Importing a Boat to Australia

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by atoll

correct on the 96 hrs but most places are 6-8days sail away,which is fine if you have a sat phone,and are not put on hold........
also agree it is advisable to have a customs agent in advance

I agree with the customs agent. Money well spent. I sent and email from Noumea with ETA and crew and passport numbers then phoned when I got into mobile range to confirm.

[bludden]

When I look at boats listed on Yachtworld, prices are sometimes quoted in Euros, sometimes in US currency. I'm thinking I should lock in the value of the Australian dollar soon but to which currency if I intend to purchase in the Caribbean?The 4% spread between buy and sell could soon eat up any value I'd locked in if I guess the wrong currency. Will each boat have a currency they insist on being paid in or would I be safe with Euros...Cheers

[savoir]

There is no correct answer to that question. Each owner will value the boat in their home currency. You might keep a watch on the British pound which is likely to fall in value next year.

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by bludden

When I look at boats listed on Yachtworld, prices are sometimes quoted in Euros, sometimes in US currency. I'm thinking I should lock in the value of the Australian dollar soon but to which currency if I intend to purchase in the Caribbean?The 4% spread between buy and sell could soon eat up any value I'd locked in if I guess the wrong currency. Will each boat have a currency they insist on being paid in or would I be safe with Euros...Cheers

In the Caribbean USD is the currency. Euro obviously in Croatia and Europe generally. US and Euro are generally accepted though in either jurisdiction. At the time of the purchase your bank will exchange but there is a buy / sell spread. It is difficult but if you can open a bank account in the US or Europe and send Aussie dollars accross now then that makes sense because of the good exchange rates. Because of the terrorist issues it is difficult to open an account unless you front up personally.
You would note that prices of ex charter type yachts in Australia have dropped a lot because even though the US price in Caribbean havent changed however they are 30% less in Australian dollars because of the exchange parity . It is a punt but the AUD probably won't go much higher.

[lordgeoff]

As an example a 5 year old yacht in the Caribbean was $200,000 4 years ago and the equivalent 5 year old yacht now is $200,000. The Australian dollars needed to buy that yacht 5 years ago was about $315,000 AUD. The Australian dollars needed to buy the equivalent yacht today is around $200,00 AUD. Big bang for your bucks today. I have been trying to convince my wife to hedge currencies by buying a yacht in the Caribbean....... still have some ways to go.

[boatman61]

I think you'll find most brokers in the French Islands.. St Martin, St Barts, Martinique etc will accept euro's and handle any conversions happily..
Stick an ad in GumTree London offering to buy euro's from end of walkabout Europe arrivals... at true rate not what they get screwed for in the UK... start stocking up.. lol

[meyermm]

Originally Posted by atoll

correct on the 96 hrs but most places are 6-8days sail away,which is fine if you have a sat phone,and are not put on hold........
also agree it is advisable to have a customs agent in advance

No sat phone required, many boats leave from places like Noumea on last leg, you can fax or email in advance or if you have seamail email. Not really a problem cruisers are supposed to be laid back in no hurry.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by lordgeoff

If you are an Australian Citizen coming in with a boat you own, whether registered in NZ or Panama or anywhere then you will be immediately up for taxes.

I think that this is not necessarily true, residency will come into to equasion and they may perhaps look at your residency/registration to decide whether you are trying to dodge taxes or are a genuine "visitor".

I'm my case I have both Australian & Swedish citizenship, I have been non-resident as far as Aus is concerned 12 years and resident in Sweden for the past 10. My boat is Swedish registered.

Even though they can be @#$%, I cannot believe there is no way for me to circumnavigate without getting back home and being out of pocket for GST/Duty unless I stay out of Australian waters.

