Med to Australia timing?

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by hoppy

Don't people want to go to Fiji, Vanuatu & new Caledonia before going to Aus and therefore leave Tonga earlier?

Yes, many do. Many leave in October to do it so they spend longer in Tonga.
Many also are a bit jaded after the long passages and see Fiji and NC as not so important. You don't need to make up your mind now, just have the flexibility to do either or all, or none

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

It didn't seem fast at the time I think it was 5 weeks/2 weeks/2 weeks .... Dep Anto 9 May, arrived NZ 30 July.

Weather down from Tonga was not bad, just 'Ordinary'... headed all the way. The mob waits for the equinox... its still odds on crappo....

Melbourne is the pits, W'port marginally better.

I think fast because I've heard a month to Tahiti and keep thinking its only a 1/3 the way across.

Melbourne is the pits for cruising, but for racing it's great. Plenty of room for lots of clubs to hold races at the same time. Racing gives you a purpose for having a sailing. Without the race

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Yes, many do. Many leave in October to do it so they spend longer in Tonga.
Many also are a bit jaded after the long passages and see Fiji and NC as not so important. You don't need to make up your mind now, just have the flexibility to do either or all, or none

I'm not a planner.... however I do want to know the possibilities, but I will never be able to make commitment to following a set route or timetable.

This thread will give me my decision points.

Who knows, I might get to some Caribbean island and discover Elayna is the resident singer in a bar, then I'll be fixed to the barstool for the rest of the season. When she finishes I'll refer to what I've learnt here to see what my options are

[Frugal]

A good arrival port in Australia would be Bundaberg. Ideal from New Caledonia. Friendly Customs port. Good facilities. Clear of the Great Barrier Reef. Generally south of the cyclone belt. Handy for moving south. Large town or small city? Friendly inhabitants.
Don't bring termites or striped mussels.
If you don't mind the cold then Tasmania has some lovely cruising grounds.
Cheers

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by Frugal

A good arrival port in Australia would be Bundaberg. Ideal from New Caledonia. Friendly Customs port. Good facilities. Clear of the Great Barrier Reef. Generally south of the cyclone belt. Handy for moving south. Large town or small city? Friendly inhabitants.
Don't bring termites or striped mussels.
If you don't mind the cold then Tasmania has some lovely cruising grounds.
Cheers

Never been there and I have no desire to ever go. The name brings back too many bad hangover memories and next day after taste.

[D&D]

Our experience is probably not a lot of help because for various personal reasons we undertook that voyage (Sardinia to Sydney) pretty much as a delivery. So to avoid the cyclones in both hemispheres we embarked the Med in winter (Feb) and arrived Down Under in winter (June) with only limited stops along the way. The weather was rough-ish on both ends (due to it being winter of course) and especially so crossing the Tasman, but the trade winds were superb for the rest of the time...and we even fluked reasonable breezes through the doldrums.

The Panama Canal will chew up either time (allow ~4 weeks) waiting to go through or money to pay for a quicker entry; go for the latter, probably putting your vessel in ready, and then head out to the San Blas Islands to 'chill' (not the right word in that climate!) while you wait.

All-in-all ours was a terrific voyage. We would definitely urge, however, if you have the time, pause and enjoy yourself instead.

[beneteau-500]

Hoppy which ever way you go you will throughly enjoy the trip until your arrival in Oz as my return has left a bitter taste in my mouth , I arrived in broome in February. I gave plenty of notice of my arrival back in Oz to all the authorities but I ended up arriving of broome on a Saturday so I decide just sail up coast a bit and arrive on a Monday ( cost of clearing in on a a weekend is double) .

When I did arrive in port customs/immigration directed me to drop anchor in port .
They came out to yacht , I had some food left but no more than a small plastic shopping bag which I placed in 2 black bin bags . They spent over 2 hrs searching yacht , I had prepared a complete inventory of everything on yacht , then they questioned me on refrigeration gas I said it was removed in South Africa provided certificate , they didn't believe I had it done there showed my time line of clearance in and out .

Next going through my yacht papers and the big question why I had a British flag and registered vessel , ( by this time I was quietly getting pissed of with there attitude )
I just said please read the papers correctly and you will see the yacht is registered to a British company ( my company ) of which I said was legal and all above board ,
They instructed me then to wait on yacht they went of to check things .

