Buying Boat in Maryland, Registering in Australia - Seeking Immediate Cruising Permit

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by ianlgv

Replacing all the running rigging, .

Damn it. I wish I was there to help you take that old stuff off your boat! I'd even dispose of it for you. No charge at all.


Have fun with your cruise

[ianlgv]

Hi
Sadly most of what we take off is so well worn it would not be much use, but will be nice to have colour coded sheets, reef lines etc all back in the cockpit.

[Winebargain]

Hello, great to read up on these messages and advice. I am now looking for help and advice too. We are from the UK and just purchased a used boat in Maryland. We have not paid sales tax yet either. We are flying over first week December and will stay a few days, then plan on taking the boat down the ICW to Florida taking a few weeks for the trip. We shall then want to stay in Florida for a month at least. Our plans are probably to leave the boat in Florida and use for our vacations. But we need to know how you go about getting a Cruising Permit to allow us to leave Maryland and make our way to Florida, when we will probably have to pay sales tax there. If you can guide us on getting a permit/costs and how easy to do on arrival to Marylan. That would be majic.

[savoir]

Try the nearest customs office. Here's one that is close and there is another in Baltimore.

Wilmington | U.S. Customs and Border Protection

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by Winebargain

Hello, great to read up on these messages and advice. I am now looking for help and advice too. We are from the UK and just purchased a used boat in Maryland. We have not paid sales tax yet either. We are flying over first week December and will stay a few days, then plan on taking the boat down the ICW to Florida taking a few weeks for the trip. We shall then want to stay in Florida for a month at least. Our plans are probably to leave the boat in Florida and use for our vacations. But we need to know how you go about getting a Cruising Permit to allow us to leave Maryland and make our way to Florida, when we will probably have to pay sales tax there. If you can guide us on getting a permit/costs and how easy to do on arrival to Marylan. That would be majic.

As was stated earlier, sales tax won't apply to you in Md until the boat has spent 90 days in the water there. Take all your boat paperwork - sales contract, registration, your passports/visas to the customs office. You will want to go to the office in the same jurisdiction that the boat is in. You didn't say where in Md the boat is, but likely Baltimore is the office you'll need - it's right downtown a couple blocks from the inner harbour, and the staff were good and quite approachable.

Keep an eye on the weather National Weather Service and start moving south quickly. The Waterway guide is useful (Waterway Guide | waterwayguide.com), as is https://activecaptain.com/ for travelling the ICW. There are a number of threads about it on this forum too. Happy sails.