Advice for new member, COVID and such things....

[sad_old_red]

Dear cruisersforum community,

I am a New Zealander who because of COVID has been stuck in South East Asia for the last 2 years. You may be aware that New Zealand has made it extremely difficult for citizens to return.

I say stuck in South East Asia (Vietnam), but I guess it isn’t really all that bad. Things could certainly be worse, but they have been difficult. For a while there, I had no place to go, and no place to stay. Which is rather stressful.

So I’ve been thinking about going somewhere, and what with seems to me all the uncertainty around nowadays, lockdowns, travel restrictions, variants, quarantines, various mandates that seem to change somewhat arbitrarily, I though I might check out the possibility of just sailing away.

To this end, just sailing away, 3 questions:

- would anyone out there have an old boat (with a keel and sails) they want to sell? In this part of the world? If you do, let me know.

- how about crew? I’ve some experience sailing. Mostly in harbour, but I’ve been around sailboats/yachts for years.

- and I thought about buying a boat somewhere else and shipping it here? When I look around there seem to be lots of un-loved 20-30 year old boats out there that I could consider, in Europe or North America, but none here. (This is not to say there isn’t a local boat building industry. There is, and it’s huge. The problem being the kind of boats they make are not really suited to crossing the deep ocean.) So does anyone know anything about moving boats around? I was thinking, perhaps wrongly, that lots of ships seem to go from Asia to USA/Europe packed full of stuff, and return almost empty. Does anyone out there know anything about this? Who I might contact?

Ideally best time for me, in about 6 months - Sep/Oct.

Thanks for reading this far.

sad_old_red

[JPA Cate]

At this time, Fiji is sort of open. If you could get there, you could probably get a ride back to NZ. Some boats have left NZ for the islands, in spite of cyclone season (not really over till after May, and then, only if the cyclones look at the calendar. We were struck by a late cyclone at the Kermadecs on May 15 one year, and also copped one early one in the middle of October in Noumea.)

It will be easier for you to get aboard if you have been vaccinated. The fact is Covid is still out there, and while a lot of places are acting like it's over, the virus will still be mutating, and new variants could be more or less virulent. My guess is that things will continue to open, Covid wise.

However, the Russo-Ukranian War looks as if it will have a profound effect on all of us, if for no other reason than that diesel prices are rising, therefore, production and delivery costs, along with them. If the Ukranians lose their wheat harvest, all Europe will be looking elsewhere, with everything becoming scarcer. So it is a possibly threatening outlook for cruising sailors.

In Vietnam, you are far from the large supply of 20-40 yr. old boats in the US. You do not sound like you're ready to skipper a boat, nor is it clear you have the funds to get such a boat seaworthy to cross oceans. Given that you might not be able to re-provision between, say, California and NZ, you'll need a boat with a lot of storage capacity, to just feed and water you for such a long passage. Here in Australia, they are projecting food costs to rise dramatically. Other items to consider are the costs for berthing and insurance while commissioning it for voyage.

Had you considered trying to get on a delivery crew for the Seawind Catamaran folks? I don't know what would be involved, myself, but perhaps that is an option?

******

And now, putting on my moderator hat: Keep the thread focused on the OP's questions. Talking about specific political persons will cause closure. This is a sailing and cruising forum and topics must be related to sailing and cruising, and stay cordial.

Ann

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Red.

[sad_old_red]

Ann,

Thanks for this reply. I will read more, and consider.

Kind regards,

sad_old_red

[sad_old_red]

And greetings to you, GordMay.

This is a great forum.

Accumulated wisdom from many fine good people.

Thanks for having me.

sad_old_red

[Adelie]

Welcome.

I would suggest updating your profile with your general location and your boat make & model or “Looking” in the "Boat" category. This info shows up under your UserName in every post in the web view. Many questions are boat and/or location dependent and having these tidbits under your UserName saves answering those questions repeatedly. If you need help setting up your profile then click on this link: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3308797

I would happily help more if the link above is not enough.