USA to Australia

[SimonV]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Simon, sorry, incorrect. Friends sailed in a Kiwi boat, mega-difficult, huge charges. Best to evacuate system first. If legal.

Ann

Your right Ann if the gas is R22. The 2007 bendy we delivered from New Cal had R4?? In the AC and diferent gas again in the fridge freezer. Both got the ✓

Sent from my GT-N7105T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[boatman61]

I'm saying one should never go on an ocean crossing with rations based on forecasted hull speed theories.. it took me 36 days Panama to Nuku Hiva in a 54ftr.. and I was one of the faster crossings.. others took up to 52 days for the same passage..
All it needs is something like a furler to screw up (and they do) and your down to main only.. there's a whole lot of things can go wrong and your heading through waters where there's no quick fix to get to safety/shelter..
Prepare for the worst.. celebrate the best.. you'll use the food anyway just stock up on fresh in the islands.. saving money seems a priority so make your stores part of the savings.. local fresh produce is cheap.. everything else is imported...

[southace]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I'm saying one should never go on an ocean crossing with rations based on forecasted hull speed theories.. it took me 36 days Panama to Nuku Hiva in a 54ftr.. and I was one of the faster crossings.. others took up to 52 days for the same passage..
All it needs is something like a furler to screw up (and they do) and your down to main only.. there's a whole lot of things can go wrong and your heading through waters where there's no quick fix to get to safety/shelter..
Prepare for the worst.. celebrate the best.. you'll use the food anyway just stock up on fresh in the islands.. saving money seems a priority so make your stores part of the savings.. local fresh produce is cheap.. everything else is imported...

Cheers for that boatman i see you did a similar passage in the past how was the weather and what time of year did you depart?

[Jimbo485]

Check the rules, fill out a stat dec stating you have lived on the boat for more than a year and there is no need to remove the refrigerant gas.

This is 1st hand knowledge and our own experience. I helped a frog boat do their import the same way.

The authorities have to be directed to their own laws to ensure it goes thru.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by southace

Cheers for that boatman i see you did a similar passage in the past how was the weather and what time of year did you depart?

I set off from Panama in June if memory serves me well.. motor sailed till just past the Galapagos before we picked up halfway decent winds that took us faster than 3kts..
A watermaker would be a good idea as when we reached Nuku Hiva we found the water was unpotable.. green and gungey...
Best on offer was moving to the next bay and dinghying jerry cans from a standpipe there.. decided instead to buy 20x5L store water and then hoped for good winds and rain squalls..
Got the squalls and made it to US Samoa by hanging a bucket at the gooseneck and putting an angle on the boom so rain ran down the sail and boom into the bucket.. then syphon into the empty water jugs.. only time I was glad we had a boom furler.. makes a great catcher/funnel..
From Nuku Hiva through to Vanuatu winds were from the stern quarter mainly.. 4-5 with squalls taking it up to 7 occasionally.. sea's averaged 3metres.. cross sea's made for a rolling ride..
May find this thread I did of the delivery useful.. then again you may not.. http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...lan-78699.html

[Dsanduril]

For an alternate route to Boatie's, we did San Francisco-Kiribati-Tuvalu-Vanuatu-Oz. Pretty much a straight line from the California coast to Oz (with a little hook south at the start to get into the easterlies). Nice sailing, but don't count on too much in the way of provisions at any of those locations. Fresh foods, maybe. Not fresh foods, depends on when the last supply boat came by and which of the islands you decided to stop at vs. where the supplies went (see some of Atoll's posts on this section of the ocean).

If you're leaving from mainland USA west coast you want to avoid tropical storm season in both hemispheres, which means getting across the equator sometime between about April and June. Later then ~June you run the risk of northern hemisphere hurricanes, earlier than ~April you run increased risk of southern hemisphere tropical cyclones (although they seem to be less reliable as to "season" than the north Pacific). Take a look at the pilot charts and/or Jimmy Cornell.

[Gerrycooper56]

Did the trip from Florida to Townsville in 2006/2007. Took 12 months on a 1991 a Hunter 43. For detail see www.orpailleur.blogspot.com.
We came through Panama in April, took 10 days to get to the Galapagos and then 21 days to get to Nuku Hiva. Some guys headed south out of the Galapagos to pick up stronger winds and then ran dead square. We opted to keep high and tried to stay In the southern equatorial current which for us was marginally quicker.
The free trade agreement with the US kicked in for boats manufactured after 2000 I think so you should be ok. We had an agent value the boat for duty etc so didn't use the amount paid method.
One thing we had to do which may not apply now is keep the receipts for the anti fouling paint used on a haul out within 12 months of arrival. At the time you could still get TBT in the Caribbean so AQIS wanted to make sure it wasn't coming in.
Another issue will be if the boat is a Hunter and then built in Florida it's a bug high risk area. Same with most stopping places on the way to Oz. AQIS will probably insist on an entomologist look over the boat for bugs. Any issue and they may have to get the 'sniffer dog' to visit. You may have to pay transport for dog and handler.
Ad I said, this was in 2007 so things may have changed.
Good luck.

[savoir]

Originally Posted by southace

Yes I would carry what ever food I will need that will last me till the first port of call on my passage. I will not shop for the entire passage to Australia . Are you saying the first only port of call is more that 2880 nm over 20 days sail?

Do you understand how expensive groceries are in faraway places, even a big town like Honolulu ? Groceries in USA are dirt cheap by comparison and cheaper than Australia too.

