They will have to take the Bimini off and put it in sideways, containers are 8 ft wide. I’m looking at it as well, there is a roro that comes in to Auckland, from Los Angeles.

Guys, do not, under any circumstances, use Boat Export USA.

Purchased through POP Yachts who were reasonably helpful.

From what I understand, boat export just snags all online listings and funnels to their own site. When you enquire, they then chase the actual owner/dealer and try to do a deal. Likely they will go ahead and say you have a deal regardless, then get a deposit. If they can then secure it, then it seems to work out. If they cant, that's when it all goes to crap.

Multiple cases filed against them through FL chamber of commerce and the BBB.

If you order through a broker, which I suggest as they handle all paperwork, you can then sort your own logistics company.

If you want to discuss flick me a PM.

Hi all,

New poster and enjoying the topic. I'm also an ex-pat Yank living in Auckland. I'm also considering bringing in a U.S. boat.

Thought I'd add my two cents to the discussion:

It appears the magic number for importing is 39' OAL and 12.4' total height. Any bigger than that and the boat can't be shipped via container, which will raise the price by at least $10k USD in most cases. Under 39' and you could be looking at as "little" as $20k USD to bring a big game fisher in.

One thing I notice gets overlooked (understandably) is how vastly different the U.S. boating industry is from coast to coast and all throughout the middle. People often think of the States as one place, but in reality it's much more like the European Union, but that everyone speaks the same language (sort of). A Norwegian boat would be operating under very different environments to a Greek boat, similarly a Florida boat vs an Alaska boat etc etc.

I work in the NZ marine industry and we find the most comparable U.S. market to ours would be the Pacific Northwest up into Alaska, and also New England (Maine, New York, Boston etc). California as well, but that's going to be more on the launch side. If you look at Stabicraft you'll notice their U.S. foothold started in Seattle and Alaska, since they love aluminium up there (absolutely essential in most cases).

Florida (and the South in general) like open boats, and the middle is all lakes, though the Great Lakes are essentially inland oceans as far as the marine industry there is concerned. In general many inland U.S. boats are often treated like mobile apartments, so they generally have very well furnished interiors, though often limited deck space or open bows, which is no good for our waters.

I lived on the Great Lakes for a bit and I wouldn't overlook the boats being sold there (despite slightly higher shipping costs). Every boat in that part of the world has to be "winterized" every year (so very well serviced). And more often than not they are stored indoors, sometimes even in heated garages. That means that any boat from Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, etc could have lived nearly half of it's life indoors. Something to consider.

I respect the bad boat buying experience some have had, but sometimes these cases can be a one-off, and others may have quite a different experience.

At any rate, the more boats brought in the better I say, none of us should have to mortgage our house to go fishing!

~Carl

Hi all, I'm still working with my boat and shipping guys. 

Hi Karuhi.The only measurements i have are on the bill of lading
2499.748 kg 67.072 m3. Alot of the figures are in lbs etc.The issues in Auck were more $$$ than anything.You get 3 days free on there port after 3 days they charged me $315 a day.The boat was unloaded on a friday mpi didnt inspect the boat till tuesday. At that point im paying . Mpi ordered the boat to be washed, i had the boat pro cleaned in the states and had all the paperwork to support that. The wash people couldnt do till thurs , mpi came back on fri to inspect.You cant pick any up on the weekend and the mon was a public holiday. At this point they want $1500 storage $650 unloading fee $112.50 to load boat and trailer on to Rowe mtrs transport trailer up front. The bit that pissed me the most the truck driver had to pay $15 exit fee so they would let him out of the port??