I'm planning on finding a used 38' boat in the USA east coast, outfitting,
then sailing on to Europe. My questions are : how much visa time would I be
allowed (I'm an Australian citizen), and if I spend 30 - 40k on a boat would
that time be enough to ready the boat for cruising? I'm a single male, how
difficult is it to find crew willing to share expenses?
Any help is very welcome.

"John Murfet" wrote in message
...
I'm planning on finding a used 38' boat in the USA east coast, outfitting,
then sailing on to Europe. My questions are : how much visa time would I
be
allowed (I'm an Australian citizen),

How about contacting the US embassy / consulate closest to you?

and if I spend 30 - 40k on a boat would
that time be enough to ready the boat for cruising? I'm a single male, how
difficult is it to find crew willing to share expenses?
Any help is very welcome.

30-40K (USD) doesn't buy too big a boat - budget at least 10K for outfitting
for cruising.

How much money do you have to outfit the boat ?

How much experience do you have with working on boats?

If you have to hire somebody to do all the work, do you have the money?

Outfitting a boat to cross the Atlantic does take some time, especially if
you have to budget in time to actually buy the boat too (1-2 months I would
expect).


--
Evan Gatehouse

you'll have to rewrite my email address to get to me
ceilydh AT 3web dot net
(fools the spammers)f

Evan Gatehouse wrote in message
...

"John Murfet" wrote in message
...
I'm planning on finding a used 38' boat in the USA east coast,
outfitting,
then sailing on to Europe. My questions are : how much visa time would I
be
allowed (I'm an Australian citizen),

How about contacting the US embassy / consulate closest to you?

and if I spend 30 - 40k on a boat would
that time be enough to ready the boat for cruising? I'm a single male,
how
difficult is it to find crew willing to share expenses?
Any help is very welcome.

30-40K (USD) doesn't buy too big a boat - budget at least 10K for
outfitting
for cruising.

How much money do you have to outfit the boat ?

I should have about 70K USD all up

How much experience do you have with working on boats?
I am competent enough to do any of the repairs or outfitting, provided I can
get the tools and have the time.

If you have to hire somebody to do all the work, do you have the money?

Outfitting a boat to cross the Atlantic does take some time, especially if
you have to budget in time to actually buy the boat too (1-2 months I
would
expect).
The trick seems to be to buy the boat, get it outfitted (maybe repaired) and
get underway before the visa expires. An American guy tried to do this last
year in Sydney. His boat was unfinished so he had to almost give it away so
he could get out of the country before being thrown out.


--
Evan Gatehouse

you'll have to rewrite my email address to get to me
ceilydh AT 3web dot net
(fools the spammers)f

"John Murfet" wrote:

I'm planning on finding a used 38' boat in the USA east coast, outfitting,
then sailing on to Europe. My questions are : how much visa time would I be

You are eligible for the Visa Waiver Program but I don't think this is
a help to you. It looks like your limit is 90 days which cannot be
extended, and you have to have a round trip ticket.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/questions.html
To enter the U.S. under the VWP, travelers must:

* Be a citizen of a Visa Waiver Program country;
* have a valid passport issued by the participating country that is valid for six months beyond your intended visit;
* have a machine-readable passport (MRP);
* be seeking entry for 90 days or less, as a temporary visitor for business or pleasure. You will not be permitted to extend your visit or change to another visa category under the VWP;
* if entering by air or sea, have a round-trip transportation ticket issued on a carrier that has signed an agreement with the U.S. government to participate in the VWP, and arrive in the United States aboard such a carrier;
* hold a completed and signed Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival-Departure Record, Form I-94W, on which you have waived the right of review or appeal of an immigration officer’s determination about admissibility, or deportation. These forms are available from participating carriers, travel agents, and at land-border ports-of-entry;
* have no visa ineligibilities. This means if you have been refused a visa before, have a criminal record or are ineligible for a visa you cannot travel on the Visa Waiver Program. You must apply for a visa to the U.S.

I'm not sure whether you could get a Cruising Permit after you get the
boat - that allows foreign boats to cruise in the U.S. for a year,
after which you must leave U.S. coastal waters and enter another
country. An alternative is to pay the U.S. duty (about 1.5%) so the
boat can stay in the U.S. as long as you want.

allowed (I'm an Australian citizen), and if I spend 30 - 40k on a boat would
that time be enough to ready the boat for cruising? I'm a single male, how
difficult is it to find crew willing to share expenses?
Any help is very welcome.

The time required will vary depending on the type of boat. I'd
suggest buying a boat that's pretty much ready to go SOMEWHERE, going
to the Bahamas or someplace like that, and then returning to the
Florida and putting the boat up in a yard to do the work (if the boat
is in the yard the Florida 90 day restriction doesn't go into effect).

