British Sailors in BC Canada

[CatCouple]

Hi There, we are interested in making contact with any owners of British flagged yachts sailing in BC and the Pacific North West. We are interested in a Canadian boat for sale in Vancouver and would be interested to hear your experiences of sailing a British yacht between USA and Canada , temporary import into BC and if relevant your experience of buying a boat In Canada. Anyone else out there crazy enough to have done this? TIA, cheers!

[skydiver]

I'm a Brit/Canadian living in BC who is preparing to buy a boat for a circumnavigation. Would love to follow your experiences.

[madprops]

Originally Posted by skydiver

I'm a Brit/Canadian living in BC who is preparing to buy a boat for a circumnavigation. Would love to follow your experiences.

I'm doing the same and in the same place, I have just found my boat and I'm closing on it Nov 9th.

If you are buying the boat in canada and want to keep it here its really easy, but you will need to pay the tax. I'm not sure how long you have to leave Canada if you flag it in a different country, might be long enough to spend a summer here then take off, or maybe run up to Alaska if you need to reset your time.

[skydiver]

Originally Posted by madprops

I'm doing the same and in the same place, I have just found my boat and I'm closing on it Nov 9th.

If you are buying the boat in Canada and want to keep it here its really easy, but you will need to pay the tax. I'm not sure how long you have to leave Canada if you flag it in a different country, might be long enough to spend a summer here then take off, or maybe run up to Alaska if you need to reset your time.

Nice! What did you get, are you planning on a circumnavigation as well? Single-handed? With a partner? My plan is to start the adventure wherever the boat is bought and be away from Canada for probably around three years. There's a lot to sort out besides finding the boat; house rental; issues regarding being out of Canada for over 6 months and the implications for tax and medical coverage; boat insurance; issues regarding the house speculation tax; fees and taxes on the boat purchase. It almost seems too daunting, like the actual circumnavigation is the easy part, you'll drown in bureaucracy first before you set off!

[CatCouple]

Our situation is a little different as we are not resident in Canada. I don't think there is anyway that a non resident can keep the boat on a Canadian flag. I expect we will have to export her at least with with the paper work and register her as British as we can only stay in Canada for six months and the boat maximum one year as a foreign vessel we were hoping to hear from someone who had actually done this.

[rbk]

No matter what, if the sale takes place in BC you will owe a boat load of taxes. Consider looking in Alaska to avoid this then spend a summer sailing the IP south and beyond.

[Michael Pope]

ok some years ago 27? I Rebuilt a boat in Hawaii (I am a Canuck) So when i commissioned I registered it in Canada. I did not have to pay tax on it until the boat arrived in Canada and tax was to be on current Value at arrival. Every where else I was a ca on a ca boat. no prob. Good luck MP

[Stewie12]

Canada is part of the British Commonwealth and, I believe, that a Brit can own a Canadian flagged yacht.

[Kelkara]

Originally Posted by CatCouple

Our situation is a little different as we are not resident in Canada. I don't think there is anyway that a non resident can keep the boat on a Canadian flag. I expect we will have to export her at least with with the paper work and register her as British as we can only stay in Canada for six months and the boat maximum one year as a foreign vessel we were hoping to hear from someone who had actually done this.

You still haven't actually said if/when you plan on sailing the boat away from Canada. It sounds as if you are planning on keeping it here ... if so the boat doesn't need to be registered anywhere, and if less than 10HP doesn't even need to be licenced.

If the boat is registered, you could de-register the boat and licence it. I don't think there are any restrictions on foreigners owning a licenced boat in Canada (https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafet...cence-1898.htm) But ask Transport Canada to be sure. The licenced boat can live here indefinitely, you can then apply for the UK flag just before you sail away from Canada on international travels that take you beyond the USA.

There are no problems sailing a Canadian licenced boat between the USA and Canada (the boat will still get the same 12 month cruising licence in the USA) so you should be able to explore Washington and Alaska too.

Remember that as UK citizens you will need a proper B1B2 visa (no visa waiver) for you to enter the USA by boat.

This assumes that you are prepared to pay all Canadian sales taxes.

[bcboomer]

Originally Posted by rbk

No matter what, if the sale takes place in BC you will owe a boat load of taxes. Consider looking in Alaska to avoid this then spend a summer sailing the IP south and beyond.

The taxes in BC will total 12%, VAT in UK is 20%, so not so bad.

What is the supply of suitable used sailboats in Alaska?

Possibly better to look in Washington if you want to save a little on the tax but lots of hoops there.

[alctel]

Originally Posted by bcboomer

The taxes in BC will total 12%, VAT in UK is 20%, so not so bad.

What is the supply of suitable used sailboats in Alaska?

Possibly better to look in Washington if you want to save a little on the tax but lots of hoops there.

The Canadian dollar is a lot weaker and tax is only 12%

Brit/Canadian here too, I moved to Canada at the age of 23 and ended up buying a boat in Victoria

Left last year to sail south and am in Mexico currently

[rbk]

Originally Posted by bcboomer

The taxes in BC will total 12%, VAT in UK is 20%, so not so bad.

What is the supply of suitable used sailboats in Alaska?

Possibly better to look in Washington if you want to save a little on the tax but lots of hoops there.

Supply in AK varies but there are some deals from time to time. Washington is also a good place to look, more so for an out-of-state owned boat = 0% tax if you move out of state after 30 or 45 days (can't remember but you can get extensions for repairs etc) Lots of BC boat owners keep boats just across the border in Point Roberts, Blaine all the way down to Tacoma and everywhere in between.

[BilNan]

Originally Posted by alctel

The Canadian dollar is a lot weaker and tax is only 12%



Brit/Canadian here too, I moved to Canada at the age of 23 and ended up buying a boat in Victoria



Left last year to sail south and am in Mexico currently

How was your trip down to Mexico, we are hoping to do the same, next year. When did you leave Victoria?

[CatCouple]

Originally Posted by Stewie12

Canada is part of the British Commonwealth and, I believe, that a Brit can own a Canadian flagged yacht.

Wish it were so so Stewie but it hasn't been the British commonwealth since the 1920's, there are no rights associated with the commonwealth of countries membership concerning trade and tariffs, rights of movement or employment etc for Brits and Canada unless you are the Queen of course!

[CatCouple]

Originally Posted by rbk

Supply in AK varies but there are some deals from time to time. Washington is also a good place to look, more so for an out-of-state owned boat = 0% tax if you move out of state after 30 or 45 days (can't remember but you can get extensions for repairs etc) Lots of BC boat owners keep boats just across the border in Point Roberts, Blaine all the way down to Tacoma and everywhere in between.

That might be a good solution for us, get the owner to sail south to WA and sell the boat to us there, We could sail the boat back into Canada as British flagged vessel. We would have to keep leaving Canada each year hence my question about sailing British yachts from .Canada to USA. Would love to hear from someone who has done this.