Hola from the DR

[Hanna&Chris]

Hi!

My boyfriend and I have always been very interested in sailing and are planning to buy a boat in July and sail the Med for at least a year.

Only problem is...we're fairly hopeless at sailing. Aka our experiences is sailing sunfishes and taking a chartered boat for a month or two. So we've got A LOT to learn, and apologize now for our 1 million questions.

However, we're very excited and looking forward to learning! First step- go sailing in the BVI's for Thanksgiving to get some sea legs. Living in the Caribbean for a little while just makes sailing too tempting!

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Hanna & Chris.

Don't sell yourself short - your dinghy sailing (Sunfish) experience will provide a really good basis for further developement as a keelboat sailor.

Ask away, we have a million answers; some of them near-right.

[swagman]

G'Day guys and welcome also.
Hope you enjoy the site as much as we do.

JOHN

[stevensc]

Welcome it is a great forum, do you live in the DR, if so where?
Steve

[Hanna&Chris]

Originally Posted by stevensc

Welcome it is a great forum, do you live in the DR, if so where?
Steve

Thank you for the welcomes! We're already finding the site very useful

Yes we currently live in the DR. We have a place in Santo Domingo, and another in Cabarete (on the North Coast, near Puerta Plata). It's a great place for wind sports.

[s/v Moondancer]

Europe is not that easy...

1) You will probaly need an International Certificate of Competence. International Proficiency Certification - American Sailing Association

2) The strength of the Euro makes boats more expensive to buy and keep than in the Caribbean.

3) While VATdepreciates out, for a European boat somewhere in it's life 20% tax was added to the base cost.

4) Buying a boat is not a simple task and buying one remotely would be very difficult and the rules would be different for each country. We looked at a boat in Europe and it was listed by 5 different brokers and 4 out of 5 did not quite tell the truth about the boat's condition. Gettings things fixed when you do not speak the local language is a nightmare.

While you are in the BVI check out the boats for sale in the Moorings Brokerage and sail the Caribbean until you have learned to sail competently.

Good luck

[James S]

Welcome to the forum...I don’t think you necessarily need to pay vat...as far as I know it depends where you buy and how long you stay in one place.
Although a certificate of competence may be a good thing to have it is also not necessarily required...If I understand some recent posts correctly it generally depends on where your boat is registered or documented.
Have fun with this new adventure.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and Welcome aboard!
Good to have you here. A basic sailing course will help a lot and if you get a chance to study "Start Sailing Right!" I recommend it.
Regards,