Nah mate, you're off yer rocker.

[salticrak]

About two years ago I was granted a permanent visa to reside in Australia. The process to gain residency was a long and frustrating affair, not to mention the cost.The bureaucracy here is finely tuned,Kafka would be proud. But it is what I wanted and so i jumped thru all the hoops.

While this process was going on, I decided to build a Wharram tiki 26. I love these little cats. I kept quite about my plans and just started building the boat.Knowing all along that immigration could give me my marching orders at any time.
Nearer the end of my build and before the visa was granted it was like i was on parole,having to present myself to the immi dept down in Brisbane every month.
People started coming round as the build progressed,those that knew my visa status at the time expressed their doubts about my choice of building the boat before my immigration residency was granted.

They had a point of course,but if I had listened to them,I am sure the whole visa application process would have been more stressful.The build kept me from going mad methinks.

I now need to get her in the water, the next challenge is to get the$$$ together to do it.I have battled with health issues but am turning the corner and hope to be focused on the cat now with renewed vigour.

I wrote this missive not as a ''well done bloke'' thing but more as an illustration that sometimes pig headedness pays off,if only you can see the wood for the trees sometimes.

[Wotname]

Well done matey
I might call it persistence rather than pig headedness
Good outcome.

[Sun and Moon]

But wait - where are the pictures?

[salticrak]

Originally Posted by Sun and Moon

But wait - where are the pictures?

She's a bit dusty right now mate,i'll put some up at the time of the launch for sure.

[44'cruisingcat]

Well done bloke! Hope you get her launched and sailing soon!


I don't think there much that's more satisfying than sailing and cruising in a boat you built yourself.

[salticrak]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Well done matey
I might call it persistence rather than pig headedness
Good outcome.

yeah mate,sometimes you just gotta go with your gut feeling on things. It was a 50/50 gamble the way I see it. I reckon if I had posted what I intended to do before building the well intentioned advice would have been interesting.
Posting a wish list of intentions often are just that,I have found quite often.Interesting to read and ponder tho.

[GILow]

Congratulations on both the build and the successful negotiation of the bureaucracy.

Did you keep track of the total build hours? How did they compare with the hours spent doing paperwork?

Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[salticrak]

Originally Posted by GILow

Congratulations on both the build and the successful negotiation of the bureaucracy.

Did you keep track of the total build hours? How did they compare with the hours spent doing paperwork?

Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Mate the build took me roughly 2.5 years to complete.I am not a meticulous person as far as timekeeking goes,but worked on the boat for 5 days a week and earned a living for two.I had to rebuild a mast as the first bit of timber I used was not cured properly,and it was only thru talking to a beekeeper mate that I realized there was a problem.

The timber is hoop pine for the mast, I reflected on how the grain had lovely blue and purple streaks thru it,well my mate said this was an indication that the wood was not seasoned properly.He said the beehives they had made out of unseasoned hoop pine had the same colorization thru it.

hence the epoxy not bonding properly. I learned as I went on this build,I had never used a skill saw or a planer before this project.

As for the Visa I started on a work visa then onto another three.My first aplication for residency got knocked back.I appealed to the minister, sat on a bridging visa for ages,went to a tribunal etc, etc. This whole process took over ten years with boxes of paper work,police clearances,military discharge papers from another lifetime ago,they wanted it all and them some and in triplicate.So it was a marathon of paperwork over an extended period.
cheers paul.

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by salticrak

About two years ago I was granted a permanent visa to reside in Australia. The process to gain residency was a long and frustrating affair, not to mention the cost.The bureaucracy here is finely tuned,Kafka would be proud. But it is what I wanted and so i jumped thru all the hoops.

While this process was going on, I decided to build a Wharram tiki 26. I love these little cats. I kept quite about my plans and just started building the boat.Knowing all along that immigration could give me my marching orders at any time.
Nearer the end of my build and before the visa was granted it was like i was on parole,having to present myself to the immi dept down in Brisbane every month.
People started coming round as the build progressed,those that knew my visa status at the time expressed their doubts about my choice of building the boat before my immigration residency was granted.

They had a point of course,but if I had listened to them,I am sure the whole visa application process would have been more stressful.The build kept me from going mad methinks.