2 hrs later got a call to come ashore so go ashore In dingy , they stamp my passport and issue temporary 18 month import yacht certificate and hand me a bill of $2345.67

I protested at this they state as it took 5 hrs to clear me in etc that is the bill and its final they where pissed off because they figured on collecting about $68000 in vat and stamp duty .

So go and buy some food from market damm expensive in that part of world , and head back to yacht .
15mins after arriving back on yacht I here moto boat pulling up along side
The police officer on board asks me if I have a boat licence I reply I have yachtmaster tickets he says no power boat licence I say no . He replies that it is law that I must have one for this dingy. Because it's of a certain size and kW rating I said your f%}%^*+ joking How am I to have one when I have been abroad for 25 yrs and not need one he says it's a $500 fine he starts writing ticket and wants my ID driving licence etc handed him my valid UK driving licence he says what's this your an Aussie expletive followed by more expletives because that's where I have lived for past 25 yrs and then asks for my address so I gave him my current postal address which is a friends UK address ( he is my accouant collecting all my mail ) officer not impressed and hands me the fine 6 weeks to pay then just as leaving tells me if I come ashore in dingy again he will confiscate dingy , been here now 6 months in Oz and yes a lot has changed after 25 yrs away do I like it NO oh how I miss the beautiful idiosyncratic system of Greece Turkey, and Italy You bet ya I do

To all those coming here please do it is a beautiful country and great sailing and I especially think the cruising area of Western Australia and Northern Territory is some of the best in the world and that's coming from a ex Victorian

[StuM]

Originally Posted by beneteau-500

I arrived in broome in February. I gave plenty of notice of my arrival back in Oz to all the authorities but I ended up arriving of broome on a Saturday so I decide just sail up coast a bit and arrive on a Monday ( cost of clearing in on a a weekend is double) .
...
15mins after arriving back on yacht I here moto boat pulling up along side
The police officer on board asks me if I have a boat licence I reply I have yachtmaster tickets he says no power boat licence I say no . He replies that it is law that I must have one for this dingy. Because it's of a certain size and kW rating I said your f%}%^*+ joking How am I to have one when I have been abroad for 25 yrs and not need one he says it's a $500 fine he starts writing ticket and wants my ID driving licence etc handed him my valid UK driving licence he says what's this your an Aussie expletive followed by more expletives because that's where I have lived for past 25 yrs and then asks for my address so I gave him my current postal address which is a friends UK address ( he is my accouant collecting all my mail ) officer not impressed and hands me the fine 6 weeks to pay then just as leaving tells me if I come ashore in dingy again he will confiscate dingy ,

Strange, according to everything I've seen, NT doesn't require a boat licence.


Just a couple of references:
Boat Licences - MyBoatingLife.com.au
Rules & Regulations

There is also no reference to licencing requirements at Marine Safety - Department of Transport - NT Government - Australia

[beneteau-500]

Stum you are correct on that score as I was to fine out later on in Perth and this is why I am so f^##^^# mad so far I have received no response from NT government department except acknowledge meant of my compliant , I finally got one in May this yr in victoria by the time I did the 4 hr training session and went to Vic roads to get licence it has cost me another $385.40

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by beneteau-500

Hoppy which ever way you go you will throughly enjoy the trip until your arrival in Oz as my return has left a bitter taste in my mouth , ..............

You have ensured that I shall never take my boat back to Oz.....

[MarkJ]

Me too. Thats a crazy story B500

[stillbuilding]

Send it to Canberra for review and appeal. Loose guns will get pulled back into line. If you dont do anything, the same stuff continues.


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[El Pinguino]

I think they have transferred the Customs people from Bundaberg to Broome....

21 years ago my story was quite simple. Entered into Carnarvon and given to understand that as I had an Oz passport she had to be imported 'immediately'.

I was given the right royal runaround by some dick in customs down in Perth who thought it was the very best fun to screw me around on details thus preventing me from moving the boat. He really was a smart arsed little prick.
Unbeknown to him I was back at work for a few months and at the same time the nice customs people at Carnarvon were looking after my dinghy ( the yacht was tied up in the mangroves... the dinghy was in the custom's compound ) and making sure nobody even looked like touching my boat or taking anything from her....

