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Sailing your boat from the Netherlands to New Zealand


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Hello all,

We are 4 sailors living in the Netherlands and have a dream to sail to New Zealand. We all study at two different universities in the Netherlands (Bachelor Aerospace Engineering TU Delft, Bachelor Physics University of Amsterdam,  Bachelor Bèta-Gamma University of Amsterdam and Bachelor Mechanical Engineering TU Delft). A friend of ours who sailed across the Atlantic helps us with the preparations and supports us with is knowledge. He gave us the advice of sailing a boat from someone else for free to New Zealand or Australia. If someone in New Zealand wants to buy a yacht from the Dutch market which is generally cheaper and offers many different yachts, we could sail this yacht from the Netherlands to New Zealand in 14 months for free. We plan to set sail in July 2021 thus wil arrive in august 2022. Examples of websites for yachts are yachtfocus.com, boat24.com and botentekoop.nl. If you find a boat that you want to buy, email me at jorianvanbemmelen@gmail.com if you have questions for or about us and we can discuss the boat and other important aspects of the trip. 

 

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Interesting offer.

Yes I am currently looking at a couple of boats offshore including Asia and Europe. If the boat isn't actually in the Netherlands would you sail something from elsewhere in Europe / Med?

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13 hours ago, Aleana said:

Interesting offer.

Yes I am currently looking at a couple of boats offshore including Asia and Europe. If the boat isn't actually in the Netherlands would you sail something from elsewhere in Europe / Med?

Cool! Didn't expect such a fast reply:). Yes we could definitely sail a yacht from elsewhere in Europe. Have you seen some seaworthy ships already? If you can you send me an email with the url?

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16 hours ago, BOIGuy said:

I have my eye on some nice cruising boats in New Zealand, if you buy one for me I will happily sail it to the Netherlands for you to use after I am finished with it.

Buying a boat in Europe is not the problem for us. Selling it in New Zealand is difficult when we are back in the Netherlands. Or do you mean we then sail it back to New Zealand for you? Maybe replying via email is quicker if you think it’s ok.

 

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Let’s see if I have this right....

You want to sail to New Zealand

You would like someone in New Zealand to buy a boat in Europe

You plan on taking 14 months to deliver the boat 

You offer this service for free

 

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Rushman yes I think that is their offer.

By the tone of some posts here I suspect some people find it a bit edgy or cheeky.

Whereas I find it a bold and slightly crazy idea but certainly worth asking the question - because like the best crazy ideas it might just work for someone!

I am actively looking at buying a boat outside NZ - primarily for reasons of wider market choice - and one of the big hurdles is delivery cost which can be tens of thousands of $$$.

So, if a suitably qualified crew of 4 offered to sail my newly purchased boat back to NZ for free, all be it that it would take a while and involve some risk, then yes that might be something I'd consider. And if the guys involved are simply looking for an adventure (presumably with their expenses covered by me) and they are suitably qualified (I would do comprehensive reference checks before agreeing to such a deal) then yes it could be a win-win idea for everyone.

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Just adding to this. Only the other day I posted on one of the major production boat forums that if anyone has a boat in Europe / US that fits my criteria and they are interested in a cruise to the South Pacific and ending their journey in NZ, then I might be prepared to buy their boat when they arrive. Obviously lots of details to work through and no guarantees or obligations on either side. But just like the 4 guys in the Netherlands posting above, I was taking a long shot just in case it might work for somebody out there.

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Assuming it is all ligit......another angle to consider. For the NZ Buyer, they would want to be very confident in the Crew. There is no insurance for sailing across the Big Blue. If by some chance it all goes pear shape and the Crew has to bail, then you would want to believe that they did everything in their power to keep the Boat afloat and only bailed because they really had too. Otherwise one would always have in the back of their mind, did they really try. The Crew not owning the Boat themselves may not give them as much incentive to try as hard as the someone that forked out the big coins for it.
Many Foreigners have no idea what conditions can be like down here. They would want to be very competent Sailors.

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It can cost around $45,000NZD to ship a 50 footer from Europe to NZ.

So this option could work if you are willing to take the risk, and can wait a year for it to arrive.

Not sure who covers insurance, damage, maintenance, panama canal fees, etc though?

 

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1 hour ago, ex Elly said:

It can cost around $45,000NZD to ship a 50 footer from Europe to NZ.

So this option could work if you are willing to take the risk, and can wait a year for it to arrive.

Not sure who covers insurance, damage, maintenance, panama canal fees, etc though?

 

No, the cost is closer to $70k. I checked recently.

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Sorry no I’m wrong. The quote I got a couple of weeks ago for shipping a 50ft boat from Europe to NZ was $70k USD. So that’s over NZD$100k.

 

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3 hours ago, wheels said:

Assuming it is all ligit......another angle to consider. For the NZ Buyer, they would want to be very confident in the Crew. There is no insurance for sailing across the Big Blue. If by some chance it all goes pear shape and the Crew has to bail, then you would want to believe that they did everything in their power to keep the Boat afloat and only bailed because they really had too. Otherwise one would always have in the back of their mind, did they really try. The Crew not owning the Boat themselves may not give them as much incentive to try as hard as the someone that forked out the big coins for it.
Many Foreigners have no idea what conditions can be like down here. They would want to be very competent Sailors.

