Buying a yacht in New Zealand

PeppaPig

PeppaPig

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Letting my mind roam of the possibility of buying a boat to stay on 6 months of the year in NZ as a UK citizen, and then spending the other 6 on our original vessel back in the UK. Not sure we fancy the semi circumnavigation, so no suggestions of taking our own thanks, but I would like to hear if there are any restrictions on overseas purchasers, where to leave it etc etc. any thoughts much appreciated...
 
No restrictions on buying or using a yacht in NZ provided it complies with local standards, which a locally purchased boat will do. Plenty of places to keep a boat, although the north arguably provides the best and most varied cruising grounds.
 
PeppaPig said:
Letting my mind roam of the possibility of buying a boat to stay on 6 months of the year in NZ as a UK citizen, and then spending the other 6 on our original vessel back in the UK. Not sure we fancy the semi circumnavigation, so no suggestions of taking our own thanks, but I would like to hear if there are any restrictions on overseas purchasers, where to leave it etc etc. any thoughts much appreciated...
Click to expand...

We did exactly that-another Senior Moment!

I think you will find that you can only stay for a maximum of 9 months in any 18 months unless you make specific arrangements.

We bought a steel Hartley 30 for 4.25K in Wellington. It took seven weeks an another £1000.00 to get it right. It is now pretty well sorted with only a small "To do" list. We had no trouble in finding a young couple to use the boat in our absence for a contribution to the mooring fees.

If you need further help or info PM me.

We put it on the SSR Register-if we go offshore we dont have to comply with NZ requirements which can be restrictive.
 
As long as you are not taking a NZ flagged boat offshore, the regulations are still quite relaxed.
Imported boats need to pay tax (10-20% of value I think) if they are in the country for more than 18 months. But 90% of the boats are locally built and this won't be an issue.

Many (most?) local boats aren't registered at all, or are registered with Yachting New Zealand which is not to difficult/expensive. Likewise getting a VHF callsign or registering an EPIRB is also fairly easy/cheap. This only applies as long as the boat stays in NZ because as soon as you go offshore with a NZ flagged boat you need a different type of registration (part B ~900 NZD/5 years), a Cat A inspection ($$$) and a different kind of radio licence (~300 NZD/year)

If your eligible, you could also put it on the UK SSR register which would be even easier/cheaper.
 
rotrax said:
We did exactly that-another Senior Moment!

I think you will find that you can only stay for a maximum of 9 months in any 18 months unless you make specific arrangements.

We bought a steel Hartley 30 for 4.25K in Wellington. It took seven weeks an another £1000.00 to get it right. It is now pretty well sorted with only a small "To do" list. We had no trouble in finding a young couple to use the boat in our absence for a contribution to the mooring fees.

If you need further help or info PM me.

We put it on the SSR Register-if we go offshore we dont have to comply with NZ requirements which can be restrictive.
Click to expand...
Thank you - this is all good stuff! I may trouble you with a list of queries in a PM once I have ordered my thoughts. One question here though - What do the Kiwis' consider to be "offshore" ? - I'm sure Google would tell me but I would prefer to hear it from "One Who Knows"
 
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