First post here so 'HI'
I am in the process of buying a yacht in the UK and i want to get it back to its new home in Perth, WA. I am looking for advice on the best time of year and route to take to get it back. Obviously the sooner the better and i am not interested in cruising and taking my time, that will come later.
Thanks
G'day Paddy,
Congratulations on your new boat, you must be pretty chuffed.
I looked at sailing a boat home from France to Brisbane, but after calculating the time, wear and tear on the boat and the customs and red tape I ended up freighting it home.
I hope someone better suited than I can help you with your routing.
Regards,
SB
I don't have any experience in long distance sailing. I think you will need to do the passage planning yourself. There are some books that would help with the route planning (the first 3 on this page look useful):
cornellsailing.com/publications/all-books/
Based on some ideas from the first book, one option you could explore is to leave the UK in November for the Canary Islands, then to follow some routes from the chapter "Principal World Cruising Routes" "Option 1":
Canaries-Caribean (Dec - Jan)
Panama (Feb)
Marquesas (Apr)
Tuamotus-Tahiti (May)
Tonga-Fiji (July)
Vanatau-Torres Straight (Sep)
From there maybe you could figure it out. You probably won't like this plan anyway since its probably too slow for you, but I'm just trying to suggest that maybe the coconut milk run through the Pacific might be nicer than rounding Cape Hope and sailing through the wild Indian ocean. You could look up the hull speed and costs of crossing the Panama canal, maybe try:
www.noonsite.com
Panama Canal is going to cost you about $2000. regardless of which route you choose you are still going to have to plan it and to that end a good starting point might be to get a set of Pilot Charts for the North and South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean if you are going to go that way. Obviously Pacific Pilot Charts if doing that route.
If it is get it to perth as quickly as possible then i thought you might go from uk to Portugal, canary islands,west coast Africa back up to Madagascar, just to stay a little bit north and across to west Australia.
Sounds easy doesn't it.
Dont forget to add in import duty, GST and local inspections/fumigation in you overall costings. The low Pound should help though.
The classic way would be to join the ARC from the canaries to the Caribbean, then the pacific ARC through the canal and across the Pacific.
That gives you a kind of support network and the possibility of help if things go wrong.
I would strongly suggest a couple of shakedown cruises before you cross any oceans to find out what extras the boat needs
My question is why are you buying a yacht in the UK? Seems quite a hassle getting it to AUS. But obviously a great adventure just depends on your motivation. 
Hi Paddy, welcome to the forum.......you don't happen to know a French lady by the name of Jane who sailed past our eastern shores recently?
Thanks for the responses guys.
I have bought a copy of Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising routes. Its a french boat and there isn't many for sale this part of the world, my Parents live in the UK, I have money over there and the Pound has taken a 30% dive recently so for me it made sense to buy there.
I am 2 years off getting my Australian Citizenship so the plan is to bring the boat back over here and then have a few years making any changes that i feel it needs before doing a circumnavigation after becoming a citizen. We definitely plan on the NW passage and Patagonia later but the the purpose of getting back to Perth- Quicker is better.
I am torn between Crossing the Med, Red sea and Indian ocean. (Its interesting that nobody has mentioned this yet?) Or an extra 3000nm but easier route via the panama canal.
Another option would be to bring it back over two seasons and dry it out somewhere mid way. This isnt ideal as it would mean we dont get out boat home as soon as we want and i need to take two lots of time away from work.
Regarding Import duties etc, It is my understanding that i cam temporarily import the boat for up-to 3 years without paying GST etc. The boat then needs to leave Australia for 2 years before returning for another 3 years. I only intend on owning it for 5 ish years so i am unlikely to need to permanently import the boat.
Sailing the great circle seems to be the fasts route to get to the west coast of oz, i.e. following the VOR or Clipper route.
But Med, Red Sea, Indian Ocean may be more appealing, but there have been some serious piracy threats around the Horn of Africa. Haven’t heard of any incidents in the past few years though, but worth weighing up the risk and getting the latest rundown on the area.
What way would you be sailing from the Red Sea; India, Indo and then down the west coast of oz or head south towards Madagascar and then catch the westerly’s towards Perth?
A French boat that’s rare in Oz and worth doing the trip? Is it an Allures?
4 months off work loss of income and want it here fast would have to work out cheaper to get it shipped to Australia and quicker.
Select to expand quotePaddy88 said..
Regarding Import duties etc, It is my understanding that i cam temporarily import the boat for up-to 3 years without paying GST etc. The boat then needs to leave Australia for 2 years before returning for another 3 years. I only intend on owning it for 5 ish years so i am unlikely to need to permanently import the boat.
Paddy, I would look very carefully at GST and duties payable on importation of your vessel. I don't think that you will be able to claim temporary import and simultaneously claim residency status for Australian citizenship. Get some detailed advice from a reputable Customs broker experienced in import of sailing vessels. It is most likely that you will have to pay the GST (10% of the value that customs decides that your boat is worth) upon arrival at the port of entry. Until that is paid the boat will be impounded. NB customs have more severe penalties and retention of documentation than even the ATO.
What Frant said.
The other catch is the duty and freight have to be paid before arrival.
One good thing is that duty is only 5% for Aus, which is a lot better than Canada for example.
To give you an idea, our freight bill for a 40' from France to Aus was $50K. Duty and GST are obviously dependent on the purchase price.
The other thing I found with regards to a cost matrix between freight and sailing home was you need to look factor in the various charges, customs and visa applications impact from the various countries you intend to stop at on the way. Add in a new set of sails when you get here, as you should have put significant miles on them by the time you make port.
Not trying to be negative Paddy, just making sure you have all the detail mate.
Select to expand quoteshaggybaxter said...
What Frant said.
The other catch is the duty and freight have to be paid before arrival.
One good thing is that duty is only 5% for Aus, which is a lot better than Canada for example.
To give you an idea, our freight bill for a 40' from France to Aus was $50K. Duty and GST are obviously dependent on the purchase price.
The other thing I found with regards to a cost matrix between freight and sailing home was you need to look factor in the various charges, customs and visa applications impact from the various countries you intend to stop at on the way. Add in a new set of sails when you get here, as you should have put significant miles on them by the time you make port.
Not trying to be negative Paddy, just making sure you have all the detail mate.
Add to that the $30000 you miss from not working $10000 for sails another $1000 for fuel other wear and tear. Mariba berthing . If you are doing it as a cruise is something different but as a quick relocation a lot to be said for the way shaggybaxter did it. They don't sail race boats they ship them.
If you do sail its worth looking at getting a meteorologist to help you with weather routing.