As far as finding crew - I've never been able to do that.




grandma Rosalie

On Mon, 1 Nov 2004 22:25:28 +1100, "John Murfet"
wrote:


Evan Gatehouse wrote in message
...

"John Murfet" wrote in message
...
I'm planning on finding a used 38' boat in the USA east coast,
outfitting,
then sailing on to Europe. My questions are : how much visa time would I
be
allowed (I'm an Australian citizen),
snip

I'm still surprised at the number of people I encounter who are "out
of status" on their visas....two, three years on a 90 day visa.

Being Australian, and not needing a visa, except if you do not meeting
certain condition, such as having a secured passage back home, or at
least off the North American continent, you would have only 90 days...

Since you would be leaving on the freshly re-fitted boat, you would
need a visa because you've not proof of passage on a secured carrier.

While you could hide, quite successfully, I'd hate to think what would
happen with being out of status and trying to get your zarpe for the
next port.
..


I should have about 70K USD all up
snip

You can spend it all.

The trick seems to be to buy the boat, get it outfitted (maybe repaired) and
get underway before the visa expires.

Yes, that's always the trick


An American guy tried to do this last
year in Sydney. His boat was unfinished so he had to almost give it away so
he could get out of the country before being thrown out.

.....sounds like he was under capitalized as much as anything else that
a weekend trip to New Zealand, or Fiji wouldn't handle.

John Murfet wrote:
I'm planning on finding a used 38' boat in the USA east coast, outfitting,
then sailing on to Europe. My questions are : how much visa time would I be
allowed (I'm an Australian citizen), and if I spend 30 - 40k on a boat would
that time be enough to ready the boat for cruising? I'm a single male, how
difficult is it to find crew willing to share expenses?
Any help is very welcome.


Hi John,

You will need to spend about 70/90000 USD on a good 40 foot boat. I
bought an old 1978 two-Morgan for 70,000 USD and spent another 25,000
USD on it. I sailed single-handed to uk from SC.

Have fun and get well kitted out.

Regards,

David


--
Web site: https://www.gbenet.com 100 + links to OS/2 Sites + News IBM
Business Partner - Mozilla/5.0 (OS/2; U; Warp 4; en-US; rv:1.3)
Gecko/20030313 IBM OS/2 Warp 4.5 - FX Firewall Professional. This email
and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely
for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If
you have received this email in error please notify or
tel 07960 108665 Thank you. Fight Spam! Join EuroCAUCE:
http://www.euro.cauce.org/

Horace Brownbag wrote in
:

On Mon, 1 Nov 2004 22:25:28 +1100, "John Murfet"
wrote:


Evan Gatehouse wrote in message
...

"John Murfet" wrote in message
...
I'm planning on finding a used 38' boat in the USA east coast,
outfitting,
then sailing on to Europe. My questions are : how much visa time
would I
be
allowed (I'm an Australian citizen),
snip

I'm still surprised at the number of people I encounter who are "out
of status" on their visas....two, three years on a 90 day visa.

Being Australian, and not needing a visa, except if you do not meeting
certain condition, such as having a secured passage back home, or at
least off the North American continent, you would have only 90 days...

Since you would be leaving on the freshly re-fitted boat, you would
need a visa because you've not proof of passage on a secured carrier.

While you could hide, quite successfully, I'd hate to think what would
happen with being out of status and trying to get your zarpe for the
next port.

Being an American citizen I've never needed a zarpe from the US to
anywhere. Does the US issue zarpe like documents when a foreign vessel
departs the US for a foreign country?

Also, virtually no one has ever looked at my passport exit stamps from
the previous country when entering a new country. Then again, my
passport is so full of stamps that finding the correct stamp would
require a lot of effort.

-- Geoff

I should have about 70K USD all up

That should find you a boat and have enough to outfit it. One thing I am
finding with equipping my current boat is that time gives you the luxury to
seek out the best deals.

Have a good bunch of prospects lined up and contacts with brokers already
made. Fill your luggage allowance with tools. Check www.yachtworld.com for
a good search of boats for sale.

If time is tight, you're almost forced to pay retail. In your case, I would
talk to the local West Marine store manager into giving you or using their
"Port Supply" account; provides almost wholesale prices on most items,
because you will be likely be spending a lot at their store in a short time.

On our last boat, a 30' moderately equipped fiberglass boat, we bought it
one fall, did essentially no work over the winter/spring, and spent 1 month
working 7 days/wk, 10-12 hours to get it ready. It wasn't 100% ready but it
was servicable and all the safety aspects were taken care of. I wouldn't
recommend it but in your case it may be required.

