importing us boats

[mick.j]

Hi all wondering if anybody has any info on importing boats from the us, good oz dollar now and the us boats look cheap but need somewhere to start on priceing such as shipping taxes and what not, looking at the 26ft glacier bays of about 50k trailer not needed can have one made to oz specs over there and have it sent as well. All info will be welcome

[Muddy Toes]

hey mick i've just imported a 2004 23.8ft WA seapro/225hp merc from a mob in Florida.they organised the purchase of the boat, got me an AU spec trailer built over there, arranged all the shipping and insurance.GST is 10% of total (boat,motor,trailer,shipping,insurance)costs.As for taxes because of the AU / USA free trade agreement if you can prove the boat, motor,trailer were built from USA originated materials you are exempt.Mine was shipped on a cradle in a container(apparently the can get up to 30footers in them)for$6000.If ya really want the nitty gritty PM me.
Good Luck.:o

[Lucky_Phill]

One of Ausfish advertisers has this very business that will assist you.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/directories/listing.php?id=107


cheers Phill

[pilchardjones]

Gday Mick,
I would strongly recommend you give Justin at Portsea Marine a call.
0402 432 338
www.portseamarine.com.au (http://www.portseamarine.com.au)
I used them and have nothing but good things to say.
good luck
steve

[O-3]

hey mick i've just imported a 2004 23.8ft WA seapro/225hp merc from a mob in Florida.they organised the purchase of the boat, got me an AU spec trailer built over there, arranged all the shipping and insurance.GST is 10% of total (boat,motor,trailer,shipping,insurance)costs.As for taxes because of the AU / USA free trade agreement if you can prove the boat, motor,trailer were built from USA originated materials you are exempt.Mine was shipped on a cradle in a container(apparently the can get up to 30footers in them)for$6000.If ya really want the nitty gritty PM me.
Good Luck.:o

The problem with bringing over boats in containers is the windscreen/bowrail/hardtop have to be removed. The Bolts for the bowrail have to broken off by force because the nuts are inaccessible. TBH if I was to do it again with the Aussie dollar this strong I would do RORO just for the convenience.

Muddy.....have you tried out the seapro yet? I've got the baby brother of yours...the 207. I bought it over a while ago but have not got it on the water yet as I had to go overseas for work.
Interested to see what you think of it mate.

[O-3]

Gday Mick,
I would strongly recommend you give Justin at Portsea Marine a call.
0402 432 338
www.portseamarine.com.au (http://www.portseamarine.com.au)
I used them and have nothing but good things to say.
good luck
steve

I used John from Platinum West. Best service I have ever had!

[PinHead]

I doubt you could fit a 30' boat in a container..must have a narrow beam to fit.

[Muddy Toes]

I'm not going to push the way i did it onto anyone.:-X I just know the facts about what happened in MY case with MY boat.It came in a 40ft hi container.So my boat at 25ft LOA and 8ft6 wide was put on a cradle on its side and put into the container with the hard top and windscreen removed and the bow rail was left on.No bolts were snapped off,they arrived with the boat in a plastic bag so i could re-use them.I didn't, but i could have.I did contact portsea marine and for my boat their best price was far from the $6,000 it cost me to ship.Granted their price was for RORO but for the money i saved compared to the hour it took me and two mates to put the hard top and windscreen on it was worth it.As for the Seapro sea trial the answer is yes O-3.Its awseome!!!!I've ridden in cc's and hh's and other glass boats and i reakon its the best ride i've had but thats just one mans opinion.
Anthony.

[Muddy Toes]

hey pilchard....yours kinda looks like the one in the F&B story.Is it?

[PinHead]

you can have it shipped as deck cargo..but a bit more expensive.

[testlab]

I doubt you could fit a 30' boat in a container..must have a narrow beam to fit.

I wish.

I am finalising negotiations on a 30+ footer with 11 ft beam. I have all the latest freight and preparation info at hand. Most likely I will be doing RORO on a flat pack cradle.

I can get this boat onto a trailer, but frankly the size of the trailer makes it "high risk" in the eyes of customs. I can use the self certification import process but its unlikely this trailer could ever be "modified to comply".

I can't trail the boat in AU anyway, only considered using the trailer for RORO as it reduces the freight costs by approx $3000 (depending on the quote). BUT... if customs decide it can't be modified it will not be allowed in unless I go through the full import and ADR approval process. And they can decide this at the port of entry even if it has a self-cert import permit - if the trailer gets embargoed, so does the boat. So the risk is too high.

I spoke with Dept of Infrastructure today and was warned they are clamping down on boat trailer imports. If the aggregate mass exceeds the limit, or its suspectd to be understated, or its overwidth then the self-cert permit will be flagged high risk.

I know mine would be impossible to make compliant hence my phone call to find out if I could use it for RORO only, as the boat and trailer will be low-loaded to the marina. The advice was "yes in theory", but it will be flagged high risk and could be embargoed until customs get advice from DoI on the validity of the SC permit.

