Crew Wanted: Delivery skipper

[Vaucluse]

Hi there

I am looking for a delivery skipper to sail an Hans Christian 33 from Tauranga New Zealand to Brisbane Australia 1500 mn in the next 3 months weather permited.
I have made an offer on the boat and if accepted I will bring back the vessel with a skipper.
I sailed a fair bit when I was young. (one crossing of the Atlantic to Antigua, some Mediterranean crossing, worked on super Yachts) I have a competent crew level but all of that was when I was young. I have not sail for a long time and I do not have enough skills to bring back the boat by myself, but I want to be included and learn as much as possible on the way.
I am a healthy 55-year-old man
I am waiting to see if my offer will be accepted and if everything is on par I would love to think that the boat could be here in Brisbane weather permitted as soon as. Saying that It seems at the moment the cyclone activity in the tropics at the moment is a bit all over the place and it would be better off leaving it until later to let things settle down.
Bear in mind that if I am buying in New Zealand it is because mainly I cannot find an Hans Christian 33 here in Australia and not because I just have money to splash around.
I am on a budget and the offer on the boat reflect the expenses I will have to import the boat. I have a fair idea of all the component for the import.

Thank to contact me
Cheers
JMarc

[Deryck]

Hi
I've got a similar situation as I'm in the process of buying a yacht based in Auckland and have got a delivery skipper lined up for the trip (scheduled for the end of April at this stage, depending on the weather).
I found that a couple of the delivery skippers I found on the internet either wouldn't take an owner with them or else weren't very helpful -even when getting a quote from them. (One even went so far as to tell me that I should walk away from the purchase as Bavarias have such a bad reputation!)
I've found a skipper who's happy to take me with them on the trip and gets a very good reputation. If you send me your contact details I'll pass them on and then they can get in touch if they're able to help you. (I don't pass on personal details for my contacts on any open forum as I once got my fingers rattled by someone who told me I'd breached their privacy - although I was trying to help them out!)

[Vaucluse]

Look Derick, this is very nice of you. I am looking around and it is not easy as you know. Anyway I would be very interested to have more info if you have time.
On my side if I can help. I am also thinking about shipping it as an other alternative. I am waiting a few quotes but I really would like to sail the vessel.
my email address is jmarc.arcangeliatgmaildotcom. Hope everything will end up all good for you. Did you had the survey done already and by who? if I may. I am fighting this end too. I have received quote on the very end of what I was expecting. The kiwis think because we buying in NZ we have money to splash well this is not my case I buying there because HC 33 are not easy to found here in Oz. Anyway let me know and if you get time let me know how it all went all the best make sure the weather is easing a bit at the moment is all over the place.
Fair wind
Cheers mate
JMarc

[Deryck]

I've got the survey organised for next week by Dean Kennedy of Marine Survey NZ (Marine Survey New Zealand, launch and yacht surveys and valuations.). He was recommended to me by a friend who'd used him to check out 3 boats when he was looking for his current boat and, coincidentally, Dean had surveyed the boat I'm looking at when the current owner bought her a couple of years ago. He quoted me $150/hour for his service but I've also allowed for $500 for a diesel engineer to inspect the engine and sail drive plus a rigger to check over and report on the rigging. So, all up, I'm probably looking at around NZ$2000 for the survey. I've been told that's in line with current pricing for this sort of full survey.

My contact with Dean so far has been very positive and he's offered good advice on how I should tackle everything. I needed to have confidence in that as this is the first time I've bought a yacht of this size by private sale with no broker involvement or backup.

I'll pass on your email to the delivery skipper and leave her to get in touch from there, although don't be surprised if it takes a wee while to get an answer as they seem to be very busy with deliveries and sailing school training courses.

Hope this is helpful for you as I've had some good advice from others on this forum on a variety of questions I've had so far.

[Vaucluse]

Yes I contacted Dean and he responded to me already with what looks like a reasonable price for a survey $ 950 + GST for 6 .5 hours. I ll push my luck to ask you more question if I may
Would you be there while the survey, engine or sail drive are performed.
Does Dean do the sail try to?
Any contact you can give me on the engine survey and rigger?
The few contact I had to get the boat back here was with Australian skippers at around the $ 300 to 350 per day for approximately 10 to 12 days plus flight food fuel etc..

When you get a chance that would be very appreciated. Thanks a lot for everything.
Cheers
JMarc

[Deryck]

Yes, I'm going up to Auckland next week to be present when Dean does the survey. He's also agreed to help with the sea trial as I don't feel I have enough experience of a variety of yachts to really put the boat through its paces properly and be able to tell good from bad. Obviously he'll charge me for the time to do this but I'm assuming this won't be more than a couple of hours.

I won't be there for the engine/sail drive/rigging inspections as they were going to be done prior to the survey next Wednesday so I'll have to trust them on these.

As for the engine and rigging, Dean put me in touch with Ovlov Marine who have a workshop at the marina in Auckland where the boat is berthed (Pine Harbour) - they also know the boat as they've done work for the current owner as well - and he gave me the name of a rigger (Richard Hulston - 021 488 881) but he's based in Auckland. I'm sure there'll be a rigging company in Tauranga which could do this for you.

I specifically wanted to use people who Dean was happy to recommend so that I could be as confident as possible that I'd get worthwhile service from them all rather than just pick names out of a phone book or internet directory - I didn't have much luck with trying this when looking for other surveyors!

Incidentally, the delivery skipper I'm going to use charges $200/day plus flights/expenses. The other skippers I contacted were more expensive I think if you break their total cost down to an daily rate. But there may be an additional charge for the second crew member which I've been told would be about $100/day so that brings it in line with what you've been quoted.

The big plus for this particular skipper was that they are happy for me to go with them on the trip as I felt this was important so that I can learn from them during the voyage. Nothing like learning from an experienced person on your own vessel.

[Vaucluse]

Thanks let me know how you end up.
If my offer is accepted I will be there in two weeks as Dean would be available on the 20 March. when you get a chance to give me your skipper contact that would be terrific. I will try to contact the mechanic and a rigger.
All the best I stop for today to annoy you but I may next time cheers

[Deryck]

I've emailed the skipper and given your email address. It might take a wee while to hear from her as she seems to be very busy at the moment.

[sark69]

Hi JMarc
Did you end up buying the HC33? If so did you organise a delivery skipper? If not I can offer my services for $200pd plus expenses and happy ot have owners onboard.
I won't go into my experiences here but I am very experienced, qualified and in Auckland. If interested email me gary@gtnz.com
Cheers
Gary

[katoema]

Hi JMarc, I'm not in your neck of the woods, but I have been a delivery skipper and on-board tutor for getting on 50 years. I'll be 70 in June and many of my clients come back to me, due to age and experience. I just want to say that there are only about 150 true private professional delivery skippers globally who, in the course of their work that really put their owners first, thus would not hesitate to stop an owner from being on-board. In fact owners learn a lot from the experience.

I would like to wish you well with your passage. I have been fortunate to sail on a Hans Christian 48 back in 2003 - excellent design range!

Regards
Martin