Tree wrote: I imported the Albin with a budget of what I believe it's worth is here, so ignore the taxes etc as they are added into the cost of the boat should I sell it later. The boat was in the states and we imported it to England...
Swapping over from 110 to 240 volts isn't an issue either. You use heavier gauge cable over there as you draw higher amps. I swapped out the microwave, heating element in the hot water and battery charger, although most chargers are dual voltage and dual 50/60hz units.
I have a thread on here all about shipping it to the UK if you search my posts.
Tree: I read through yourt post(s). Great looking boat, but I didn't find the answer to my questions, or understand what you're saying
My understanding is you shipped your boat Boaltimore, MD to the UK, via a car hauler. Boat was trucked down from Sandy Point to Baltimore, then freighted to UK on a cradle. Cost $8500.
In the UK, how did you get around paying the VAT? Did you pay the VAT? do you pay it up front or only on re-sell? Is that what you meant by budget--you set aside money for the VAT & import and had to pay it up front with assumption you will get it back later on re-sell or leaving the EU? How did you get to assign the value to the boat? My understanding is they assess the value--and if its an older boat, they assess what they want.
My understanding is that in the UK of all places you have to pay VAT, up front, plus there's another tax of some sort they levy. And I heard its something like 20% of the boats assessed value. This assumes permanent import to EU. I've heard that there are a few EU countries that have more favorable treatment to importing boats, such as Croatia. My understanding is you can claim temporary import (which is limited to 18 months in EU). In this case I'm unclear if you pay the VAT etc up front and they reimburse you once you leave, or do you pay anyway. Based on your experience, how does this work?
Did you have to get CE approval or licensing or whatever they call it. My understanding is the boat has to have CE approval, specifically for emissions, which means the engine has to meet whatever requirements they have. Which means an older boat must be repowered to meet the CE requirements. I heard as recently as 2006 all boats were CE compliant. I don't know whether there's other stuff thats covered by CE.
Re: 240v, my understanding is you have to have a step down transofrmer that then converts the 240v to 120 so the boat can be powered. Changing over the wiring and would also require change over of the battery charger, inverter, etc unless they were already 240v compliant--but you still need the step down, no?
I would love to be able to take my Albin 27 to Europe and cruise the canals etc...
