Completely Overwhelmed

[beachbum29]

When you bring a boat into the US from another country, are there additional taxes or duties to be paid?

[westwinds]

I must admit my curiosity about the make, and length of the boat. Is it a displacement hull, is the propeller fixed pitch or variable, what make of engine and horsepower; therefore, what is the boat’s range? Has to be displacement for any range and economy. Is it fiberglass or some other hull material? What does it have in electronics, type, make and age of each item? The ultimate question in my mind is how seaworthy is the boat. Even the number of handholds is important and their location. Do some reading and research on this if you have not already done so and have a checklist of what to look for in a safe boat.

[GrowleyMonster]

Hey, GG, is there a recent survey report? And you got someone to go over it and determine whether or not it is worthwhile to travel to look at the boat?

It is possible that there might be a member here that lives near the boat you are considering, and could do a preliminary scouting expedition for you and possibly save you a wasted trip. Meanwhile, while you are waiting to close the deal, a Power Squadron class or something like that would be good to give you a little background knowledge. Your local bookstore might have some good books, and of course there is always Amazon.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by beachbum29

When you bring a boat into the US from another country, are there additional taxes or duties to be paid?

yes. I emailed Customs a while back but have lost it at this point. Apparantly it's 1.5-2.7%.

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by GrowleyMonster

Oh. I would do it for nothing plus expenses if it were only a few days. Depending on the boat and its location. I am afraid you will be looking for someone who does deliveries for a living, unless you can find a retiree just looking for something to do. You might try posting in the crew wanted forum, once you close the deal.

Yeah what I envision is a paid delivery skipper, one paid crew, so there are two guys to baseball the watch, and you go into learning mode and within a couple of days, you stand a watch, too. Remember, the Captain is ALWAYS on watch in a sense, and when there is any doubt about what to do, you can, and should, call him. You would at least learn how to do normal watchkeeping, rules of the road, how to interpret the pretty lights you see on other boats, determine whether or not risk of collision exists and take appropriate action, and perhaps learn some simple electronic and chart navigation. If you are lucky, you will also learn how to keep a current DR position on the chart. (Dead Reckoning... a method of knowing where you are by knowing where you WERE, x amount of hours ago at y speed and z course) I say lucky because there is a whole new generation of guys out there who don't know how to do any navigating that doesn't involve push buttons and scroll menus on a magic box.

Anyway, after that long a voyage, you should be competent to do short range cruising or day trips without paid help. You will want to keep your skipper around for a couple of days when you get home though, to work with you on docking, undocking, and maneuvering in close proximity to other boats and fixed objects and structures. Once you got all that down, you will have a pretty fair bit of independence, enough to actually start enjoying your boat right away, while you learn more stuff. I really think that is important for a new boat owner, to get some use out of the boat right away. It really helps you to feel good about your purchase.

Don't forget the maintenance side of things. You will need to know how to do at least basic engineroom stuff like start or stop engines locally, check and change oil and change oil and fuel filters, check batteries, maybe do simple troubleshooting, and if nothing else, learn how stuff is supposed to look or feel or sound, so you know you got a problem and need to get someone to fix it. Remember, you got no sails! New engines are expensive, too. When you get done paying for an overhaul or a rebuild, you will feel like you paid for new ones but only got the old ones back. Good maintenance will keep them purring contently for many, many years to come.

Good luck, GG. I really hope it all goes well for you and you get lots of enjoyment out of your new boat.

Thanks for the kind words. I will definitely learn ALL of the above and then some. I'm going to be somewhat of a pain in the captain's butt, because I'm going to want every move explained in detail, then I want to do everything myself, under supervision, of course.

I am still trying to work out details with the seller and determine various shipping options. I may ship the ship.

Nothing is set in stone yet, but I am hoping that it will work out.

[deckofficer]

We all hope the best for you GG. As you know, I'm partial to a smaller vessel such as a PDQ 34 PowerCat. 4 nm per gallon at trawler speeds of 6~8 kt, but still has the ability to distance you from the track of a hurricane at 18~20 kt, to get to a hurricane hole ahead of others and get tied up to Mangroves, etc.

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

You probably know this already, but...

DO consider the cost of transport (fuel, staff, provisions, maintenance and repairs while underway, incidentals, unexpecteds, and TIME) when you're comparing cost of that boat versus cost of a similar model closer to home. Assuming such exists -- or may exist in the future.