I'd take care of the safety aspects of the boat, and go to the Bahamas for a
"shakedown" cruise of a month or so. Then return to the US for more
equipment/outfitting if you can get another visa. You only need to have the
safety aspects taken care of - the cosmetic & convenience items can be done
as you travel. Heck we met people who have lived aboard for 7 years
traveling in Mexico who still had uninstalled solar panels in their
quarterberths

Time for doing this - probably the best time is to buy in the spring, cross
Atlantic in June to avoid hurricane exposure.


--
Evan Gatehouse

you'll have to rewrite my email address to get to me
ceilydh AT 3web dot net
(fools the spammers)

"Evan Gatehouse" wrote in message
...
I should have about 70K USD all up

That should find you a boat and have enough to outfit it. One thing I am
finding with equipping my current boat is that time gives you the luxury
to
seek out the best deals.

Have a good bunch of prospects lined up and contacts with brokers already
made. Fill your luggage allowance with tools. Check www.yachtworld.com
for
a good search of boats for sale.

If time is tight, you're almost forced to pay retail. In your case, I
would
talk to the local West Marine store manager into giving you or using their
"Port Supply" account; provides almost wholesale prices on most items,
because you will be likely be spending a lot at their store in a short
time.

On our last boat, a 30' moderately equipped fiberglass boat, we bought it
one fall, did essentially no work over the winter/spring, and spent 1
month
working 7 days/wk, 10-12 hours to get it ready. It wasn't 100% ready but
it
was servicable and all the safety aspects were taken care of. I wouldn't
recommend it but in your case it may be required.

I'd take care of the safety aspects of the boat, and go to the Bahamas for
a
"shakedown" cruise of a month or so. Then return to the US for more
equipment/outfitting if you can get another visa. You only need to have
the
safety aspects taken care of - the cosmetic & convenience items can be
done
as you travel. Heck we met people who have lived aboard for 7 years
traveling in Mexico who still had uninstalled solar panels in their
quarterberths

Time for doing this - probably the best time is to buy in the spring,
cross
Atlantic in June to avoid hurricane exposure.


--
Evan Gatehouse

you'll have to rewrite my email address to get to me
ceilydh AT 3web dot net
(fools the spammers)


Thanks Evan, and others
It seems I'm on the right track. How will I stand regarding finding crew in
spring, and for an earlier shakedown trip?
It looks like Florida might be the state with the biggest choice of boats.

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
"John Murfet" wrote:

I'm planning on finding a used 38' boat in the USA east coast,
outfitting,
then sailing on to Europe. My questions are : how much visa time would I
be

You are eligible for the Visa Waiver Program but I don't think this is
a help to you. It looks like your limit is 90 days which cannot be
extended, and you have to have a round trip ticket.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/questions.html
To enter the U.S. under the VWP, travelers must:

* Be a citizen of a Visa Waiver Program country;
* have a valid passport issued by the participating country that is
valid for six months beyond your intended visit;
* have a machine-readable passport (MRP);
* be seeking entry for 90 days or less, as a temporary visitor for
business or pleasure. You will not be permitted to extend your visit or
change to another visa category under the VWP;
* if entering by air or sea, have a round-trip transportation ticket
issued on a carrier that has signed an agreement with the U.S. government to
participate in the VWP, and arrive in the United States aboard such a
carrier;
* hold a completed and signed Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver
Arrival-Departure Record, Form I-94W, on which you have waived the right of
review or appeal of an immigration officer's determination about
admissibility, or deportation. These forms are available from participating
carriers, travel agents, and at land-border ports-of-entry;
* have no visa ineligibilities. This means if you have been refused a
visa before, have a criminal record or are ineligible for a visa you cannot
travel on the Visa Waiver Program. You must apply for a visa to the U.S.

I'm not sure whether you could get a Cruising Permit after you get the
boat - that allows foreign boats to cruise in the U.S. for a year,
after which you must leave U.S. coastal waters and enter another
country. An alternative is to pay the U.S. duty (about 1.5%) so the
boat can stay in the U.S. as long as you want.

allowed (I'm an Australian citizen), and if I spend 30 - 40k on a boat
would
that time be enough to ready the boat for cruising? I'm a single male,
how
difficult is it to find crew willing to share expenses?
Any help is very welcome.

The time required will vary depending on the type of boat. I'd
suggest buying a boat that's pretty much ready to go SOMEWHERE, going
to the Bahamas or someplace like that, and then returning to the
Florida and putting the boat up in a yard to do the work (if the boat
is in the yard the Florida 90 day restriction doesn't go into effect).

As far as finding crew - I've never been able to do that.




grandma Rosalie

Hi Rosalie
Thanks for your help. I believe I can register my newly aquired boat as an
Australian vesel from the Australian embassy when I relinquish the American
registration. Perhaps that then allows me to cruise American waters. I'll
have to check.
Have you been unable to find any crew, or do you mean 'suitable crew'