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Shipping Boat's Overseas

K

KiwiCanadian

New Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2011
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5
Anyone had any experience Shipping there boat overseas?

Weighing up buying a boat here in Canada and shipping back to NZ after a year or so stint. Poss even the idea of buying a folding... but not sure about them.

Or the idea of just joining a rental fleet club.
 
If you are to buy a boat here and ship back, be forewarned. The charges for shipping, if by air are exorbitant. Doesn't matter what the boat weighs, you will be charged for the volume it takes up in the aircraft. That volume has a weight equivalent. To calculate that weight equivalent multiply the maximum length x maximum width x maximum height ( in cm ) then divide by 6000. That gives the volumetric weight in kg.

Same applies for shipping by ship though the ocean charges are far far lower.

It might be more cost effective to get a folder. Obviously they cost more, but are a lot cheaper to transport. If you flit about a lot you may save enough in transport costs to make it worthwhile.
 
KiwiCanadian said:
Anyone had any experience Shipping there boat overseas?

Weighing up buying a boat here in Canada and shipping back to NZ after a year or so stint. Poss even the idea of buying a folding... but not sure about them.

Or the idea of just joining a rental fleet club.
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I have gone through that process.
If you want to buy a boat and have it shipped using your average freight company you are looking around $2500. Not much of an option. The cost is driven by the volume, not the weight.
A folding kayak is much better. I had shipped one as unaccompanied luggage from Germany to Oz for around $300.

Third option is to sell your kayak here and buy a new one in NZ.
 
Yeah, if you're only going to be "here" for 1 year I think your money would be better spent renting on those days you want to go paddling using that opportunity to try out and pick the "perfect" boat for yourself and then buy upon return to New Zealand.
 
Tootsall said:
Yeah, if you're only going to be "here" for 1 year I think your money would be better spent renting on those days you want to go paddling using that opportunity to try out and pick the "perfect" boat for yourself and then buy upon return to New Zealand.
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Small problem with trying here and buying in NZ is that you won't find many US/Canadian boats being sold in NZ. OTOH there are a number of Kiwi kayak makers that produce pretty good boats.
 
smeyn said:
Tootsall said:
Yeah, if you're only going to be "here" for 1 year I think your money would be better spent renting on those days you want to go paddling using that opportunity to try out and pick the "perfect" boat for yourself and then buy upon return to New Zealand.
Click to expand...
Small problem with trying here and buying in NZ is that you won't find many US/Canadian boats being sold in NZ. OTOH there are a number of Kiwi kayak makers that produce pretty good boats.
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True, but you can narrow it down to what type of boat. Skeg or rudder? Highly rockered or straight tracking? The ideal width and length? Etc...
 
I think money wise your best bet will be buying a used boat when you get here, and selling before you leave, even if you have to dump it at a price significantly below market value to ensure a quick sale.... Just buy something popular enough in the area you'll be selling it( selling a skeg boat in Lower Mainland for example can be hell ,even in season.Too many people here still don't get them). Seattle/Bellingham craigslist tends to have a lot more boats,so if you can,may be your better bet for buying.
If transportation and storage are not an issue,having your own is a much better bang for the buck since you'll have immediate and guaranteed access to it and will be able to adjust outfitting to you and not someone much bigger or smaller. I've bought and sold MANY(over 25) boats over the last 6 years or so,good deals are to be had and even money to be made in the process sometimes.
 
Having been to NZ I can tell you that they don't appear to have the selection of boats that we do, that are actually comfortable and efficient. I'm sure our experiences were affected by the fact that we were paddling rental boats that were bought for novices to paddle, but we didn't see anything there that looked remotely decent. We did see a 3-piece Explorer on the beach in Oban (Stewart Island) but I'm pretty sure it wasn't for sale and I can imagine the owner paid a premium to get it there from home (I think he was from Israel). If I were moving there, I'd definitely consider all the options to bring my boats! I'm sure there are lots of partly-empty containers being shipped there as people move - the question becomes how to find and get in touch with anyone that might have some spare room in a container they're loading up.
 
To give more detailed information, as I have assisted several customers over the years with shipping personal boats back to AUS/NZ.

Gord was spot on regarding space taken being the primary consideration. I recommend you have your boat crated locally with Cratex. The crate will set you back between $400-500.

Shipping via ocean freight you will have multiple options. If yuo are in no rush average transit time for cheapest option is 6 weeks. Your boat will visit many exotic locales before arriving in NZ, as the more stops the ship makes, the longer the trip, the cheaper the freight.

You can expect the crated shipping cost on this option to come in around $1200-$1600, depending on surcharges and taxes.

Lastly you are repsonsible for all brokerage/customs charges on the other end. These can be substantial, normally averaging another $600-1000.

you will avoid paying any import dutie or sales tax in NZ if you have documented proof that the boat was purchased more than 1 year prior to your return - it would be considered personal goods, along with all your other belongings being sent back home.

If your stay in Canada with boat is less than 1 year, you will need to pay import duty and sales tax in yuor home country. These can be as much as 35% of the original purchase price of the boat.

Likewise for the folding boat, though it may be easier to pass that one off as you having carried it with you to Canada to begin with. They will most likely ask for receipts and your original export declaration of personal goods leaving the country.

All in all, it is an expensive proposition no matter which avenue you take but can be worthwhile given the costs associated with sourcing certain boat models yourself in NZ.
 
