Aren't winches beautiful things!
15 June 2012 | Maehongson
The calamity which beset the US when the economy took such a large whallop was not good news on a global scale. However, on a personal level it had a distinct benefit.
The need for many citizens to liquidate their luxury assets meant that the numbers of used boats on the market erupted. Combined with a reduced demand, the prices started to tumble. This meant that the US was the best place in the world for an Aussie, in Thailand, to seek a new boat.
Unfortunately, US brokers seemed not to understand the economic realities and with very few exceptions, they simply ignored my requests for details on specific yachts. I told them I was serious, was a cash buyer...and was currently in the bush in the mountains in Thailand.
That could have been why they refused to take me seriously.
But, public records being what they are, I was able to track down owners of boats which particuarly interested me. And an aquaintance put me onto a friend of hers who had a fine yacht for sale. The owners, it must be said, were more determined to help than were their paid representatives and, in reasonably short order, I had compiled a short, short list of boats that best suited my requirements.
Several dozen emails, some relaxed negotiations, a few new friends along the way and, hey presto, I had made the committment. Buying overseas proved not to be the maze I had expected.
Okay..let me modify that last statement. So far, the process is without problems. The USCG has been helpful to the former owner, the Australian equivalent has been helpful to me and, all in all, it appears that for an Australian, touring in Thailand, wanting to buy a US flagged boat, currently on the hardstand in Mexico....things are sliding along without much friction.
I hope this is the manner in which the process will continue.