Buying a boat in the Philippines

[hatteras53]

Greetings to all !

I live in Manila at various times during the course of the year and am faced with a serious situation. I have a 44' Nauticat Motorsailor in Baltimore that has had a complete refit of over 80,000 Dollars. I can either take 4 to 5 months and 13,000 miles to sale her to Manila or buy some comparable vessel in the Philippines. The main issue at hand is that I can't seem to find anything decent to look at our buy. Could sure use some help on this matter. My phone number is 410-913-2330 and my e mail is forkliftman1952@gmail.com

Many thanks.

Michael

[Zven]

I live in the Philippines and have noticed the same thing .... Nothing much for sale here, and the few available boats are in poor condition.
I've now bought a boat in Europe and will have it shipped from there.

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[hatteras53]

Hello Zven !

Thanks for the reply.

I am flying out of JFK Airport early Friday and will be in Manila Sat. morning.

Guess I will be bringing the Nauticat on her own bottom to Manila.

From Baltimore the shipping co has quoted me 30,000/40,000 Dollars.

Way too much money.

Hope my Filipino wife will accompany me on part of the trip.

It looks tough but I can do it.

From Los Angeles I can shoot over to Perl Harbor and Guam.

Very disappointed there is nothing to buy in the Philippines.

Will keep boat at Subic Bay or west of Cavite somewhere.

Also can't find boat insurance for the trip or in the Philippines.

Any other comments from you would be appreciated.

Michael

forkliftman1952@gmail.com

[Zven]

Good luck with your venture, Michael. As long as yours is a seaworthy sailboat, and if you can take the time off, I'd think nothing would be better than ... uh, sailing.
Mine is a motor boat, so my options are more limited.

Suggest you also start researching about registration and taxation of boats in the Philippines. You'll probably want to keep your boat registered elsewhere, and keep it in the Philippines as a visiting yacht. The rules and procedures surrounding this are not simple... hence I suggest starting your planning early.

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[four winds]

Well, a nice 40+ foot sailboat and having to sail it half way around the world is not really a bad problem for a fellow to have. :-)

Have fun and fair winds. Hope your wife can join you. Will be great memories.

[Dulcesuenos]

Nice 44' Nauticat PH in Thailand for sale.. Funny were going to Be in manilla this Friday , staying a week or so.
https://www.boats.com/sailing-boats/...at-44-4877163/


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[hatteras53]

Originally Posted by Zven

Good luck with your venture, Michael. As long as yours is a seaworthy sailboat, and if you can take the time off, I'd think nothing would be better than ... uh, sailing.
Mine is a motor boat, so my options are more limited.

Suggest you also start researching about registration and taxation of boats in the Philippines. You'll probably want to keep your boat registered elsewhere, and keep it in the Philippines as a visiting yacht. The rules and procedures surrounding this are not simple... hence I suggest starting your planning early.

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Dear shipmate,

Many thanks for the thoughts and heads up about regulations.

[hatteras53]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

Nice 44' Nauticat PH in Thailand for sale.. Funny were going to Be in manilla this Friday , staying a week or so.
https://www.boats.com/sailing-boats/...at-44-4877163/


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Thanks so much for the info on the Nauticat for sale in Thailand.

[hatteras53]

Originally Posted by four winds

Well, a nice 40+ foot sailboat and having to sail it half way around the world is not really a bad problem for a fellow to have. :-)

Have fun and fair winds. Hope your wife can join you. Will be great memories.

Thank you for the good wishes shipmate.

[nuccifilms]

gooday zven,
you've gone and bought a european boat for the philippines. how i envy you. i may go the same route, if i can navigate all the hurdles. ideally, i'd like to be the first guy with a new greenline 33 hybrid from slovenia to subic bay. my initial thoughts would be to ship it to tiawan under a delaware, USA registraion, as i am already from the US. i can't believe whatever a boat dealer would tell me, but i'd love your feedback. the greenline dealer said i'm lookinitg at $15,000 USD in shipping, but i'm guessing it would be more like $20,000. and he said no hassle for the registry and customs. it's done on every boat that leaves his factory. can't quite believe that either, but i am encouraged that it is possible. please reply on what you think.

[hatteras53]

Ahoy there mates !

the prices you have received for 15k and maybe even 20k are accurate.

its entirely possible to ship your boat to Subic Bay !

my issue is with the pricing that just seems to keep going up.

although I am not poor, some of these services are for the truly rich.

I really would be tempted to try the Suez instead of the Panama Canal.

Problem is one of risk.

How bad are the pirates in the Suez now ?

Also, the thieves going through Indonesia !

The other issue is almost no insurance availability in the Philippines.

Not to mention repair services.

It really is so pretty in the Philippines.

What is one to do................

Everything here in the U.S.A. is so expensive.

And many of the people are just not friendly.

Those Filipinos are very wonderful people.

Of course my wife is a one of them (he he he).

[Zven]

Hi Nucci,
The plan seems sound to me. The price is good too. If you call around, you'll likely be quoted freight costs from 15k to 50k.
Upon offloading in Taiwan, you'll probably need to declare a temporary stay for the boat there. Having a good customs agent there will likely be useful.
Then you can sail to Luzon.
There is some paperwork involved but it's all quite do-able.

[nuccifilms]

i'm now in the process of digging up everything philippines on the board. however. the thing you said about no insurance in the philippines has stopped me in my tracks.

it seems most are in agreement of all the wonderful things the country and both the native people and special class of foreigners i find there. but with typhoons a definite part of the whole package, i cant imagine having $200,000 floating around with no insurance?? i was told marinas require insurance? so if my boat is US registered, i couldn't hold US insurance abroad? my worst case scenario would be to find a much cheaper $50,000 older local 30 foot trawler and operate it like you would a 2nd car. not as pretty, but i'd run the hell out of it and have just as much fun.

and also, you have first hand experience in unloading a yacht in subic? i'll go whatever is the most hassle free, and skipping down the luzon coast from tiawan seemed the best initial thought

[hatteras53]

Greetings to all !

Have just returned from Manila yesterday.

Hope I am not painting a bad picture of Philippine Boating to anyone.

Just know from my personal experiences and that's all.

Everyone's is different.

When I checked on insurance for my 44' Nauticat only 1 co offered to quote me.

It was Pantaenius of the U.K.

Then they turned me down right away.

Having flown airplanes for 30 years/owned a 53' Hatteras/furnished them with a marine survey all seemed not to matter and when I went on the internet they have had MANY complaints.

So, here I am with my boat preparing to sail from Baltimore to Manila.

No insurance available along the journey and none to be had once I arrive.

Think that the only insurance available will be to protect a marina in the Philippines ?

Have found out from my wife who is a Filipino that the locals may offer the best protection for the boat by paying them a small amount each month.........

After having been there 9 times now I am still very much learning.

Concerning the local officials, a small monetary gift always solves everything.

Any and all paperwork is beyond slow and some extra pesos quickens the pace.

Advice from any of my fellow shipmates would be greatly appreciated.

Shipping my boat (30 to 40 k) there is too much money for me.

Guess I will just sail her there on her own bottom.

Even though the typhoons can very dangerous I hope to her safe by depending on the locals and move it if needed.

There is very little to buy of any quality in the Philippines as far as used boats go.

I have found several boatyards to do repairs when needed.

Hope to hear from some of you soon again !

Michael

[AiniA]

Did you contact IMIS in Annapolis for insurance. I have found them good to deal with, although we have never had a claim so don't know about that part of things.