When we started looking at the option of purchasing a boat direct from the sellers in the US, registering it in another country and then clearing out from the US, there was a lack of information as to the process so we thought sharing our experience might be of benefit to someone in a similar position.

A Lot of Questions

While we were in New Zealand, we found a 1991 Privilege Catamaran for sale in San Diego advertised on the web. We asked a lot of questions, watched a lot of videos provided by the owners and had an offer subject to survey accepted.

We found a very good surveyor in San Diego who has the reputation of being very thorough and had the survey completed which highlighted a few things. We then flew to the US, viewed the boat and completed the transaction. 

There were no problems entering the US as NZ was on the list of acceptable countries. No quarantine or isolation was required and clearance was extremely straight forward, it took maybe 10 minutes because we had the right paperwork.

Along the way, we used a generic boat purchase agreement found on the net to formalize the initial agreement, a US Coastguard bill of sale to complete the sale and an escrow company to independently handle the funds.  We now had a boat we owned anchored in San Diego harbor.

Registration and Compliance

Next steps were to change the registration. We deleted the boat from the US Coastguard register using a deletion form found on their website. Once this was in hand, we registered the boat in New Zealand.  We now owned a NZ-flagged boat anchored in San Diego harbor.

The next was to ensure we were compliant with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). To achieve this and to be able to clear out of the US, we were required to obtain an export licence. A CBP Officer instructed us to find a Customs Broker to obtain the necessary licence.

This proved easier said than done, we had a great deal of trouble finding a broker who was willing to act on our behalf. It became apparent that none really knew what was required to obtain the necessary documentation. We finally found an excellent broker who took the time to investigate and complete the process for us. We ended up needing two documents, an Electronic Export Information form that is submitted electronically by licensed brokerage companies, and a CBP 1300 form for departure clearance.

Companies that were invaluable to us along the way:

Surveyor:
Kells Christan 
Christian & Co.
1276 Scott Street
San Diego, CA 92106
Toll Free: 800-944-4789
Phone: 619-223-7380
kells@themarinesurveyors.com
https://themarinesurveyors.com/

Customs Brokers:
Alberto Loza
Import Export Logistics Inc
9651 Airway Road, Suite F
San Diego, CA 92154
Office (619) 576-3660
Cell (619) 318-5370
aloza@importexportchb.com
www.importexportchb.com

Approximate Costs

• Surveys $1000 USD
• Escrow $400 USD
• Export Brokerage $350 USD
• US clearance costs $19 USD
• Plus accommodation costs prior to moving aboard.

Success and Savings

In the end, we successfully found and purchased a boat in the US, changed the ownership, complied with Customs and cleared out of the US without a boat broker, saving significant money in the process.

Craig and Karen Bishop-Everett
SY Ora

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About the Authors

In December 2019, after four years cruising the South Pacific part time, Craig and Karen Bishop-Everett headed off to Fiji to begin cruising full time. Like everyone else, COVID altered their plans and instead of heading off towards Japan and SE Asia, they spent nearly two years cruising the islands of Fiji. When it became apparent the Pacific was not opening up, they sold their Morgan Catalina 45 and started looking at catamarans in the US.

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The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of Noonsite.com or World Cruising Club.

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