My money stayed in the bank and I paid my import bill the day before I flew back to join her.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by beneteau-500

Hoppy which ever way you go you will throughly enjoy the trip until your arrival in Oz as my return has left a bitter taste in my mouth , I arrived in broome in February. I gave plenty of notice of my arrival back in Oz to all the authorities but I ended up arriving of broome on a Saturday so I decide just sail up coast a bit and arrive on a Monday ( cost of clearing in on a a weekend is double) .

When I did arrive in port customs/immigration directed me to drop anchor in port .
They came out to yacht , I had some food left but no more than a small plastic shopping bag which I placed in 2 black bin bags . They spent over 2 hrs searching yacht , I had prepared a complete inventory of everything on yacht , then they questioned me on refrigeration gas I said it was removed in South Africa provided certificate , they didn't believe I had it done there showed my time line of clearance in and out .

Next going through my yacht papers and the big question why I had a British flag and registered vessel , ( by this time I was quietly getting pissed of with there attitude )
I just said please read the papers correctly and you will see the yacht is registered to a British company ( my company ) of which I said was legal and all above board ,
They instructed me then to wait on yacht they went of to check things .

2 hrs later got a call to come ashore so go ashore In dingy , they stamp my passport and issue temporary 18 month import yacht certificate and hand me a bill of $2345.67

I protested at this they state as it took 5 hrs to clear me in etc that is the bill and its final they where pissed off because they figured on collecting about $68000 in vat and stamp duty .

So go and buy some food from market damm expensive in that part of world , and head back to yacht .
15mins after arriving back on yacht I here moto boat pulling up along side
The police officer on board asks me if I have a boat licence I reply I have yachtmaster tickets he says no power boat licence I say no . He replies that it is law that I must have one for this dingy. Because it's of a certain size and kW rating I said your f%}%^*+ joking How am I to have one when I have been abroad for 25 yrs and not need one he says it's a $500 fine he starts writing ticket and wants my ID driving licence etc handed him my valid UK driving licence he says what's this your an Aussie expletive followed by more expletives because that's where I have lived for past 25 yrs and then asks for my address so I gave him my current postal address which is a friends UK address ( he is my accouant collecting all my mail ) officer not impressed and hands me the fine 6 weeks to pay then just as leaving tells me if I come ashore in dingy again he will confiscate dingy , been here now 6 months in Oz and yes a lot has changed after 25 yrs away do I like it NO oh how I miss the beautiful idiosyncratic system of Greece Turkey, and Italy You bet ya I do

To all those coming here please do it is a beautiful country and great sailing and I especially think the cruising area of Western Australia and Northern Territory is some of the best in the world and that's coming from a ex Victorian

Wow, so they don't just act like total dicks for the camera's on the "Border Security" TV program, they're dicks in real life.

So you are just passing through...

I can't see how they can fine you for not having a MTB licence if you are on a foreign registered yacht, not importing it and not resident in Aus

I will be in Aus for 3 months over summer and was planning to get that stupid plastic licence whilst there. Might also get the Aussie VHF as well. Is there any other licensing stuff I should get in case I reregister my yacht at some point?

The licence thing reminds me of a big beef I have with the Aussie mentality. There's a whole world out there and on my Vic drivers licence, all there is to say I have a motorcycle licence is an "R" in the conditions. The back of the licence is totally wasted with a massive birthdate for half blind steroid pumped pub bouncers (as if they can calculate your age from that )

If it wasn't for the fact that I have my house rented out in Melbourne and I want to get it back to being my primary residence so I can sell it it one day, then I don't know what I'll be planning to do. The trip home at Xmas is partly to kick the tenants out and reestablish residence there, even if it stays mostly vacant.

Whilst I would love my boat home in Aus, I do kind of think I should hedge my bets and only take her to NZ, Fiji or wherever. Work for a year and then see if I should import her. If I don't like it, sell up, move back to Europe and change this trip into an eventual circumnavigation. I'm probably better off keeping her Swedish until I have decided 100% to import her to Aus.

[daletournier]

Im heading back to Oz this year, I'm nervous!

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