

There is no law against completely wiring up a boat yourself as this is not mains power as such as it will only ever be connected via an extension cord.

I would say you may well be right about wiring up the boat yourself but it's my understanding that....marinas certainly ask for compliance certs for gas & electrical ( 240v) installations on your vessel which may well mean a 'leckie has to inspect the said installation and write a compliance cert.

I've filled applications to pen a boat in a local marina here in WA and had to provide gas cert number and elec cert number ( which I did'nt have so put "to be advised" and got away with it!)

[BillAU]

Originally Posted by D&D

Short answer...yes.

Longer answer... yes, but if you're going to be sailing a recently bought vessel under an OZ flag for over a year, you may not be able to take advantage of the somewhat more relaxed requirements that apply to Provisional OZ Ship Registration. Provisional Registration can generally be issued merely on lodging an application to AMSA (with fees of course) with the original Bill of Sale, but it only lasts until the earlier of a year or until you make landfall in OZ, whereupon it either lapses or needs to be made Final on completion of all the requirements including vessel marking and so on.

We bought CatNirvana (as she is now named) lying in Sardinia, flying a South African flag and from a UK-based vendor; put her on the Australian Register of Ships with Provisional Registration; and then sailed her back to Sydney where we completed the Final Registration process. We were thus entitled to (and proudly did!) fly the OZ flag for our long voyage.

Speak to AMSA about your own circumstances.

Thanks for that post DD, it's just the sort of info' I was seeking
I will most likly buy a boat here in Aus' but...If I did buy a boat in the USA or South America, I would like to sail on and visit family (my youngest daughter and granddaughter) who now live in the Canary Islands...After all, if buying the boat in Florida or S-America, I would be half way, or better, to the Canaries
It would not bother me paying the tax, duty and other import requirements on my arrival back in Australia, I was just wondering, after buying the boat, could I sail under the Aus' Red Duster, or another flag, on my trip to the Canaries and back to Aus'...I imagin the whole trip would take about one year but I'm not sure on that. Thanks again DD.

Bill
Australia