I had the good fortune to sail to New Caledonia last year, shortly after the country re-opened its borders to cruising yachties.

Here's the first installment of our trip:
blog.arribasail.com/2023/03/cruise-bound-for-new-caledonia.html

Thanks for sharing. Good info on the legalities.

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scruzin said..
I had the good fortune to sail to New Caledonia last year, shortly after the country re-opened its borders to cruising yachties.

Here's the first installment of our trip:
blog.arribasail.com/2023/03/cruise-bound-for-new-caledonia.html

Sounds like a royal PITA.

Interesting thanks. Skimmed through it but seems informative.
Lived on a boat as a kid for a few years and did the NE coast of Oz and New Caledonia, Vanuatu.
The more I read and look into it the luckier I understand we were. There is no way my dad went through a lot of that stuff.
No GPS etc and I only learnt later in life he didn't know how to sail or navigate.
Charts were such a big deal and expensive. Cruisers were always swapping charts and talking about charts.
Imagine no GPS no internet and setting off in a boat. To somewhere you had only seen a couple of pics of in a book or magazine. It wasn't that long ago.
Only hit a reef once and got stranded on a deserted island once that I can remember.

Thanks Scruzin

I hope to do the same trip next year on my cat. Please continue with the notes.

Cheers

Phil

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Kankama said..
Thanks Scruzin

I hope to do the same trip next year on my cat. Please continue with the notes.

Cheers

Phil

Stay tuned.

We loved New Caledonia. Even with 6 weeks, we barely scratched the surface, so we plan to return again.

It is just a long way from Adelaide just to get to Southport (although some great sailing along the way).

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tarquin1 said..
Interesting thanks. Skimmed through it but seems informative.
Lived on a boat as a kid for a few years and did the NE coast of Oz and New Caledonia, Vanuatu.
The more I read and look into it the luckier I understand we were. There is no way my dad went through a lot of that stuff.
No GPS etc and I only learnt later in life he didn't know how to sail or navigate.
Charts were such a big deal and expensive. Cruisers were always swapping charts and talking about charts.
Imagine no GPS no internet and setting off in a boat. To somewhere you had only seen a couple of pics of in a book or magazine. It wasn't that long ago.
Only hit a reef once and got stranded on a deserted island once that I can remember.

Hardcore!

I love my GPS and electronic charts as much as the next boatie, but I still wouldn't set sail on a bluewater passage without my paper charts and sextant :-)

I hear our country is the most biurocratic for sailing - if you want to cruise outside Australian waters.
So, if you want to cruise the world you must provide detailed itinerary of every country you want to visit?

Don't get caught up in this export caper! You only need to export your vessel if you have no intention of returning it.

I have cleared customs each way many times by sail in the last in 20 years. The last from Coffs to NC, the question was asked if I am exporting the boat, I said no, i am coming back, I have no intention of selling my boat overseas or re-flagging it in a foreign country, he said "Good Answer" and issued clearance.

On arrival back from NC the customs guy at Bundy was annoyed that I hadn't exported my vessel. I reckon because he then couldn't charge me a wack to import it or get his backhander from the customs agent he advised us we needed. He then had to dutifully stamp us back in and we had no importation or agent forms, fees or charges other than the normal charges.

If you don't export you vessel you and your vessel will be treated just like QF1 to London or any other ship or aircraft that depart and arrive daily. And your vessel will be treated as a sovereign piece of Australian territory whilst overseas.

So do your homework before you go effectively signing away your vessels sovereignty by exporting it. I reckon its a con job so our government don't have to deal with any problems that may arrise regarding your vessel. They can brush their responsibility by proving this vessel was exported overseas on departure.

I found this - it is oldish though

www.mysailing.com.au/exporting-and-importing-what-are-the-rules/

That magazine article annoyed me with its inaccuracies too.

Why would you believe an individual officers opinion or a magazine article when the rules and guidelines is written clearly on the ABF Website which I Cut and Pasted the relevent info below.


"Leaving Australia
Passenger Movement Charge. You may be required to pay a Passenger Movement Charge on departure. This charge is AUD60. Children under 12 years of age are exempt.

Clearance
ABF clearance is required before you depart. This is available at any appointed port. You should contact us in advance to avoid unnecessary delay. It is an offence to depart without clearance.

Requirements for departure.
Passports for all persons on board.

Masters of Australian or imported vessels may be required to 'enter' the vessel for export if the craft is to be sold or positioned overseas.

Registering craft - the Registrar of ShipsMasters of foreign craft not registered under the law of a foreign country must make a declaration about the nationality of their craft when leaving Australia.

All Australian craft or vessels, irrespective of size or type whether owned by an Australian citizen or by an Australian company, must be registered before leaving Australia. State registration does not meet this requirement.

Unregistered craft will not receive Australian diplomatic protection while overseas."


Note 4th paragraph regarding exporting a vessel and the last paragraph regarding diplomatic protection of an Australian vessel. If the vessel has been exported it could be argued by Australian officials that the vessel is no longer their diplomatic responsibility as the owners intention is to sell or reposition this vessel in another country.

I hope it works out well for the OP and I hope there will be more posts regarding the consequences of exporting their yacht and the necessity to import it back home.

Do you need to maintain state registration when cruising overseas?

I have let it slip when overseas as it isn't recognised by any other country and you don't enjoy any benefits of state rego, so its pointless to keep state rego going. But investigate with your state how much extra it will cost to reinstate rego when you clear back in so you can weigh up the costs.

Latest installment in my New Caledonia sailing trip, sailing around Grande Terre:

blog.arribasail.com/2023/05/cruise-grande-terre-new-caledonia.html

As for the pros and cons of "exporting", it seems the rules change frequently. In 2022, an Export Declaration Number (EDN) was required in order to obtain an export clearance. No EDN = No clearance! I understand that was not the case a few years ago.

That said, it is straightforward enough to obtain an EDN without a customs agent and no fees are charged.

Thanks for that

Latest installment in my New Caledonia sailing trip, sailing around the Loyalty Islands:

blog.arribasail.com/2023/06/cruise-loyalty-islands-new-caledonia.html

Whetting my appetite for next year, much appreciated.

Good read, thanks

My final installment in this series: sailing from New Caledonia back to Australia:

blog.arribasail.com/2023/07/cruise-noumea-to-sydney.html

For info on importing and exporting your yacht, see the following post:

blog.arribasail.com/2023/05/exporting-when-sailing-from-australia.html