-Chris

Yes, for sure Chris. Good point. The price of this boat is perfect and it has everything that I had hoped for. I have been watching boat listings for almost a year now. I havn't seen anything else quite like this one. There was one other somewhat similar, here in the States, but it sold very quickly, I barely had the opportunity to inquire about it, and poof, gone. I was very dissapointed. Then, I came upon this one. I considered the additional costs, and am still researching, but I think it will still be worth it. It is a fairly unique design. I'm sure if the naysayers had their hands on the boat they would have plenty of reasons to disagree and do what they do best, discourage, but I know what is right for me

[deckofficer]

Just some food for thought. Lets say you fall in love with Caribbean cruising (that would make you one of many), and in 4 seasons you have put 20K nm under your keel island hopping then getting south enough to be out of the hurricanes during their season. At $4 a gallon in the Caribbean, in a catamaran type trawler at 4 nm per gallon the fuel bill for 4 seasons would be $20,000 just for fuel which isn't bad considering all the exploring done in those 4 years. Now if you choose a boat large enough for each kid to have a stateroom, and your range is now 0.8 nm per gallon, the fuel costs of those 4 years of cruising are now $100,000. That increase of $80K would make a big difference to me.

[deckofficer]

And for world cruising in a smaller power boat, get a lift there, pun intended.

From the US East Coast to the Baltics for a couple of months of cruising....




















Those PDQ 34 owners sure are a fun and social group.

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

And for world cruising in a smaller power boat, get a lift there, pun intended.

From the US East Coast to the Baltics for a couple of months of cruising....




















Those PDQ 34 owners sure are a fun and social group.

Do you think you will get one?

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

yes. I emailed Customs a while back but have lost it at this point. Apparantly it's 1.5-2.7%.

Yeah, I was wondering how this tax stuff works also. I found 1.5 for boats on the US customs webpage. Do you also have to pay duty to the counrty that you purchase from?

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

Just some food for thought. Lets say you fall in love with Caribbean cruising (that would make you one of many), and in 4 seasons you have put 20K nm under your keel island hopping then getting south enough to be out of the hurricanes during their season. At $4 a gallon in the Caribbean, in a catamaran type trawler at 4 nm per gallon the fuel bill for 4 seasons would be $20,000 just for fuel which isn't bad considering all the exploring done in those 4 years. Now if you choose a boat large enough for each kid to have a stateroom, and your range is now 0.8 nm per gallon, the fuel costs of those 4 years of cruising are now $100,000. That increase of $80K would make a big difference to me.

I can certiany appreciate what your saying about fuel, but I really love trawlers. I figured that I am fine with a gallon per mile, anything less is gravy. I'm hoping that the NA will report the vessel burns .5 at a lesser speed since it burns .8 at 9 knots. But even if the .8 is the best it will do, I'm fine with that. Sometimes you just have to sacrifice certain things to get other things.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl

Do you think you will get one?

To be honest, at my current age of 60 I still prefer sailing, however I might be close to 70 the next time I can cruise, so the PDQ PowerCat might be an option if I don't feel up to sailing anymore. Like the sailing PDQ 36, it is a very well designed and built boat, both power and sail PDQ's are on my short list.

But if I have the desire to cross oceans fast and safe, then a Deerfoot or Sundeer mono designed by Steve Dashew would be on that short list. Since I've done this so much on ships, I think I would be perfectly happy enjoying the NE and canals, the Caribbean, PNW, BC, and Alaska again. Time will tell for me GG.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl

I can certiany appreciate what your saying about fuel, but I really love trawlers. I figured that I am fine with a gallon per mile, anything less is gravy. I'm hoping that the NA will report the vessel burns .5 at a lesser speed since it burns .8 at 9 knots. But even if the .8 is the best it will do, I'm fine with that. Sometimes you just have to sacrifice certain things to get other things.

That one I looked at (55') burns 12 gallons at 9 kt, not 0.8.

[westwinds]

Originally Posted by deckofficer

That one I looked at (55') burns 12 gallons at 9 kt, not 0.8.

That's the difference between a displacement hull and a semi-planing hull or planing hull. Going twice as fast takes ten times more fuel.