Obtaining marine plywood in Japan

Hello everyone!

I live in Machida which is basically a suburb near Tokyo. I'm trying to research the feasibility of building a boat in my garage. The problem is that it seems all marine plywood in japan is imported by each individual buyer and there seems to be no way to acquire it without arranging sea freight. Does anyone have experience with this? What is the best country/supplier to import from? What might be the best shipping option?

 

I have seen some of the best Western Red Cedar in Japan. I never knew what it cost. You might think about building with strip planking.

I build a Pygmy kayak in my living room when I was there (Nagoya). It came as a kit. The freight did not seem to be too much, but that was arranged from the company. If you could find a kit you wanted from Chesapeake Light Craft the cost might not be too bad. clcboats.com

What kind of a boat did you want?

 

Importing just about anything into Japan is not straight fwd. If you are buying a lot/bulk, it would pay you, literally, to go to the docks to pick up the wood. The transportation fees from the dock to your house will be 3-4 times the cost of the wood. But, because it is highly controlled...(for the usual subtle corruption)...there shall be opposition to you picking it up yourself from many quarters. To the point of being told don't do it.

Thus make sure you have plenty of original paper work for the custom. That it is for you and you alone...not a company, not for commercial usages etc.

I bought a several truck loads of patio stones using Alibaba. It was around fifteen (15) times cheaper than buying from my local DIY store. But Alibaba didn't add the cost of transportation from the docks to my house. Despite them saying they did and me paying for that part of the service too. Cost me a small fortune...but overall still much cheaper.

 

I'd like to build a Jarcat 5. So there will probably be a list of things other than the wood that would be cheaper to import. It seems that the 3 biggest concerns are

- Importing marine plywood
- Having a custom boat trailer built (currently awaiting quotes)
- Obtaining a rig from another boat (not sure yet which rig is ideal for a Jarcat 5, but there doesnt seem to be much of a secondary market for such things in japan so this may also need to be imported)

 

How would I go about locating a merchant on Alibaba that has actual quality marine plywood and also exports to Japan? I'm not so familiar with how to use Alibaba properly without getting scammed.

I see things like this, but i'm unsure how to actually screen this company: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/4MM-6MM-12MM-FULL-OKOUME-MARINE_964826562.html

 

Search their database...and when you find what you like...ask them. Simple.

No more than anyone else.

 

It seems that if I specify BS1088 for the plywood then it cuts through most of the nonsense listings.

From what I'm reading, the FOB price listed on alibaba includes sea freight, but does not include delivery from the port to my location. I don't have a vehicle available to me here that can transport a stack of 4x8 plywood so I would most likely need to locate a truck for delivery to my location. I imagine I will need about 20 sheets 4x8 or so. I also obviously dont have access to a forklift since i'd be building in my home garage, So it seems the sheets need to be moved off of the truck individually unless there is some other way.

Is it unrealistic to hire a truck that can deliver this stack of ply from the port and then unload them in a garage? Does anyone have any truck service recommendations or tips?

 

So I have come across a potential supplier and was hoping someone could give me some guidance on how to ensure that I get "Trade assurance" protection from alibaba so I can make a claim if the quality of the wood is not up to standard. Am I understanding correctly that I can get a good idea whether it is the correct stuff by weighing the sheets?

Supplier: http://nnwy.en.alibaba.com/
Product: http://nnwy.en.alibaba.com/product/...M_12MM_FULL_OKOUME_MARINE_PLYWOOD_BS1088.html