Shipping a Mac--Australia bound (maybe)

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BrokeNotBroken

BrokeNotBroken

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Oct 19, 2009
81
MacGregor 1995 26S Fort Walton Beach, FL
There is a good chance that my family and I will be going to Australia for 2 years. The only downside is that I might have to leave my '95 Mac 26s here in the states. Has anyone shipped a Mac to another country? If so, please tell me about your experience. I have seen comments from Mac owners in other countries and I was wondering how they got their boats.

If we go, we'll be in Adelaide (or thereabout) so if anyone is from there, I'd love to hear from you. And, if you're short a crew member, I can help with that :)

-david
 
R

Robspan

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Apr 30, 2006
610
Macgregor 26s Kemah, TX
FWIW, I think it was the long M26s promotional video that had a short piece on the fact that one consideration in the design of the boat was that it be able to fit into a standard shipping container for economical transport. I don't know whether that included the trailer.
 
I

Irishguy

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Jun 16, 2009
44
1974 Venture/MacGregor 25' Brown's Creek Sailing Marina, Lake Guntersville, AL
Why don't yo just pack your stuff in the boat and sail it over there. :D

I have no idea how much it would cost, but I'll bet you will be astonished at how high it is.

One alternative would be to buy a boat once you get there and sell it when you leave. That would seem to make more sense than shipping something as large as a sail boat.
 
Phil Herring

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,923
- - Bainbridge Island
$4100 for a 40' container, assuming you load it a the US port and unload it at the AUS, and you act as customs broker.
 
C

Cruiser1

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Oct 21, 2010
350
Macgregor 26S, "Myuna" Brisbane, Australia
Try the Macgregor Sailors - Australian Group site:

http://www.macgregor26x.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=19&sid=8e076fe85bf00d2cf5b857c07928bcd1

People don't post on the site all that regularly, you will notice no one has posted since my last post on 4th March (although 23 people have looked at that post) but there are some Australian owners that will have gone through the experience, as well as of course the 2 or 3 people who import them regularly as a business.

From memory people do talk a lot more than $4,000?? to import the current X and M models. However your boat would also be worth a lot more in Australia than in the US.

Sorry I can't help you with more specific information but I did not import my boat - my boat has been in Australia since about 2004 and I purchased it 6 months ago from an Australian owner.

I know of at least one and possibly 2 other 26S models in SA. There are not many 26S and 26D models in Australia, although there are a lot of X and M models. My impression is that people that import the latest M models save about $10-15,000 over buying a new one in Australia.
 
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Cruiser1

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Oct 21, 2010
350
Macgregor 26S, "Myuna" Brisbane, Australia
Hi David,
I suggest you initially go to the site I mentioned above (Macgregor Sailors - Australian Group site) and put in the word "import" - an hour or so on the posts that come up will give you some background on others experiences.
 
BrokeNotBroken

BrokeNotBroken

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Oct 19, 2009
81
MacGregor 1995 26S Fort Walton Beach, FL
Cruiser1.
Thanks for the link. Looks like I will probably not try to import my boat. While I'm excited about the opportunity to go, I'm not looking forward to leaving my boat behind. I guess I'll have to figure out how to store it now.

Phil, Thanks for the price info. For $2k I'd do it, but $4k makes it a little more of a stretch.

The problem of buying and selling once in Aus is I tend to get screwed on both sides of these transactions. Plus the cost of getting the new boat ship-shape. Looks like I'll be looking to crew on someone else's boat once I get there, if it happens.
 
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