In March, in Namibia, we put Umnyama up for sale on the Internet. Boat brokers charge a brokerage fee of at least 8%, so a broker friend in Australia advised to try it ourselves first.
You can find the ad on Catamaransite.com:
Info:
https://www.catamaransite.com/catamarans-for-sale/catana-42-2/
Photos:
https://www.catamaransite.com/catamarans-for-sale/catana-42-2/?photos=true
For the photos of the interior we had to move all junk out of sight of the camera of course.
The offer was to put Umnyama for sale in Grenada from July. Many reactions soon followed, but Covid developed just as quickly, causing almost everyone to drop out. But there was one interested buyer from New York who had set his sights on Umnyama, but was in no hurry. Neither do we and Monique wanted to sail for a while, because she had to say goodbye to Umnyama so quickly in St Helena.
No sooner said than done. We agreed to sell the boat to him in February 2021, but preferably for him in Florida. From there he would then sail to New York. His sailing area has always been the US East Coast, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. No plans around the world.
In Florida, of course, a survey must first be carried out before the actual sale. The buyer arranges this, as well as the import of the ship, a complicated procedure. For those who find that interesting, see below. *
We didn't think Florida was a problem, although we were not looking forward to going to the US, especially because of Covid. We could then sail for a while in the Caribbean and the Bahamas.
But that all turned out to be more difficult than expected, by Covid of course but also in other ways. We thought we do not need a visa for the US. This always went well with the Visa Waiver Program / ESTA. Not, however, if you come in with your own boat. Then you need a real visa, and you don't get that just like that. Certainly not after Trump severely restricted immigration in June. Long story short: We have to go to Barbados - 100 miles upwind in the Atlantic - to apply for non-immigrant visas at the US Embassy there. Actually, the US Embassies are almost closed, but in exceptional cases we were allowed to apply and make an appointment for an interview after payment. Monique got an appointment at the end of December, and I at the end of January 2021... Non-negotiable.
So soon we will leave for Barbados to celebrate Christmas and New Years there and to wait a long time. It won't be February in Florida. We are aiming for March. If everything goes as we hope we can then return to the Netherlands at the end of March. And to South Africa, where we have to quickly collect our visas before our current visa expires.
Enough to do in the near future ...

(Google Translate)


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The items needed to import a yacht into the US currently is as follows.   
 
1. Bill of sale or registration to show ownership
 
2.An invoice, value survey  or purchase contract to determine value at which duty will be assessed .
 
3.   EPA certification for the engines in the yacht.     

EPA Certification required info :   (This depends on year and size of engines) Certified engines typically have emissions labels with all of the info required .  Typically this starts in 2006 and newer engines .   For engines under 37kw in power the EPA requirement started in 1999.
 
1 Make of engine
2 Model of engines
3  Model year of engines
4 Serial #'s of engines
5  year of manufacture
6 EPA engine family name 
 
The costs involved with an import are as follows.
 
1.Duty 1.5% X the value ( an additional 25% is charged if built in China )
 
2. Customs Merchandise processing tax .3464% X value  this has a cap of @ $528.33
 
3. Import bond $250-$450.00 ( $450 when valued at over $100,000)
 
4. Harbor maintenance tax .00125 X value  (only if arriving as cargo and importing)
 
5. EPA filing $75.00
 
6. Our import fee $375.00