I now need to get her in the water, the next challenge is to get the$$$ together to do it.I have battled with health issues but am turning the corner and hope to be focused on the cat now with renewed vigour.

I wrote this missive not as a ''well done bloke'' thing but more as an illustration that sometimes pig headedness pays off,if only you can see the wood for the trees sometimes.

Goodonyamate. :-D Prioritize it and enjoy it

[adlib2]

Originally Posted by salticrak

About two years ago I was granted a permanent visa to reside in Australia. The process to gain residency was a long and frustrating affair, not to mention the cost.The bureaucracy here is finely tuned,Kafka would be proud. But it is what I wanted and so i jumped thru all the hoops.

While this process was going on, I decided to build a Wharram tiki 26. I love these little cats. I kept quite about my plans and just started building the boat.Knowing all along that immigration could give me my marching orders at any time.
Nearer the end of my build and before the visa was granted it was like i was on parole,having to present myself to the immi dept down in Brisbane every month.
People started coming round as the build progressed,those that knew my visa status at the time expressed their doubts about my choice of building the boat before my immigration residency was granted.

They had a point of course,but if I had listened to them,I am sure the whole visa application process would have been more stressful.The build kept me from going mad methinks.

I now need to get her in the water, the next challenge is to get the$$$ together to do it.I have battled with health issues but am turning the corner and hope to be focused on the cat now with renewed vigour.

I wrote this missive not as a ''well done bloke'' thing but more as an illustration that sometimes pig headedness pays off,if only you can see the wood for the trees sometimes.

Congratulations on a project well done; am sure you'll get satisfaction.
I lived in Australia for a couple of Years, Adelaide & Brissie; wonderful country, especially for sailing.
I was there for a mining project from Canada. Oz like Canada say they need people and yet they make it so bloody difficult to get in. Unless of course you're a refugee, then you get the red carpet.

[salticrak]

I agree with you regarding the absolute run around you get from the bureaucracy you have to endure regarding immigration to Aus,the process is not for the faint hearted, but with a lot of patience and perseverance it can be done.

Both mining jobs and refugees have slowed down dramatically here. Those single young males seeking a better life seem to prefer Europe now...
hah,but then again back in the day all you had to do was steal a loaf of bread back in Blighty.

I came from a farming family in Africa and all that goes with that.rightly or wrongly, I felt as if I had come on a boat my residency would have moved along at a faster pace than it did. but that's another story.

I am a mad keen kayakfisher and some of those lightly fished remote reefs north of here certainly have an appeal.
i love it here,love the Aussie humour and the great outdoors and yes the sailing oppurtunities are awesome.The Northern territory from darwin to Broome is a place i would love to explore by boat.

[yotpop]

Gidday, as they say over there. Stressful stuff! Congrats on jumping through all the hoops. Now you can sit back and relax - but watch out for some of the world's deadliest buggers: brown & taipan snakes, pythons, crocodiles, funnel-web, black widow & redback spiders, box jellyfish, irukandji jellyfish, great white sharks, bull sharks, tiger sharks, dingos, cassowaries, blue-ring octopi, stonefish, cone snails, honey bees, sea snakes, bull ants, paralysis ticks, giant centipedes, Aussie Sheilas and painful accents. Even the TV can be fatal in Australia - brain failure occurs rapidly after exposure to episodes of Neighbours and Home & Away. Watching both can be fatal. Did you really want to move there? Do you enjoy paying Stamp Duty and Capital Gains Tax? Perhaps you're curious to discover why they tied that kangaroo down! Seriously, apart from all the above, you've chosen a prime venue for sailing. If you can sail across the ditch to NZ, you'd be pleased to find a land free of many of those poisonous problems mentioned earlier. Looking forward to seeing a photo or two of your cat - the one with two hulls, not four legs. Cheers

[Cheechako]

G'die mite! But this never happened without pics!

[salticrak]

There ya go, SV Warthog amongst the tress.

[Sun and Moon]

Originally Posted by salticrak

... I felt as if I had come on a boat my residency would have moved along at a faster pace than it did.

Did you ever consider maybe they were waiting all that time for you to get yourself a boat? If you had started building when you first applied for residency you might have been approved years ago.

PS - Nice looking boat!