Importing a Boat to Australia

[meyermm]

Originally Posted by tuskie

While it is relevant to hear the experience of owners importing all type of boats into Australia, this thread is under the "multihull sailboats" section heading of the forum. Perhaps that's where you missed the bit about cats?
Most of the contributors to this part of the forum are open minded to monohulls, hell, I spend most of my sea time on them! However, if I regularly posted threads under the monohull section of a yachting forum pointing out the inherant shortcomings of mono (and there are plenty!) I'd reckon I'd be just looking for a fight!

Like many on this forum we usually look for the subject not the catagory first. I did not bring up the cat bit and as the subject was importing a boat not a cat nothing up till that point needed to be said about mono vs cat. But my comment about a recent broadside was I can tell you of nuclear proportions and had the mederators running for the kill button. Further it was written by a regular CF contributor so it is not only my opinion. The subject is "Importing a BOAT to Australia

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

I would say delivery cost would be half the figure you mention.

That's enough of a ball park to keep me happy

I got a shipping cost last year of $25k US plus a couple of thousand euro for the cradle and preperation and a little less on arrival... but that was on a 37ft and I ended up buying 40ft. Between this price and what CP mentioned, I have a good ballpark for shipping.

I would love to sail it home myself but health issues make the long Pacific transit possibly not an option for me. Probably could get it to the Carribean and then get back on in Fiji to finish the trip. My other thought is to ship it from the carib after having some fun.

I've got a couple of years before I need to move the boat from Greece before i really need to worry

[hoppy]

I never realised that this was in the multihull section

I don't understand the multi/mono angst. I would have thought that any debate on the issue would be done as a **** stir, but there are too many people who take it too seriously.

From this forum I have concluded that all multihull sailors are going to die if they try to cross an ocean, I'm going to die if my plastic fantastic goes any further from the safety of a marina than my shore power line permits and the bluewater boat sailors will die in a hurricane trying to prove that they can go through the storm.

We're all going to die, so we might as well sail on the boat that appeals to us most

[ausaviator]

I was 99% of the way to purchasing a cat a few months back and I had many offers from skippers from this site to deliver it. The best one was Art Steffey and he offered an excellent and flexible service. I won't post the exact cost so as not to upset him in any way however it was sub $10k excluding fuel, canal, airfares and provisions, however it did include his crew. I'd love to have done it myself but I needed to make bank back home to fund the operation. It would have probably been all up $17-$20k with airfares which was for a 37 ft Cat.

The trip was to be from St. Lucia to Melbourne Australia.

[Dragon Lady]

Originally Posted by ausaviator

I was 99% of the way to purchasing a cat a few months back and I had many offers from skippers from this site to deliver it. The best one was Art Steffey and he offered an excellent and flexible service. I won't post the exact cost so as not to upset him in any way however it was sub $10k excluding fuel, canal, airfares and provisions, however it did include his crew. I'd love to have done it myself but I needed to make bank back home to fund the operation. It would have probably been all up $17-$20k with airfares which was for a 37 ft Cat.

The trip was to be from St. Lucia to Melbourne Australia.

That's tough, sorry hear it didn't work out.

I had a similar deal with a guy from Sydney who after we flew him over to the Carribean, then sailed with us for a week told us that it was all too hard. He offered to take it through the canal for us to reduce the blow, but then after another two weeks that became too hard also and he went home.
So I now wish I had used the pros from the start.

As for monos on this thread, I think it a best to have all the posts on one thread. There is no real difference as far as bringing a boat to Australia and the thread is called "Importing a boat to Australia".

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

That's tough, sorry hear it didn't work out.

I had a similar deal with a guy from Sydney who after we flew him over to the Carribean, then sailed with us for a week told us that it was all too hard. He offered to take it through the canal for us to reduce the blow, but then after another two weeks that became too hard also and he went home.
So I now wish I had used the pros from the start.

I hate guys like that... and the ones who abandon a floating boat coz it got a bit windy and lumpy... gives us 'Freelancers' a bad name....
Maybe you should post his name so he can't "Screw" a free holiday outa anyone else....
Name and Shame....

[ausaviator]

That is sure some bad luck tbere dl. Also raises the notion of a delivery contract regardless of amateur or pro.

My guy was ex-navy with a proven track record and references to boot. For my insurance company the skipper needed to be approved by Lloyds of London which was no issue for him.

The amount of offers that I had along with dodgey money making offers was starting to put me off. Seems that just delivering the vessel is not enough for many, they want to capitalize when you decide to sell it.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by ausaviator

My guy was ex-navy with a proven track record and references to boot. For my insurance company the skipper needed to be approved by Lloyds of London which was no issue for him.

Actually all you need is a good track record with a good company... begining with a 'P'.................
Mine commenced with a boat bought in the early 90's... first one that cost over 20K.... the previous were under 27ft cheapie solo's...
see what happens when a woman comes along... the boat has to be bigger.
Guess why I'm back in a 21ftr....

[Dragon Lady]

Yeah, I have a written contract now. But I've been advised by a lawyer that we had a legally binding verbal contract.
I've given him a letter requesting he repay the airfare and some cash we gave him, which he said he “would consider”. If he doesn't come to the party he'll receive an invite to the local courthouse where he can explain the situation to the magistrate.
I don't think he will be doing anything like this again so I don't think he is a danger to the cruising community.
I also had to get my crew and skippers approved by the insurance underwriters, I think it's pretty standard.

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by Capt Phil

I hesitate to ask another question or contribute to this thread for fear of being burned but I am curious as the the rough cost comparisons between shipping and delivery costs all up from US west coast to Oz. Costs of shipping for a 45-50 foot mono are about $40K but assuming reasonable wear and tear on the boat delivered on her own hull must be close to that if no canal transit is involved... does that sound about right? CP

I had a quote for a 35 footer from Florida to Sydney late last year. AU23k

[Dragon Lady]

That sounds like a good price.

[tuskie]

I recently received a quote from one of those Australian brokerages who are advertising ex-charter cats from the Caribbean. The cat is a Leopard 42 and the cost of importation is approx AUD$125,000. This is in addition to purchase price and includes on-ship delivery to Brisbane, import duty and GST as well as a stepdown transformer to enable use on 240 v and other handling costs.
Note that I'm quoting costs for a catamaran, other types of boat will cost more for deck cargo.
I share this information to give encouragement and thanks to those thread contributors who are doing the exercise themselves and obviously making considerable savings.

[Dragon Lady]

How much is the purchase price? (approx if you don't want to say)

[ausaviator]

I made an assumption of $270k for a cat like that, ex charter, so the delivery price for the deck cargo and preparation would have to be somewhere in the vicinity of $62k.

Or maybe they use a very expensive step-down transformer :-)

Probably not that bad of a deal really.

I saw the Leopard 46 in the latest Multihull Mag - a shmick looking machine the new owners version!

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

That sounds like a good price.

Yeah, its was through a link on Yachtworld. I forget the company, but there is an online form to fill out and a couple of days later the quote comes in.