Motoring from Hongkong to Philippines

Hi there,

Welcome to the forums,

Where are you going to register the boat should be the question. Then what are the rules for cruising under this registry in those waters, which will give you a better answer. You say "Under own power", do you mean you piloting the boat, or the boat not being on the back of a commercial ship?

Regarding the crossing, you will need to hire a local captain that is experienced and has current knowledge in the area of your trip, what you will get here would only be recommendations and past encounters, no one will tell you do this and do that without saying you will need a local captain, even if his role was navigation only. I think, and this is my opinion, the trip is easy, I think the distance is not that far either and the only thing to watch for is the sea state and the shipping traffic. I also think you should not have problem cruising those areas or staying at any island along the way, but again, this is a general cruising sense that needs more specifics, because even the size of the subject boat might make it fall under different set of rules.

Two last suggestions:
1) Use the search feature and find posts by users Maxpower and Brian_eiland, both have regional experience and might have touched this subject one way or the other, I even remember Brian posting something about a changed rule for foreign vessels cruising China.

2) Did you search for your next boat in Australia or Newzealand? I think it is much closer and depending on what boat you want, you might even consider doing the trip on it, again with the suitable captain and crew maybe aboard, or even part of the trip depending on your time, desire and capabilities.

Let us know how this brews and enjoy your time around.

Cheers.

As AlfredZ pointed out, check your local laws. Very few places allow you to come in through the back door to avoid taxes, import fees, etc.. I suspect you'll find that if the boat remains in the Philippines for more than a specific period (generally a few months), those fees and taxes will apply or you'll need cruising permits and be required to leave the county periodically. Then there's the problem of reselling a boat of foreign registry. I know of one boat in Ft. Lauderdale that's been sitting for sale for several years, and I suspect most buyers don't want to open the potential Pandora's Box of trying to make it legal here. Obviously the current owner doesn't.

Since these things often turn on a legal technicality I'd recommend contacting an Admiralty lawyer for answers you can count on. Would hate to go through all the trouble and expense of shipping a boat from the med, registering in Belgium, and then finding the boat seized and you in trouble.

So your boat will be running under a foreign flag, which means you should consult each state for its requirements and conditions for foreign flagged vessels calling their ports, there is certain procedure for that which is different from one place to the other. As Captain Ed. said, you need to know how to set your papers in order and how long you are allowed to keep your boat in sovereign waters before you have to cross the border and how long you have to be out for. A captain with local knowledge knows how to do that for you, prepare your documents before hand, show you how to do so on your own in future, knows which are the ports that he should call onto when entering certain countries, knows whom and where to contact, knows the entry and exit procedure, knows the best places to fuel, moor and dock and where to get the best technical help you may need in the future, all that you can be taught by a good captain with local knowledge and most certainly with knowledge of local languages and dialects which he can show you while you take notes for future. Boating on other's vessels is not similar to doing so on your own vessel, to enjoy boating you have to understand the local laws and standards and understand your responsibility and liability stand point. I shall repeat my suggestion of searching the forums here for posts by Maxpower and Brian_eiland, since they have experience in that region and might guide you to contacts and names if you found an interesting post and approached them directly.

By the way, the captain does not have to pilot the boat for you, consider him/her to be more of a hands-on consultant and trainer for anything you don't know or might have missed. Find someone that has references and contacts.

The Beneteau ST42 is a nice boat, check how good is the support for the Volvo's and the IPS drives in your area, you don't wanna be ordering the parts over the Internet, you can also check the prices or consumables, maybe you can stock a few to ship with the boat and save the hassle. There is no problem with getting the boat to China in the most basic sense, it is all a matter of abiding by the rules and regulations and knowing your duties, nothing more.

Best of luck.

If shipping a boat into a foreign country and then taking it to another, I'd also recommend a good local agent. We've used agents often on our current trip and they've made things so easy for us. They know both the written procedures and how to work with the people involved.