[sailordon]

Hi, we have recently done that trip, purchased in Annapolis and sailed home arriving in Dec 2011. Great trip, suggest you arrive in Bundaberg, customs are good there, know what they are doing. If you want a blow by blow, let me know.

[Akapeterc]

Hang Around in Bundaberg till someone arrives and wants to sell their boat. I've got a great 2003 Hunter 44 DS in Bundaberg last year. The seller has to pay for quarantining inspection and the GST. I was lucky too as the dollar was up around $1.09US at the time

[VirtualVagabond]

We'd probably be the most recent arrival here, December 2013, and we decided to come in through Brisbane.
We'd heard all the horror stories about cost of transporting sniffer dogs etc so wanted to make the trip short. We have more timber than the Amazon.
AQUIS did their initial inspection, and a separate timber inspection with 2 guys going over the boat for a couple of hours, all for the standard original fee of $330. We were pretty certain we had no bugs but you never know for sure. We got a clean bill of health, but had we needed dogs it would have cost extra, and fumigation they told us would have cost around $8k!
They also said Florida, Caribbean and SE Asia were worry areas for them.

Sandy had the boat spotless and coffee and cookies on the go. These guys are human and respond like we all do when made to feel welcome, and their job made as simple as possible. Works every time.

We left the top of Chesapeake Bay in April and sailed via Bermuda, St Martin, Panama, Ecuador, Nuku Hiva, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Fiji, New Caledonia, Brisbane. Longest hop was Ecuador to Nuku Hiva... 31 days.

We weren't asked about last antifouling or refrigerant, so I guess different ports of entry may handle things differently.

You will need to spend money getting cruise ready. We bought from a couple who were already cruising so thought our cost would be negligible. HA! They had been trying to sell for a year, so they'd spent as little on the boat they could get away with.
You will spend money on repairs as you go. Probably something at virtually every stop. Everyone does. It's a harsh environment out there and the forces are massive. Stuff breaks, and it doesn't matter if it's a 30 year old boat like ours, or a 5 year old boat. They ALL sustain damage.
I wouldn't set out on a trip without $10k available, cash or card, over and above budgeted costs.

Vic

[Gerrycooper56]

Whereabouts in Ecuador did you go and was it worth it? We did Panama to Galapagos but might give Ecuador a go next time

[southace]

Originally Posted by Akapeterc

Hang Around in Bundaberg till someone arrives and wants to sell their boat. I've got a great 2003 Hunter 44 DS in Bundaberg last year. The seller has to pay for quarantining inspection and the GST. I was lucky too as the dollar was up around $1.09US at the time

Hunter 44 DS are rare in Australia what price would you say yours might be worth as is?

[southace]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

We'd probably be the most recent arrival here, December 2013, and we decided to come in through Brisbane.
We'd heard all the horror stories about cost of transporting sniffer dogs etc so wanted to make the trip short. We have more timber than the Amazon.
AQUIS did their initial inspection, and a separate timber inspection with 2 guys going over the boat for a couple of hours, all for the standard original fee of $330. We were pretty certain we had no bugs but you never know for sure. We got a clean bill of health, but had we needed dogs it would have cost extra, and fumigation they told us would have cost around $8k!
They also said Florida, Caribbean and SE Asia were worry areas for them.

Sandy had the boat spotless and coffee and cookies on the go. These guys are human and respond like we all do when made to feel welcome, and their job made as simple as possible. Works every time.

We left the top of Chesapeake Bay in April and sailed via Bermuda, St Martin, Panama, Ecuador, Nuku Hiva, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Fiji, New Caledonia, Brisbane. Longest hop was Ecuador to Nuku Hiva... 31 days.

We weren't asked about last antifouling or refrigerant, so I guess different ports of entry may handle things differently.

You will need to spend money getting cruise ready. We bought from a couple who were already cruising so thought our cost would be negligible. HA! They had been trying to sell for a year, so they'd spent as little on the boat they could get away with.
You will spend money on repairs as you go. Probably something at virtually every stop. Everyone does. It's a harsh environment out there and the forces are massive. Stuff breaks, and it doesn't matter if it's a 30 year old boat like ours, or a 5 year old boat. They ALL sustain damage.
I wouldn't set out on a trip without $10k available, cash or card, over and above budgeted costs.

Vic

The boats I was looking at is selling for around $200k AU in the states I would have to pay $20k GST and then I guess 20k for the rest of costs including spares,flights,survey,fuel and supplies. The way I'm thinking now is that I can get a well set up Australian registered Jeanneau 43 DS with 20 k still in my kitty for some cruising perhaps over to Fiji or New Caledonia ! Sail Airbus rather than Boeing!

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by Gerrycooper56

Whereabouts in Ecuador did you go and was it worth it? We did Panama to Galapagos but might give Ecuador a go next time

Puerto Amistad. The marina has been set up by an American national. Really good guy. It's up a river and they will send out a pilot to guide you in. He's a local fisherman. There are sand bars all over the place so you do need him, but it's no drama. We draw 6'6" so needed a high tide.
If you draw more email them and see what they say.

The marina has no slips, just front and back moorings in the river. It is cheap, totally safe and secure. Cruisers leave their boats there and go off to explore South America for a month or two at a time.

The locals are friendly happy people. We provisioned at the market with excellent quality fruit and veg, for $20! I got the bottom cleaned by 2 scuba divers for $40, and had diesel delivered into my tanks for $1.25/gal.

We would go back there in a flash.

Puerto Amistad Restarurant and Marina

We had battled to make headway from Panama to Galapagos, so decided to go to Ecuador. It meant we were closer to the trades when we got going again. We picked them up at abut 10* south and passed well below Galapagos.

Vic