Free: Advice needed

[Phil Mavis]

Hi all.

A quick question regarding our recent situation. Forum moderator please advise me if this is posted in the wrong area and I will copy and paste elsewhere.

I recently posted our Canadian registered Catalina for sale. We bought our boat in Saint John, New Brunswick and sailed down the east coast all the way to Georgetown, Bahamas. As hurricane season approached, we headed for Florida. We decided we had to return for one more season and put our boat up on the hard in Indiantown, Florida (inland up the St. Lucy River) and started driving home to British Columbia.

As luck would have it, the only company that would take us out of cruising life posted two management jobs which we applied for and accepted the positions. Unfortunately, returning to "normal" life means we won't be able to return to our boat in the near future so the only logical thing to do is sell her. I've done some inquiring and it appears to try to sell our boat to a US citizen would be very tough with many hoops to jump through.

Therefore we think our only options are...

1. Sell her to a Canadian buyer in Florida.
2. Hire a captain to sail our boat north to Canada then sell her.

or ???

Do any of you have any other ideas of what I should do? Anyone else been in this predicament?

[Fence Man]

3. Tell the company with the management jobs that you have made a terrible mistake, and head back to the boat.

I have a job that involves management. Being on a boat is decidedly better.

[Phil Mavis]

Returning to "normality" as the cruising kitty will not last forever and this is an opportunity for another chance to top that up before we untie the lines for good.

[LoudMusic]

Surely it can be sold in Florida for more money. You won't have all the expense of relocating it and as far as I know boats go for a lot more money in Florida than in Canada.

[Phil Mavis]

The previous owner was motivated to sell and was very fair to us. We too are now motivated and wish to do the same for the next buyer.

Location of this boat and being somewhat restricted to selling to a Canadian buyer will make this a bit challenging for both us and the buyer. We just hope that if we can find a buyer willing to work together to make it work.

[gunkylump]

Originally Posted by Phil Mavis

Hi all.

A quick question regarding our recent situation. Forum moderator please advise me if this is posted in the wrong area and I will copy and paste elsewhere.

I recently posted our Canadian registered Catalina for sale. We bought our boat in Saint John, New Brunswick and sailed down the east coast all the way to Georgetown, Bahamas. As hurricane season approached, we headed for Florida. We decided we had to return for one more season and put our boat up on the hard in Indiantown, Florida (inland up the St. Lucy River) and started driving home to British Columbia.

As luck would have it, the only company that would take us out of cruising life posted two management jobs which we applied for and accepted the positions. Unfortunately, returning to "normal" life means we won't be able to return to our boat in the near future so the only logical thing to do is sell her. I've done some inquiring and it appears to try to sell our boat to a US citizen would be very tough with many hoops to jump through.

Therefore we think our only options are...

1. Sell her to a Canadian buyer in Florida.
2. Hire a captain to sail our boat north to Canada then sell her.

or ???

Do any of you have any other ideas of what I should do? Anyone else been in this predicament?

Friends of ours from Windsor, Ontario just sold their sailboat in Ft. Pierce, Florida. They hired a maritime lawyer to assist them at what they considered minimal expense. Their broker and the lawyer were of great assistance to them in the sale. If you pm me here with your email I can send you their contact info, I am sure Joe would be of great assistance to you.

[Fence Man]

Originally Posted by Phil Mavis

Returning to "normality" as the cruising kitty will not last forever and this is an opportunity for another chance to top that up before we untie the lines for good.

Yep, I get it. When I read back what I'd posted, I realized that I was talking to myself. Good luck with the sale, and the new jobs.

[casual]

FWIW many Canadians come to the area your boat is at. I hauled one year there and it was March many Candians were returning to Indiantown from theie winter cruise.My wife's family are Newfies and come south every winter.

[ascarswell]

My understanding is that the only issue might be duty/taxes (importing the boat to the U.S. from Canada) and deleting her from the Canadian Coast Guard registry and adding her to the U.S. Coast Guard registry. We just purchased our U.S. imported & registered boat in FL and did the opposite - deleted her from U.S. registry and added her to the Canadian Coast Guard registry, home port of Windsor, ON. We have no plans to ever bring our boat back to Canada, so never have to worry about paying taxes or duty. Our boat was already imported to the U.S., and we have paperwork to prove it, so when we sell, a new American owner will just have to do Coast Guard registration.

We had Jennifer O'Neill of
Saxton Documentation take care of all of those details on our behalf...she did a great job. Maybe reach out to her and get her advice.

500 SE 17th Street, Suite 322
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316
SaxtonDocumentation@gmail.com
954-764-6702

[deCarabas]

Hi Phil. Just curious if you could post some basic specs on the boat and price? Curious Canadian

Thanks!

[Phil Mavis]

Here you go. Guess that would have helped. Thanks for asking.

And again I should note that I am prohibited from selling to a US Buyer while this Canadian registered boat is located within US territory. Thanks for understanding all...

Here is a copy of the link to keep it less cluttered here...

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...er-205806.html

Please note the price is $30K Canadian funds, not US.

Paying it forward.

[piloto]

Originally Posted by Phil Mavis

Here you go. Guess that would have helped. Thanks for asking.



And again I should note that I am prohibited from selling to a US Buyer while this Canadian registered boat is located within US territory. Thanks for understanding all...



Here is a copy of the link to keep it less cluttered here...



http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...er-205806.html



Please note the price is $30K Canadian funds, not US.



Paying it forward.

Look up Tahaini (sp) Canadian couple lost their boat earlier this year in USVI , looking to return to sailing-don’t know if they found another or not.

[hellosailor]

Phil-
I think it comes down to the matter of how the boat was allowed to enter the US. If you came in on a standard cruising permit, that's analogous to coming in on a tourist visa. You can visit--but not seek employment. In the same way, the boat can visit--but not engage in commerce, i.e. not be sold here. It has to be formally imported to the US, duty paid, etc. in order to be placed for sale here, to US citizens.
And as others have said, that's "just" paperwork. A broker or attorney or other agent who is familiar with the process can make it happen. Meanwhile, you can advertise the boat, and note the "cannot sell to" bit, and if a Colonial wants to buy the boat anyway, it just means that paperwork and the formal "import" have to happen.
Yours will not be the first or the only Canadian boat that gets sold in the US this way. I'm sure you could do the paperwork yourself, but suspect using an agent who already knows what to do, will pay off.

[Phil Mavis]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Phil-
I think it comes down to the matter of how the boat was allowed to enter the US. If you came in on a standard cruising permit, that's analogous to coming in on a tourist visa. You can visit--but not seek employment. In the same way, the boat can visit--but not engage in commerce, i.e. not be sold here. It has to be formally imported to the US, duty paid, etc. in order to be placed for sale here, to US citizens.
And as others have said, that's "just" paperwork. A broker or attorney or other agent who is familiar with the process can make it happen. Meanwhile, you can advertise the boat, and note the "cannot sell to" bit, and if a Colonial wants to buy the boat anyway, it just means that paperwork and the formal "import" have to happen.
Yours will not be the first or the only Canadian boat that gets sold in the US this way. I'm sure you could do the paperwork yourself, but suspect using an agent who already knows what to do, will pay off.

Thanks very much for your advice. It appears now we will return to our boat to cruise for one more year, then sail her north to Canada where we will sell her with a Canadian broker to keep things a lot more simple.

Really appreciate the help all!