- Joined
- Mar 17, 2012
- Messages
- 4,279
- Location
- Australia
- Vessel Name
- Insequent
- Vessel Make
- Ocean Alexander 50 Mk I
Its really great to be back home. As I am currently selling my house I haven't been on the boat much as yet, but getting to it via a short drive is much better that a trans Pacific flight as I was doing for the last 18 months.
During my refit I set-up a number of things for a long distance passage. I toyed with the idea of sailing from PNW to Brisbane on my own bottom. After re-power and enlarged tankage I had the range. But there were still a few extra things needed for a Pacific crossing, and for a number of reasons I ended up shipping ex: Vancouver, BC.
Loading was on 12 Sep. The stevedores took forever before they were happy with the sling positions, picking the boat up 5 times checking fore & aft load balance. Problem was, the forward spreader bar wasn't wide enough and the sling 'grabbed' onto some teak railing and ripped it as the sling took up the load. Doing it 5 times ensured that there was about 8 ft of damaged rail. The foreman almost jumped down my throat when I politely suggested making the spreader wider. Insurance will cover most of it and repairs will be completed in a couple of weeks. Avoidable, a bit of a hassle but at least the shipping was achieved.
Unloading in Brisbane on 12 October was uneventful although the wharf's container lift was used instead of the ship's own cranes so Insequent could be put into the water in front of the ship rather that alongside. There was a about 15 kn of wind, and the stevedores here wanted to do it that way. Other than lots of little bits of grease coming off the sling cables - the damn stuff was everywhere - we just hooked up a tow boat to hold us off the wharf while I started the engines. My solar system had kep the batteries charged so the engines started easily. Then it was a case of getting some slack on the slings, releasing and dropping one side of them and driving away. Very straightforward.
My shipping brokers had done a great job. Customs clearance was a 2 phase process. Phase 1 was declarations and payment of duty and GST on the USA market value. Without completing that the boat would have been unloaded onto the wharf into the bonded area, and not directly into the water. Phase 2 was an Australian market valuation and an adjustment of the duty/GST calculation. This is still underway, but I am not restricted in using the boat in the meantime.
The second part of import was Quarantine. After unloading I had to go directly to the Quarantine dock for clearance, just as a vessel arriving by sea on its own bottom would do. The inspection was pre-booked as is required and was completed without any problems. Of course I had given away all the food etc to people in Canada before loading, had no alcohol on board for shipping in order to keep everything as simple as possible. Although it is a fiberglass hull, biosecurity considered that due to the extensive teak panelling etc 'there is a lot of wood on the boat'. They were very thorough in looking for evidence of Asian termites as apparently they are an issue in North America and that species does not occur in Australia. With no evidence at all of any termite frass I received quarantine clearance without the need for their 'termite dog' coming aboard. Note - if you are importing, be sure to thoroughly clean your bilges and cupboards. Sawdust is hard to distinguish from frass, and if in doubt the dog will be required. If termites are present there will be frass deposits during time required for shipping even if you cleaned before loading. Of course you would want to know if there are termites - no-one would want to bring the damn things in.
The termite aspect raised a question in my mind. I dont recall owners, surveyors or brokers in the USA discussing it much at all. Is it a problem? Seems to me to be a serious potential problem, but an uncommon one. Are some parts of North America more prone to termite infestations than others?
During my refit I set-up a number of things for a long distance passage. I toyed with the idea of sailing from PNW to Brisbane on my own bottom. After re-power and enlarged tankage I had the range. But there were still a few extra things needed for a Pacific crossing, and for a number of reasons I ended up shipping ex: Vancouver, BC.
Loading was on 12 Sep. The stevedores took forever before they were happy with the sling positions, picking the boat up 5 times checking fore & aft load balance. Problem was, the forward spreader bar wasn't wide enough and the sling 'grabbed' onto some teak railing and ripped it as the sling took up the load. Doing it 5 times ensured that there was about 8 ft of damaged rail. The foreman almost jumped down my throat when I politely suggested making the spreader wider. Insurance will cover most of it and repairs will be completed in a couple of weeks. Avoidable, a bit of a hassle but at least the shipping was achieved.
Unloading in Brisbane on 12 October was uneventful although the wharf's container lift was used instead of the ship's own cranes so Insequent could be put into the water in front of the ship rather that alongside. There was a about 15 kn of wind, and the stevedores here wanted to do it that way. Other than lots of little bits of grease coming off the sling cables - the damn stuff was everywhere - we just hooked up a tow boat to hold us off the wharf while I started the engines. My solar system had kep the batteries charged so the engines started easily. Then it was a case of getting some slack on the slings, releasing and dropping one side of them and driving away. Very straightforward.
My shipping brokers had done a great job. Customs clearance was a 2 phase process. Phase 1 was declarations and payment of duty and GST on the USA market value. Without completing that the boat would have been unloaded onto the wharf into the bonded area, and not directly into the water. Phase 2 was an Australian market valuation and an adjustment of the duty/GST calculation. This is still underway, but I am not restricted in using the boat in the meantime.
The second part of import was Quarantine. After unloading I had to go directly to the Quarantine dock for clearance, just as a vessel arriving by sea on its own bottom would do. The inspection was pre-booked as is required and was completed without any problems. Of course I had given away all the food etc to people in Canada before loading, had no alcohol on board for shipping in order to keep everything as simple as possible. Although it is a fiberglass hull, biosecurity considered that due to the extensive teak panelling etc 'there is a lot of wood on the boat'. They were very thorough in looking for evidence of Asian termites as apparently they are an issue in North America and that species does not occur in Australia. With no evidence at all of any termite frass I received quarantine clearance without the need for their 'termite dog' coming aboard. Note - if you are importing, be sure to thoroughly clean your bilges and cupboards. Sawdust is hard to distinguish from frass, and if in doubt the dog will be required. If termites are present there will be frass deposits during time required for shipping even if you cleaned before loading. Of course you would want to know if there are termites - no-one would want to bring the damn things in.
The termite aspect raised a question in my mind. I dont recall owners, surveyors or brokers in the USA discussing it much at all. Is it a problem? Seems to me to be a serious potential problem, but an uncommon one. Are some parts of North America more prone to termite infestations than others?
