UK Citizen buying a sail boat in the Caribbean and keeping it there

[Caroline Jane]

My boyfriend Leon and I ( live in UK, UK passport holders) are planning on buying a used sail boat in the Caribbean, for ideally under £40,000.

We plan to sail around the islands from December to May every year and keep it on the hard during hurricane season. We estimate we will do this for around 3 to 5 years, then sell it on from where ever we end up, within the Caribbean.

We are open to anywhere in the Caribbean, our priority is to buy and start sailing as soon as possible.

I have been googling questions for a while and have seen there are lots of very helpful members in this forum and would very much appreciate if anyone could please help with any of the below specific questions.

1 – Where is the best place for a UK citizen to start looking and buy a sail boat in the Caribbean? Ie are there any islands where a Brit’ can simply look at boats, find a boat, and a sale can go through quickly and easily so we can start sailing as soon as possible.

2- Does it matter where the boat for sale is currently registered? Ie is it easier to buy a boat that is already registered in the UK SSR, do boats currently registered in certain countries attract tax for the purchaser ? or does it not make any difference where the boat is currently registered?

3- Are there any documents the seller can provide to us that proves they are the owner? And is there a way of telling if they are genuine?

4- Is there a way of checking the history of that boat? Ie that the seller really is the current owner, ? Does the current owner have any debt associated with that boat or owe any taxes associated with that boat? Has the boat previously been an insurance write off?

5- Do we need any documents other than passports to buy a boat there? Ie Proof of UK address / do we need an address in the Caribbean and if so could it just be a hotel I am staying in? or anything else?

6- Am I correct in thinking that as UK citizens we are best registering our boat with the UK SSR? If so how long does that take? Do we have to wait for an original registration document to arrive wherever we are staying in the Caribbean before we are allowed to set sail? (if so will they send to our hotel or? Or will we get an electronic PDF that all islands will accept or something we can print out? Or anything else?

7- do we need to wait for the current owner to deregister his/her boat before we can register it as ours? And are we better obtaining proof that they have de-registered the boat in their name? and if so how is that obtained?

8- Are there any insurance companies anyone can recommend, that maybe specialise in boats staying in the Caribbean and owned by UK citizen.

9- When purchasing are there any other documents we need from the seller or anywhere else other than the bill of sale and boat registration and /or anything else we need to do?

10- When sailing to another island is it the same as it is in most of the Mediterranean, ie find the port police and “check in” with proof of registry, insurance, skippers certificate and crew list?

11- if just anchoring up in a bay on an island, do we still need to go and “check in” on that island or can we just anchor up, stay a while and leave?

Any advise will be very much appreciated!


Caroline