Shipping my gear overseas

[Habana]

I live in Texas and will be shipping gear, tools, spares and the like to my boat which is being built in France. I am quite handy so I’ll make my own pallet and plan to repurpose it on the boat. Having said this, what types of spares in the way of wood both solid (Teak and other tropical hardwoods) and Ply (Okume) do you see as useful to have on a sail boat. Some things which come to mind are backing plates, portable work surface.. The boat is new and 50’.

[psk125]

They do have tropical hardwoods and Okume ply in France. It is likely dimensioned in metric -- as the boat is. Stuff you buy here and ship will need to be trimmed to fit anywhere. Expensive sawdust to have paid to ship transatlantic.

[Dogscout]

Does import duty affect the crate stuff comes in? Likely not so that may be a good plan to build a fancy crate. But its a new boat, and I don't see needing that many cutting boards.

[Dsanduril]

You should look at import regulations for France. Most places will restrict any wood imports from non-qualified importers. Your pallet/crate itself will likely have to be constructed of certified, heat-treated wood (with a stamp on each piece) or be a non-wood pallet. Plywood generally doesn't require certification (the manufacturing process kills pathogens). Any other biologic materials (including, for instance, used footwear) will encounter similar regulations.

That's our experience shipping a crate full of goods to our new to us boat in NZ from the US.

[Dsanduril]

Looks like France follows ISPM15, brief intro

[Habana]

Thanks for the info.
Just looked up ISPM15, Plywood is exempt.

[sailingchiro]

Just had a friend do the same thing 2 years ago. He went to
Harbor Freight and purchase every tool he may need. Packed extra filters, clamps, hoses, ELECTRICAL heat shrink terminals with good crimp tool, A/C and D/C Wire, Code Zero with furler, Sail repair kit, alot of extra line, many dock lines, deflated fenders, Grease, Spray silicone, ect. All shipped in a crate. I recommend taking a friend that has owned a boat for a long time to help sail it back. Someone that has alot of experience with troubleshooting problems. Especially electrical.

[sailingchiro]

Add an extra auto pilot drive, computer, a good multi meter with clamp on amp meter, hand held VHF, EPIRB, VHF with AIS distress, Parachute drogue with 300' line, Type 1 PFD's, Receive SSB radio, AIS transmitter with antennae splitter, Honda 2000 (just in case) with 6 gallon fuel tank, cheap extra GPS chart plotter, some way to make water, hand held anemometer, an extension pole that will help poling out a headsail or preferably headsails. That will get you started.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by Habana

I live in Texas and will be shipping gear, tools, spares and the like to my boat which is being built in France. I am quite handy so I’ll make my own pallet and plan to repurpose it on the boat. Having said this, what types of spares in the way of wood both solid (Teak and other tropical hardwoods) and Ply (Okume) do you see as useful to have on a sail boat. Some things which come to mind are backing plates, portable work surface.. The boat is new and 50’.

If you plan on bringing it back to the Gulf Coast. I wouldn't ship much as a new Amel shouldn't need much after your original shake down. Not sure why you'd need any wood or backing plates. It seems like anything you might need could be sourced in New Rochelle at maybe a slightly higher price but without all the shipping costs. Maybe spare impellers, filters and belts. I'd concentrate on personal safety gear. clothes and maybe a few tools. After you sail it around for awhile, you'll have a much better idea of what to add rather than loading it up with a bunch of crap you'll never need. You're buying a first class boat built by one of the world's premier boat builders - it should be years before it needs you to do anything to it (certainly not crafting something out of a shipping crate)

Check out Delos, it's a slightly different boat. being a ketch and pushing twenty years old. And they do some work on it - but it' s got about three circumnavigations of miles on it. The tools and spares Brian carries may be helpful to you (eventually).

[Paul L]

I wouldn't try and ship any natural products, like wood. You could end up with the whole shipment tied up in customs for weeks. For backing plates, stick in some G10 fiberglass sheets and for other mounting purposes some Starboard.

[Blue Orchid]

Originally Posted by Habana

I live in Texas and will be shipping gear, tools, spares and the like to my boat which is being built in France. I am quite handy so I’ll make my own pallet and plan to repurpose it on the boat. Having said this, what types of spares in the way of wood both solid (Teak and other tropical hardwoods) and Ply (Okume) do you see as useful to have on a sail boat. Some things which come to mind are backing plates, portable work surface.. The boat is new and 50’.

I wouldn’t bother. No need to ship anything from the States to France. France is THE sailing nation, that’s why they build great boats, and whatever you need will be available there and likely cheaper and better quality.

[Snore]

Respectfully, you are reinventing the wheel.

I did a quick google and found the prices to ship a container, to Le Havre from Texas was about $500. Would appear to be much easier to load a small container than to fabricate a crate. Also with a crate you are responsible for structural integrity.

[Habana]

Great responses from an experienced crowd. Clearly I needed a little talking down! Normally I would have visited the boat a number of times and tested her out before purchasing, but these have been strange times. It all added to the “overthinking” to be sure. I’ll scrap the custom built crate and probably pare my shipping list down some, too. For sure I'll send all my safety equipment and tools. Other items will have to be vetted..