Yacht Swap - UK - Australia

[xstucker]

Having moved to Sydney in Australia 9 months ago, I have just got around to advertising my Elan 36 for sale in the UK. My plan is to sell the UK boat and then buy one in the New South Wales region. It was not economical to get my boat shipped to Sydney (over half the value of the boat), but was just wondering if there was some Australian who was in the reciprocal position and fancied swapping boats.

This post is not so much to see if anyone on the forum happens to be a travelling Aussie with a boat, but to see if anyone has an idea of where I can post an advert. I have seen adverts on ApolloDuck and Boatsandoutboards etc, but they are people who are looking to swap for a different type of boat, in the same location. I'm looking for a similar boat, in a different location.

If it can't be done, then I will sell, exchange the currency, and buy in Australia, but there are a whole load of losses by that route.

Thanks.

Simon

 

[nauticalnomad]

I was in a similar position 2 year ago. But I had a Sparkman Stephens 34 in Brisbane and a 45ft boat in the UK. I ended up selling the SS 34.
Id look at the prices of boats in Oz and UK.
You can fit a 36ft in a container and a container is around 2000 from Harwich to Sydney.
Even cheaper to Singapore and then sail down to Darwin isn't far.
Beautiful coastline from Darwin around to Brisbane and then down to Sydney.
Why on earth would you want to go to Australia for...

 

[Oldhairy]

Why on earth would you want to go to Australia for...

A blue flag?

 

[xstucker]

I investigated the container route. If she had fitted in a container then it would have cost around £6k. However, she is too wide, too high and the mast is too long. So, I got a quote to remove the keel and put it, her and the mast on what they call a flat-rack container which is basically a base with two ends and no sides or top. She is still a bit high, but could go on the top of a stack, and as she is wide, they charge for two containers. Oh, and as the mast is too long, they have to charge for separate cargo for that. The total cost is £17k for shipping, and £2000 for the keel operations and crane use. Then there are all the taxes that have to be paid in Australia, so it all comes to around half the value of the boat. A swap could save two people a lot of money, but it is a very long shot.

Thanks for the thoughts though