Importing a Boat to Australia

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by 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.

Everything you say is correct Dragon Lady. I started in Med and went West. Wind at your back all the way. Gotta love those Trades. To my mind a Beneteau 50 is the best bang for bucks out of the charter fleet.

[felixqld66]

I used Ozforex to buy my yacht in thailand great rate and it went very smoothly

[andreas.mehlin]

Originally Posted by felixqld66

I used Ozforex to buy my yacht in thailand great rate and it went very smoothly

and so did we. Can highly recommend it!

[D&D]

Originally Posted by lordgeoff

I started in Med and went West. Wind at your back all the way.

No thoughts or concerns (or incidents!) with pirates along that route?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by D&D

No thoughts or concerns (or incidents!) with pirates along that route?

Only when you wanna go thro' the canal...

[Dragon Lady]

Originally Posted by D&D

No thoughts or concerns (or incidents!) with pirates along that route?

The pirate issues appear to be going the other way, just stay to north going through the Caribbean avoiding the pirates near the Colombian and Venezuelan coasts.

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by D&D

No thoughts or concerns (or incidents!) with pirates along that route?

Didn't have any trouble with pirates. I think it is an Urban Myth except for places like the horn etc. There were always people who knew someone whoe knew someone who heard of someones friend who who were attacked by pirates. The bars in Colon on the Caribbean side of Panama was the most likely place for problems.

[D&D]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

The pirate issues appear to be going the other way

Oops...my bad...of course it's the other way I meant too...I will blame the beer fingers taking over!

How's your vessel search progressing?

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by D&D

Oops...my bad...of course it's the other way I meant too...I will blame the beer fingers taking over!

How's your vessel search progressing?

I know exactly what boat to get and where. Just have to sort work, missus etc.

[Dragon Lady]

Originally Posted by D&D

Oops...my bad...of course it's the other way I meant too...I will blame the beer fingers taking over!

How's your vessel search progressing?

Just waiting for all the holidays to be over so I can get my money released then sent O/S so should only be another week or so till the deal is done.
The vendor has been very good with agreeing to fix all the reasonable issues that the survey highlighted.
So hopefully we now be able to get the boat ready for the delivery by late February.
As for pirates there were two murders reported last year in the area whether it was pirates or not you may debate but either way I’m not taking any risks.

[lordgeoff]

So what boat are you getting Dragon Lady? From where? Ahhh you must be on a high being so close to finalising. Love to hear any details you have of the boat. As I said on an earlier comment, I am a Beneteau 50 person.

[D&D]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

the reasonable issues that the survey highlighted

Were you happy with your surveyor? We gather your survey was in the Caribbean (St Maarten?) and, if so, would you name/recommend your surveyor for others looking there?

[Dragon Lady]

Yes I can highly recommend the surveyor, whom is in St Martin.
I'm not sure if I'm breaking any rules if I name him?
He wasn't cheap but his report was very thorough.
Looking at an FP cat but I will hold the details until I have my money down in case I jinx myself, as I've said before this deal is a little different to the normal sales but I'm hoping it will work out.

[Dragon Lady]

Just spoke to the nice folk at the Australian shipping register who tell me you can pre pay, lodge your application and be allocated a number for your hull ID in advance.
So you can go OS inspect the boat, finalize payment, then when you have the bill of sale and clearance certificate you can send it to them and they will process it the day they receive it.
They also said it is currently taking 2 weeks to process applications.
Anyway I thought I would share this info as it may help others doing the same as me.

[meyermm]

Very much an arms length transaction I would have thought and yes I have done the overseas thing. Maybe another reason not to broadcast too loudly is not all surveys turn out well in the long run. He or she maybe the best surveyor in the world but its like baking a cake it may look good but the taste may not measure up. Good luck with it