[Dragon Lady]

Originally Posted by bludden

When I look at boats listed on Yachtworld, prices are sometimes quoted in Euros, sometimes in US currency. I'm thinking I should lock in the value of the Australian dollar soon but to which currency if I intend to purchase in the Caribbean?The 4% spread between buy and sell could soon eat up any value I'd locked in if I guess the wrong currency. Will each boat have a currency they insist on being paid in or would I be safe with Euros...Cheers

It's hard to know which way to jump I've stopped looking at the currency market but with more interest rate rises on the cards the Aussie could go higher. It's the old damed if you do damed if you don't.

[savoir]

Originally Posted by meyermm

No sat phone required, many boats leave from places like Noumea on last leg, you can fax or email in advance or if you have seamail email. Not really a problem cruisers are supposed to be laid back in no hurry.

The easiest way to enter Australia is via the Bundaberg rally. It departs in October from Noumea and Vila. The organisers do everything for you. Here is their webpage

Bundaberg Cruising Yacht Club

Lots of cruisers with no sailmail send faxes to Australia from the fuel dock in Port Vila. They're used to it.

[tuskie]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

Hi, Bundaberg seems to be a popular entry port for boats crossing the pacific.
Is there any difference between entry ports that one should be aware of?
I’ve read of people having to get termite sniffer dogs transported into some locations?
Is there a rule regarding how much timber there can be on a boat before a dog is required?
I imagine nearly every boat has some timber in it.

Hi DL,
Great to follow your quest for a reasonably priced cruising cat.
Regarding your request for information regarding customs in Bundy and AQIS's regulations for wooden boats. I won't express any opinion here, as some of my previous posts have been censored by the moderators. In these days of "rendition" and "Wikileaks" us Aussies have to be careful.

Try "The Coastal Passage" for first hand reports on such matters:
Australian Customs Report

May the winds of the used boat market and the currents of currency exchange carry you to your ideal craft

[atoll]

just to clarify things on the yacht report.
we had sent an email from port vila notifying aussi customs of our intended arrival in brisbane.
unfortunately due to strong southerly winds,and passing north of chesterfield reef we were un able to get that far south so had to divert north to bundaberg,fortunately we had a sat phone and were able to re report our new port of entry as bundaberg,thus satisfying aus customs.

once inside hervey bay we were able to make contact with the marina and customs by vhf who made the quarentine berth available for us to come alongside.

the point i was trying to make was that it would not be a good idea for an aussi registered vessel to try and slip in" under the radar" so to speak and import the vessel with out checking in,so as to avoid paying import duty.

[jpemb7]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

It's hard to know which way to jump I've stopped looking at the currency market but with more interest rate rises on the cards the Aussie could go higher. It's the old damed if you do damed if you don't.

We all know that the Aussie dollar is not going to continue rising forever. So I have decided to buy a boat in Europe ( more places to see on the way home) and lock in some funds now. I have opened a Euro foreign currency account at the Comm bank. Haven't bought any Euros yet but have registered with Ozforex (online exchange service owned by Macquarie bank) Their buy sell spread is about 1.5%. If our plans change and we have to sell the Euros that shouldn't be too much of a loss.
When we go to Europe to look at boats I will give my daughter authority to operate the Comm bank account. When we find a boat I'll get her to transfer the money.

I know there are things that can go wrong including bank transfers that take forever to be completed.

But does anyone have a better way of paying for the boat ?

Jim

[Dragon Lady]

Yeah I thought to AUD had peaked at .72 Euro but now it's touching .75 realy who knows?
OZforex were very helpful and they say euro transfers normaly take 3 days. My funds took 10 days because the money had to go through several banks to get to St Martin, if your going to a main centre in Europe you should be fine.
I think you are wise looking in Europe there are a lot of good deals there and the climate is probably a bit kinder to the boats than the Carribean.
You just have another ocean to cross on the way home but that could be a plus depending how you look at it.
Good luck with your search, my tip would be to be very patient and try and find someone you can trust to help you especially with survey.
I think it also helps if you know the models you want that way you only have to worry about finding a boat in good condition at the right price.

[meyermm]

Dragon Lady how many imports have you done and are you sailing the boat back to OZ?