Has anyone got any sensible suggestions?

[Stingo]

A cruising mate of mine has a Moody 376 on the hard in Tonga, Yep, covid etc screwed up his plans for continued cruising.

Just before all the pandemic nonsense, he bought a new engine, sails etc with the intent of returning to Tonga from the EU. Well, that hasn't worked out. He is now considering selling up, but Tonga is the arse-end of nowhere in terms of boat sales. His one thought was to install the new engine, replace batteries etc and then sail down to Oz to try sell his floatie thing there. But, Oz has nasty import duties.

He doesn't think that employing a delivery crew or shipping his boat back to the EU would be cost effective.

Do any of you have any bright ideas for an alternative solution?

 

[flaming]

A cruising mate of mine has a Moody 376 on the hard in Tonga, Yep, covid etc screwed up his plans for continued cruising.

Just before all the pandemic nonsense, he bought a new engine, sails etc with the intent of returning to Tonga from the EU. Well, that hasn't worked out. He is now considering selling up, but Tonga is the arse-end of nowhere in terms of boat sales. His one thought was to install the new engine, replace batteries etc and then sail down to Oz to try sell his floatie thing there. But, Oz has nasty import duties.

He doesn't think that employing a delivery crew or shipping his boat back to the EU would be cost effective.

Do any of you have any bright ideas for an alternative solution?

Do a deal with a youtuber to use the boat for 6 months, first the "We nearly die when we install this engine" then the sailing across to EU episode "We nearly died at sea"

 

[Wansworth]

Make sure they have sufficient busty substances

 

[BobnLesley]

Sensible answer as requested: There is really only Aus or New Zealand where your mate can expect to realise a real world market value and within a realistic time frame in that part of the world; to add to his pain, the value of those new sails, engine, etc. will increase the boat's value with regard to the levying of import duties; I don't recall how it works in Tonga, but he may well end up paying their tax to import the engine and then the Aus/NZ import duty too.
The other option is to sail the boat across to Fiji (French Poly either, though that's a bar-steward passage) where there is a market - albeit significantly smaller - from buyers, predominantly from NZ & Aus, looking to buy a boat there and keep it there (in part it saves them having to do the hard yards to get there) They won't pay the Aus/NZ price for the boat, but they will likely pay more than the Aus/NZ price, less tax (20%+) that he'll finish up with in Aus/NZ; on the downside, it's likely to take longer to find a buyer there than in Aus/NZ.

 

[capnsensible]

A couple of years ago, I delivered a yacht to Tahiti for a kiwi owner. He told me loads of NZ ers want yachts and are happy to buy them in europe and take them 'home'. Similarly, I delivered another yacht for an Aussie guy from the Canaries to Pacific Panama. Same tale.

As Bob says, that's the market and its big. Would get onto brokers there and try it. Good luck to your oppo.

 

[SailingDog]

A cruising mate of mine has a Moody 376 on the hard in Tonga, Yep, covid etc screwed up his plans for continued cruising.

Just before all the pandemic nonsense, he bought a new engine, sails etc with the intent of returning to Tonga from the EU. Well, that hasn't worked out. He is now considering selling up, but Tonga is the arse-end of nowhere in terms of boat sales. His one thought was to install the new engine, replace batteries etc and then sail down to Oz to try sell his floatie thing there. But, Oz has nasty import duties.

He doesn't think that employing a delivery crew or shipping his boat back to the EU would be cost effective.

Do any of you have any bright ideas for an alternative solution?

Interesting question, has your mate obtained ball park shipping costs to Europe and Aus ? Has the situation of ‘in transit ‘ been explored ? What about doing a deal in International waters, none of the above may be possible but worth exploring.

 

[LadyInBed]

Do any of you have any bright ideas for an alternative solution?

Advertise locally, sell it to a Tongan.

 

[newtothis]

Not sure about Aus, but NZ allows returning citizens to bring in used goods, including yachts, if they have been out of the country for 21 months. So find a Kiwi who wants to buy now and plans to return via Tonga in a couple of years. Simples. Details here.

 

[Bouba]

Is she insured

 

[Stingo]

This is Martin's floatie thing. There are usually several naked women adorning the deck. Sorry, can't find photographic proof of this claim.

 

[rotrax]

European boats fetch a premium in both Aus and NZ.

He might get some interest by joining and puting an ad on 'Trade Me' the NZ equivilent to ebay.

 

[richardh10]

I'm in Fiji and boats sell remarkably well here. Advertise with brokers in aus and nz and now at the beginning of the season is the time to do it. Obviously good photos of a clean boat are vital

 

[Bouba]

I'm in Fiji and boats sell remarkably well here. Advertise with brokers in aus and nz and now at the beginning of the season is the time to do it. Obviously good photos of a clean boat are vital

The power of the forum never ceases to amaze me

 

[Dutch01527]

Step one for me would be to instal engine etc and advertise where it is with international websites. There could well be someone who wants to spend sometime in the South Pacific without the hassle of sailing there. I assume that the boat will significantly less that £100k and someone might think that buying it, using it and then reselling a few years later makes sense.

I might be tempted myself if I was single but doubt that my wife has that plan on the top of her bucket list.

 

[Stingo]

On behalf of Martin, thank you for all the replies. He has now contacted a broker in Oz, who advises that he leave the boat in Tonga (after getting a Customs extension, or some such permission/clearance).

 

[Stingo]

From Martin via WhatsApp...

 

[shan]

A cruising mate of mine has a Moody 376 on the hard in Tonga, Yep, covid etc screwed up his plans for continued cruising.

Just before all the pandemic nonsense, he bought a new engine, sails etc with the intent of returning to Tonga from the EU. Well, that hasn't worked out. He is now considering selling up, but Tonga is the arse-end of nowhere in terms of boat sales. His one thought was to install the new engine, replace batteries etc and then sail down to Oz to try sell his floatie thing there. But, Oz has nasty import duties.

He doesn't think that employing a delivery crew or shipping his boat back to the EU would be cost effective.

Do any of you have any bright ideas for an alternative solution?

You have time on your hands, gather a few friends and sail your mate's boat to the EU.

 

[Stingo]

You have time on your hands, gather a few friends and sail your mate's boat to the EU.

I'm a catamaran man and Martin's boat is missing a hull. Plus, the price of rum in French Polynesia is prohibitive. The place should be avoided at all costs

 

[shan]

I'm a catamaran man and Martin's boat is missing a hull.

I'm sure you can cope without the extra hull.

 

[LadyInBed]

I'm sure you can cope without the extra hull.

Stingo set off with a mono hull, forum members attempted to do a capsize test when we met up in Cherbourg. Maybe that put him off mono's!