weather wise, living in UK for summer and keeping a boat in Australia makes the best

[Max K]

sense to me.

Does anyone do this?
Leaving our English Country Garden which we love, now that it is back in our control and going to our boat in Greece, which we love, seems to make NO sense, anymore.

How feasible is it to keep a UK registered boat in the antipodes?

Max.

 

[telford_mike]

sense to me.

Does anyone do this?
Leaving our English Country Garden which we love, now that it is back in our control and going to our boat in Greece, which we love, seems to make NO sense, anymore.

Max.

Why not?

 

[rivonia]

The diference is the cost of travel.

 

[rotrax]

I cant do North European Winters anymore. Missed the last three, two in NZ, 1 in Spain.

Bought a cheap 32 foot Yacht in Wellington. Insurance, berthing, yard costs and chandlery all cheaper than Europe.

The flights are the worst thing-not so bad going but coming home jet lag really hits us-about 10 days to get back to normal.

Not much experience of Oz, but if you are looking for " Apres Sail ", you might be dissapointed.

If however sunsets, secluded anchorages and stunning scenery are your thing then go for it. We were told several times that the only place to rival sailing around NZ was the West Coast of Scotland.

First Mate got two returns Heathrow-Wellington for £1700 with Quantas.

Boats are plentiful, and at the moment it is a buyers market. Dont expect the same AWB's we have-they fetch a premium and dont seem to be good value.

Boats built for the specific conditions tend to be simpler and a little less sophisticated, perhaps reflecting the Kiwi self reliance. Many have hard doghouses instead of sprayhoods for example.

There is no EBAY in NZ. They have " Trade Me " instead. Log on and check it out.

We bought a 1998 Honda Oddesy car-2.3 litre 7 seater-for 2400 NZ dollars-twelve hundred quid. Clean and tidy, never went wrong and passed its WOF-our MOT just as we left. Cheaper than hireing for 4 months.

We only sailed in Wellington Harbour, spent plenty of time but not much cash getting our bargain steel boat seaworthy. Cant wait to go back...........................

 

[usernamenotvalid]

Without air conditioning you might just find yourself melting into a puddle in an Australian summer. Spring & Summer would be very do-able. Winter, fine North of Brisbane, in fact Brits would find it perfect. Best to be South of Brisbane during Summer, or cyclone season, usually get a week's notice of a big one. One never really acclimatises to the weather here. It can be managed, though I now wonder how we managed the first 15 years here without aircon. That said we might only use it 20 or so days a year. However, that is in well ventilated ie, everything opened and insect screened house: not a boat. Reliable sea breezes most afternoons, but a breeze when it is 35 outside just makes it appear like you are in a fan forced, rather than conventional oven. In a perfect world you would do a Euro summer and an Oz winter. Problem is they coincide with one another. If you CAN deal with heat, do it, you would not regret it. Within a few weeks I will be thinking about changing from shorts and t shirt into jeans and two t shirts

 

[rotrax]

Without air conditioning you might just find yourself melting into a puddle in an Australian summer. Spring & Summer would be very do-able. Winter, fine North of Brisbane, in fact Brits would find it perfect. Best to be South of Brisbane during Summer, or cyclone season, usually get a week's notice of a big one. One never really acclimatises to the weather here. It can be managed, though I now wonder how we managed the first 15 years here without aircon. That said we might only use it 20 or so days a year. However, that is in well ventilated ie, everything opened and insect screened house: not a boat. Reliable sea breezes most afternoons, but a breeze when it is 35 outside just makes it appear like you are in a fan forced, rather than conventional oven. In a perfect world you would do a Euro summer and an Oz winter. Problem is they coincide with one another. If you CAN deal with heat, do it, you would not regret it. Within a few weeks I will be thinking about changing from shorts and t shirt into jeans and two t shirts

That is EXACTLY why I punted for NZ!

I have relations in Brisbane and Perth. I know from them how uncomfortable it can be on occaision.

During our 4 months in the North Island of NZ the highest tempreture we encountered was 31C, the lowest-in their early spring-14C.

We had little rain, but it was, according to the locals, a good summer.

The hole in the Ozone layer must be remembered in either location-hats, good sunscreen and clothing protection are sensible precautions.

 

[AndrewB]

I also would prefer NZ. Better cruising, specially Bay of Islands and the Hauraki Gulf. These are also the best places in NZ to buy a yacht. A bit windy round Wellington, but Marlborough Sound is good. I was sailing in NZ for 18 months recently. It would be straightforward to own a yacht there, or a house for that matter, which is not uncommon. The snag is that without residency, technically you aren't allowed to stay in NZ more than 6 months in every two years. However they aren't all that strict about this at present. If you leave before the six month limit you can come back again shortly after and start the clock ticking again.

Rather than come back to England during May-October, why not try sailing to Tonga and Fiji?

 

[rotrax]

I also would prefer NZ. Better cruising, specially Bay of Islands and the Hauraki Gulf. These are also the best places in NZ to buy a yacht. A bit windy round Wellington, but Marlborough Sound is good. I was sailing in NZ for 18 months recently. It would be straightforward to own a yacht there, or a house for that matter, which is not uncommon. The snag is that without residency, technically you aren't allowed to stay in NZ more than 6 months in every two years. However they aren't all that strict about this at present. If you leave before the six month limit you can come back again shortly after and start the clock ticking again.

Rather than come back to England during May-October, why not try sailing to Tonga and Fiji?

Our investigations led us to a maximum of 9 months in any 18 months. This works for us-the best weather in NZ is December to end of March.

 

[AndrewB]

Our investigations led us to a maximum of 9 months in any 18 months. This works for us-the best weather in NZ is December to end of March.

Yes, I've just checked the rules, if you apply for a tourist visa in advance it is 9 months in any 18. But without a visa, on the visa waiver scheme UK residents can stay 6 months. (For most other countries it's 3 months). However I was there for over 18 months on the visa waiver scheme in 2010-11.

I was ill at the end of the first 6 months, so both SWMBO and I got a waive through for another 6 months. By then it was the wrong season to leave NZ by yacht. So we had a week's holiday in China. The travel agent assured us there would be no problem, but I was still a bit concerned about re-entry. However the immigration guy turned out to be a keen yachtie so we had a good chat while the queue at Auckland airport backed up behind us. Another 6 months on our passports. At the end of this the weather was bad. "We're not going to send you out into that", they said at Opua, "we'd probably end up having to rescue you." So yet another month's grace. Finally we left!