I bought a folder in Germany a few years ago. I reckoned the cost for flying over and bringing it back (combined with a trip on the Canal Du Midi) would be about the same as buying it locally.

Anyway trouble started at Berlin airport. At 26 kg plus my own luggage I'd be overlimit with check-in baggage limit (23kg). So I went to the freight terminal and shipped the box with the frame separately and only checked in the skin.
Then I went to local customs to get the German GST back. No luck, my invoice had a German address - they wouldn't budge. So I lost 13%.

When I arrived at Sydney airport I dutifully ticked the appropriate customs declaration box about carrying goods over the value of $600. The customs duty officer asked what I was importing and I told him I was importing half a folding kayak as I was carrying only the skin. After explaining what a folding kayak was he decided that this was too complicated and urged me to deal with the import duty when the other half of the kayak arrived at Sydney Freight.
A week later I got notified that freight had arrived. The freight agents were pretty good and charged me almost nothing. I got the documentation and went to customs. Same story again - I was importing a folding kayak but only had one half of it as the other half was alredy in the country. I had to explain again what a folding kayak is and why it was in two halves. After I had finished - I wasn't sure if I had been clear enough or not - the customs agent made up his mind, took my form, crossed out the year of purchase date, entered the previous year and proceeded to lecture me that anything older than a year did not attract GST.

Since then I'm convinced there is a thing called karma that compensates you for not being able to get back the German GST.
 
While not quite as large as a sea kayak, I am flying back to NZ with a whitewater kayak as one of my pieces of luggage next week. (Snowboard is my second piece of luggage and personal stuff is carry on).

The kayak is about 10cm less than the 2.5m length restriction on luggage, so I should be okay. However, when I called the airline to confirm that a kayak as luggage was okay, the person I spoke to thought it was okay, but wasn't sure about the size of the plane for my connection to Wellington from Auckland. So, I got refered to their freight department. The freight department could confirm that the boat would fit on the plane, but couldn't confirm what would be accepted as luggage at check in. I think it should all be okay, but I'll let you know how I get on.
 
Just make sure you have your kayak thoroughly cleaned and dried with no sand inside. Biosecurity at NZ is quite tight. When I flew over a year ago for some kayaking in Pelorus sound they made me unpack all my wet gear to see if it was acceptable.
 
Wow what great responses, truly a great forum.

At this stage trying out a few boat's and seeing what is available...

I think buying a boat here and selling at end of stay is most feasible. Although would be great to show off an Canadian made boat in NZ..

Just soo many different boats to choose from!!!!!! And soo many great locations! Soo much to look forward.

Thank you Beautiful British Columbia!

Cheers for all the responses!

Nic
 
Hello

I have done it. While living in Vancouver for ony a year, within the first month I tried quite a few kayaks with the aim to buy second hand while there, with the plan to sell it before leaving to return to Perth Western Australia.

I found a Kayak that was so perfect for me (Impex Currituck) that I just had to purchase one. Fortunately I came across one on sale at Ecomarine Granville Island (I was told it was a special for Canada Day that had recently passed, due to its red deck and white hull...a patriotic kayak eh?) that wasn't too much more expensive than the second hand prices. I purchased it knowing that I would undergo the costs of shipping it back to Oz (There was no way in the world I was giving this kayak up).

It was expensive.... the crate costs and ocean shipping came to around AUS$1900 from memory. I did not have to pay the Australian import duty as I had ownded it for more than 12 months by the time it was declared here.

It was worth every cent, as to arrange to buy the same (or similar) kayak from Perth would have cost more than the initial purchase price and shipping combined. I have not yet come across a single kayak for sale here in Perth that I would be happy to own (It seems I live in the land of the skegless kayak here...rudder only) since finding my current Canadian made kayak.

My only regret...that we have decided to look into moving back to Vancouver (we fell in love with BC) so I have to decide whether to ship the darn thing back...bless it! :p
 
Nath said:
I have not yet come across a single kayak for sale here in Perth that I would be happy to own (It seems I live in the land of the skegless kayak here...rudder only)
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Mhhh, might want to have a look at http://www.expeditionkayaks.com. they used to sell Impexes for quite a while but now it's mostly Valley, Tahe, Zegul, Rockpool - all skegged boats.
 
smeyn said:
Nath said:
I have not yet come across a single kayak for sale here in Perth that I would be happy to own (It seems I live in the land of the skegless kayak here...rudder only)
Click to expand...
Mhhh, might want to have a look at http://www.expeditionkayaks.com. they used to sell Impexes for quite a while but now it's mostly Valley, Tahe, Zegul, Rockpool - all skegged boats.
Click to expand...

Yes, I found these guys a little while ago and was happy to discover that they are probably largely responsible for the slowly emerging trend for Brit style and/or skegged kayaks in Australia. They no longer stock Impex and are a long way from Perth. The only boat they sell that I am familiar with is the Nordkapp.

Here in Perth however, I believe serious sea kayaking is still largely synonomous with the Mirage 580 (though I could be wrong as I have not been involved with the sea kayaking community here for quite some time and things may have changed). Very fine boats granted, just not my cup of tea at the moment. Regardless, when looking at was is on offer here in the very few local stores...options are very, very limited still. In general, there is more emphasis on racing, surf skis and plastic, made in china sit on tops here at the moment.
 
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