Actually many (most??) vessels out there cruising are covered by insurance. Personally I'd find this an unacceptable risk if the vessel was not insured. The insurance co will likely insist on the skipper having suitable qualifications/experience.

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The issue of the delivery crew not owning the boat is the same whether they are paid or not.

But it’s true I’d prefer to have a delivery crew who I already know & trust - and they might even get a little bonus on delivery for no new scratches! 😊

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13 hours ago, Island Time said:

Actually many (most??) vessels out there cruising are covered by insurance. Personally I'd find this an unacceptable risk if the vessel was not insured. The insurance co will likely insist on the skipper having suitable qualifications/experience.

That may have changed IT. The cost to insure for Ocean passages is ruffly as much as the cost of a Boat. This is due to the Market falling and cost of Insurance rising. Unless it is a case of Insurance being cheaper if you have qualified skipper I guess. Anyway, Hence why it is becoming much more common to put a Yacht on a Ship now. But as seen above, with cost around the $100K mark, the Boat needs to be worth the cost of putting it on a Ship.

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27 minutes ago, wheels said:

That may have changed IT. The cost to insure for Ocean passages is ruffly as much as the cost of a Boat. This is due to the Market falling and cost of Insurance rising. Unless it is a case of Insurance being cheaper if you have qualified skipper I guess. Anyway, Hence why it is becoming much more common to put a Yacht on a Ship now. But as seen above, with cost around the $100K mark, the Boat needs to be worth the cost of putting it on a Ship.

That is simply not true. Assuming your boat is sound and your crew is satisfactory to the insurer, blue water insurance can be obtained for most boats without a problem. And for far less than the cost of the boat. As IT says, most vessels out there have cover. 

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Yes Rushman, that’s basically it. 

We will of course take all necessary measures to prepare for the trip. The last thing we want is a sunken ship so we will do everything in our power to get to New Zealand in one piece. However, if the worst happens we would also like to have a contract made by a professional to have a (financial) solution ready. We of course will discuss the specifics with the buyer beforehand. 

We are going to sail nonstop for a week on the north sea in October on a hired yacht as preparation. We also think it’s safe to get to know the boat before we go so we don’t come across nasty surprises along the way. Our friend has had dozens of boats and has done maintenance on the boats by himself so he knows where to look when buying a yacht. We will ask him to come with us when we pick up the yacht to look for the weak spots. I think that is then a good time to meet each other:) (I assume you fly to Europe when you plan to buy the yacht?). 

I thought it’s nice to introduce us to you so I will start with my brother and I. My name is Jorian van Bemmelen and study Aerospace Engineering at the Technical University in Delft and also live in Delft. My brother and I started sailing when I was 9 and he was 11 in a Cadet, this is a small two person boat. In 2008 we participated in the world cup of the Cadet. My brother also sailed in this world cup in another Cadet. After the world cup we sailed in the Cadets until I was 11 years old and he was 13 years old. After that, my brother and I often sailed with our parents in the holidays on the Ijselmeer and Waddensea where we gotten used to sailing with bigger yachts. After we moved to The Hague we started sailing on smaller sailing boats on the North sea which we did until the age of 15. 

As you can see my brother and I have similar interests:) His name is Daniel van Bemmelen and lives in Amsterdam. He studies Physics at the University of Amsterdam. He has basically the same sailing experience as I have which is more than most idyllic couples you see on YouTube who are sailing the world. 

We believe that preparation is almost everything when sailing safely across the world and put safety before anything else. I hope you can form an initial impression of us and would like to invite you for a Skype/ Zoom/ Facetime call if you would like to speak to us. 

Here is a yacht we thought is capable of sailing halfway across the world:)

https://www.yachtfocus.com/gebruikte-boten-te-koop/sealion-yachts/164530/one-off-peters-zeiljacht.html

 

Please don’t hesitate to mail me if you have any questions for us. 

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Gaucho probably is a suitable craft to sail across the world, "if" it is sound condition. There are so many parts of a yacht that don't show their condition until tested. A storm is generally where they will show up and that is the last place you want that to happen. There are quite a range of yachts (similar to Gaucho) already in NZ on the local market for considerably less than eu78.000. Recently a Roberts 43 (steel, in very good condition) sold for around $80.000 NZd. Most yachts that are being imported from Europe are what I call AWB's (all white boats) Benetau's, Bavaria's, Jenneau's etc. etc. mostly they are from charter fleets, being sold at the end of their economic charter life, and are priced accordingly.

You may find that with covid the "yacht" market in Europe will / is collapsing,  with a lot of sound "Ocean going" yachts available at much better prices than Gaucho and you will be able to afford your own perhaps? Go to Lemmer and talk to the local sailors, (not the brokers)  they will know the market and in which direction the prices are going.

Good luck in your quest, if you don't try, you don't get! 

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