Customs can also decide to simply refuse it entry on the basis of a false permit application... meanwhile I pay storage and then have to re-export it (not allowed to unload boat and destroy trailer - the whole lot MUST leave).

So... its going to be a custom steel RORO cradle. The difference in freight price is not too much once I deduct the trailer price. For a smaller boat getting a trailer would definitely be worthwhile.

FYI... preparation, cleaning, shrink wrapping, cradle, trucking, surcharges, freight and unloading works out around US$17k. Not included are GST and local transport.

[boatboy50]

I'm not going to push the way i did it onto anyone.:-X I just know the facts about what happened in MY case with MY boat.It came in a 40ft hi container.So my boat at 25ft LOA and 8ft6 wide was put on a cradle on its side and put into the container with the hard top and windscreen removed and the bow rail was left on.No bolts were snapped off,they arrived with the boat in a plastic bag so i could re-use them.I didn't, but i could have.I did contact portsea marine and for my boat their best price was far from the $6,000 it cost me to ship.Granted their price was for RORO but for the money i saved compared to the hour it took me and two mates to put the hard top and windscreen on it was worth it.As for the Seapro sea trial the answer is yes O-3.Its awseome!!!!I've ridden in cc's and hh's and other glass boats and i reakon its the best ride i've had but thats just one mans opinion.
Anthony.

Hey Muddy,

Who did your shipping, and how long ago was it?

Did you have any problems with this company?

Darren

[PinHead]

the pic is of a 30' ..shrink wrapped..on a wooden cradle..came over on the Tampa..as deck cargo.

[Muddy Toes]

Hey Darren,the company that did the shipping is called Watercraft Mix.It arrived probably 3 months ago now so it was recent.No probs.They had all the right paper work i needed.Boat was well cleaned and had no probs with customs or AQUIS.Only problem was 4 bits of timber they used for packing.Cost $400 to destroy...no biggie.

[pilchardjones]

hey pilchard....yours kinda looks like the one in the F&B story.Is it?

yes muddy it is.

[Muddy Toes]

Great story hey....was surprised they ran it in an australian boating magazine but it was a good read and its an awseome looking boat mate.How good is Demian to work with too, he definately made my import a breeze.;)

[pilchardjones]

Great story hey....was surprised they ran it in an australian boating magazine but it was a good read and its an awseome looking boat mate.How good is Demian to work with too, he definately made my import a breeze.;)

i dealt with jess and he was great to deal with.

[Almako]

Are you guys travelling to the states to visually check out the boats before you decide to buy it, or are you asking lots of questions and seeing photo's?

Did you have concerns about how good the engine is, hull etc/

[oldie]

septic tank

[Muddy Toes]

almako,i never went over.The company i bought from had over 60 pics and a video on the boat...most of the vid was the boat running.I asked heaps of question but in saying that its pretty easy to tell someone on the otherside of the world the answer they want to hear.The big one for me was the companys reputation.I had kept an eye on the company for a while and read their testimonials but the thing that made me descide to use them was pilchardjones story in F&B magazine.

[testlab]

Are you guys travelling to the states to visually check out the boats before you decide to buy it, or are you asking lots of questions and seeing photo's?

Did you have concerns about how good the engine is, hull etc/

In my case I may go over next month to oversee the packing and so forth but I appointed a respected surveyor to represent me. I researched the boat type that would best suit my needs (compromise between offshore fishing and family days), then crawled the ad sites waiting until one came along that suited my criteria.

I wanted a certian combination of engines, usage, location, maintenance, toys, etc and I have been looking for a while now. When I started the buying process the brokers were a little cagey as they are pretty much sick and tired of aussies asking for lots of detail and never buying due to the freight costs, GST, etc. Once the cash came out it all changed.

By being picky about what I wanted, patient enough to find it and prepared to be told by my surveyor stuff I may not like to hear, I am happy enough to commit to it without driving it (yet).


why import? - edited to remove oldies text cause he doesn't want it posted

I have combed the aussie builders offerings and the used sites here too. Done lots of window and on water shopping from brokers, etc. What I want for the money is not avaialble here (actually it is, used, but at twice the landed price, older, in worse condition and with dubious engines). I can't afford to buy new in the class of boat I want.

[mick.j]

hey mick i've just imported a 2004 23.8ft WA seapro/225hp merc from a mob in Florida.they organised the purchase of the boat, got me an AU spec trailer built over there, arranged all the shipping and insurance.GST is 10% of total (boat,motor,trailer,shipping,insurance)costs.As for taxes because of the AU / USA free trade agreement if you can prove the boat, motor,trailer were built from USA originated materials you are exempt.Mine was shipped on a cradle in a container(apparently the can get up to 30footers in them)for$6000.If ya really want the nitty gritty PM me.
Good Luck.:ohi muddy toes its mick j here did you get my pm the other day?

[Muddy Toes]

yeah sorry mick i thought i responded.if you can PM me your email address i'll forward you some emails me and another guy have been sending to each other explaining how i did it.
sorry again mate Anthony.