Importing a Boat to Australia

[Surfer Girl]

Originally Posted by hoppy

Another problem with buying a northern hemisphere boat is that the toilets are designed to flush in the opposite direction to those in the south, so you need to factor in a head replacement into the price

[savoir]

You can buy a set of shims to adjust the head mounts in order to solve that problem. It's a bit like turning a compass. Mind you things can turn very ugly very fast if you get it wrong.

Perhaps it's a job best left to the professionals.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by savoir

You can buy a set of shims to adjust the head mounts in order to solve that problem. It's a bit like turning a compass. Mind you things can turn very ugly very fast if you get it wrong.

Perhaps it's a job best left to the professionals.

Wow, great advice, i never realised it can be adjusted to solve the problem. Thanks!

[hogesinwa]

Originally Posted by Mr B

If you do buy a boat from the USA, their Epirbs are illegal on Australian registered boats and vice versa,

My boat in Fiji has a USA registered Epirb and I have bought one and registered it to me in Australia and taking it with me to Fiji,
You must be carefull when Buying an Epirb here as some cant be carried on planes,

From AMSA website:-

Can distress beacons be used overseas or can beacons registered in a foreign country be used in Australia?

[snipped]
Australian residents who buy a distress beacon registered elsewhere should have the beacon recoded with the Australian country code by a local agent and have it registered with AMSA.

? Doesn't say they're illegal. Says "should" not "must". I have a GlobalFix that's sold in Oz also.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by hogesinwa

From AMSA website:-

Can distress beacons be used overseas or can beacons registered in a foreign country be used in Australia?

[snipped]
Australian residents who buy a distress beacon registered elsewhere should have the beacon recoded with the Australian country code by a local agent and have it registered with AMSA.

? Doesn't say they're illegal. Says "should" not "must". I have a GlobalFix that's sold in Oz also.

You will probably find that the "should" becomes a "must" once you have arrived in Australian waters.

It seems that Aus and NZ have gone at it on their own when it comes to the radio frequencies used by Epirbs. I think they only have the 406 mhz for sattelites whilst the rest of the world has a 2nd frequency. I was surprised and annoyed ti see on the McMurdo site that they have a special "Aus/NZ" version

[Capt Phil]

Excellent observation on use of foreign brokers, D&D. As I live in the US and have purchased boats in different parts of the country as well as offshore, using a reputable broker to represent you is a good idea. The trick is to find one who is reputable. This forum is a good place to get advice on finding one. Capt Phil

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by hoppy

Another problem with buying a northern hemisphere boat is that the toilets are designed to flush in the opposite direction to those in the south, so you need to factor in a head replacement into the price

This sounds like a send up to me.... but it is early in the morning!

People crossing the equator don't have to change heads..... !!!???

[Capt Phil]

Just sit on the head backwards... problem solved! Capt Phil

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Nauticatarcher

Problem with compasses is called Dip and yes there are Northern and Southern Hemisphere compasses but it only really gets to be a problem when you get into higher latitudes

FWIW,

Here's some real life data: We sailed from San Francisco with a compass balanced for that area... a Danforth binnacle 4 inch model. By the time we reached New Zealand the card had dipped so much that it hung up and wouldn't turn. Once in Auckland we had it re-balanced (not cheap, either) and chose what they called an "equatorial" balance. This proved to be useful from near the equator (Solomon Islands) to the Southern Ocean south of Tassie. Still working fine for her current owner as far as I know.

Meanwhile, also FWIW, friends who left at the same time with a Ritchie Globe-Master binnacle compass noted considerable dip in the card, but found that the compass continued to work ok in New Zealand. The similar Ritchie that is on Insatiable II (sourced in Canada) has worked from Alaska to the Southern Ocean. I'm not sure what the differences in design are, but they seem to matter!

Cheers,

JIm

[Johnathon123]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

This sounds like a send up to me.... but it is early in the morning!

People crossing the equator don't have to change heads..... !!!???

Are you sure, perhaps they just don't like talking about It.

What we could do is find a little island or atoll somewhere right on the equator and set up a "crapper and compass calibration" business, (ccc for short) we would make a fortune with all those cruisers who want to keep it to themselves!


I'm sorry, I am a little bored this morning!

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by hoppy

You will probably find that the "should" becomes a "must" once you have arrived in Australian waters.

It seems that Aus and NZ have gone at it on their own when it comes to the radio frequencies used by Epirbs. I think they only have the 406 mhz for sattelites whilst the rest of the world has a 2nd frequency. I was surprised and annoyed ti see on the McMurdo site that they have a special "Aus/NZ" version

Simply not true. All EPIRBS / PLBS / ELTS use the same frequencies (406 MHz & 121.5 MHz); Actually there are several 406 frequencies in use but the Satellite receivers are tuned to all of them.

[Mr B]

All Epirbs are the same frequency and work all over the world,
Its the registration of the Epirb in different countrys that differs only,

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Mr B

All Epirbs are the same frequency and work all over the world,
Its the registration of the Epirb in different countrys that differs only,

Technically not quite correct, they don't all use the SAME frequency but they are all very close to 406MHz so for the layman (& cruisers), we can say they all use 406 MHz.

As Mr B and others have correctly stated, it is the registration that is important. Most (but not all) beacons are pre-programmed with a Country code as part of their ID. Australia's code is 503. To register a beacon in Oz, it MUST have have a country code of 503. Many (but again, not all) can be re-programmed.

It you buy a beacon in Oz (and it was imported normally), it will have 503 already programmed into it but if you have bought it in some other country, it will have that countries code. You might be able to have it re-programmed but it will depend on the model.

Of course, it will still work (i.e. transmit etc) but you won't be able to get it registered n the Aussie database and so won't meet the requirements of EPIRB carriage.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by hogesinwa

......
BTW, I have just encountered another hitch in the buying overseas. You need to get your SSB unit licence and personal licence issued by your home/flag country. Can't get one in the USA without a Social Security Number (or the alien registration number you get with a work permit). Since ACMA doesn't even have SSB in its Glossary of Terms, finding out what to do is problematic.

As for your SSB, all transmitters in Australia have to be type approved and this can be checked by looking for the "C Tick" of approval that will be somewhere on the back of the unit. So your imported SSB probably won't have this approval so is technically illegal to use Oz.

Can you get a station license for it? Yes because the model / serial number is not required on the application form.

Is it legal? No unless it has that "C Tick".
Will you get caught? Probably not.
Should you do it? Dunno, that a moral question to which you have to find your own answer.

[IslandHopper]

Remember this is for Australian registered vessels only....

AMSA Beacons Information

....if you have an EPIRB that is able to be reprogrammed for another country you should be fine, check first it may save you some money....