What countries can a home built 50' steel boat be titled as easy as USA?

[jon haig]

Any advise or personal experiences appreciated. I know that in USA i can build a steel boat 50' or 65' and get it titled as home built. Now the question is , does anyone have info on this being easy to do in any other country.
Specifically, I am thinking to Build the boat if I can title it as home built in Panama, Equador, Colombia, Trinidad, Grenada. I am pretty sure I can title as home built in US Virgin islands, cause they are USA.
Any input will be appreciated.
Does Anyone have knowledge of doing this in south Asia island counties, or south pacific countries.??

 

[BlueBell]

Canada!

Bring your money here.

 

[clmanges]

If you label it as being of South American origin, ICE will deport it.

 

[Rumars]

Flag state is not necessarely tied to building location. And if you ever want to sail US waters you better fly the local flag. So I say the better question would be "how can I register a foreign build boat in the US?".

Do you actually plan to build yourself or do you want to take advantage of cheap labour? Because any yard building for you is going to give you a bill of sale and a HIN, making registration possible anywhere.

 

[wet feet]

If you build or own a boat in Gt Britain there is no requirement to have any form of registration.For the sake of getting insurance cover,you might have to get the boat surveyed and if you plan to sell it within five years of building it you will need to have it compliant with the RCD.Which doesn't mean any form of state registration is needed.If you venture abroad with it you may have to produce some proof of ownership and you may choose to register it on the Small Ship Register as a means of gaining some element of protection in a legal sense.If you borrowed money to buy the boat,you may be required to register it in some form that gives the lender some security over the asset that has been financed.

 

[jon haig]

thanks, i will be involved every hour during construction.

 

[jon haig]

Canada!

Bring your money here.

Canada beautiful, nova scotia is where i could do it. But cold 9 months, need heating. Need shed.

 

[bajansailor]

Leaving aside advantages and disadvantages for building, you also have to live there for the duration of the project, so you don't really want to be in some hell hole.
Which would be your favourite countries (say the top three) for building your boat in?
And what are the main influencing factors so far?
I am thinking perhaps easy availability of materials at a 'reasonable' price?
Similarly outside labour - I am sure that you will need to employ some help if you are building a 50'+ boat in steel.
And working conditions - you mention that Canada is too cold for 9 months of the year; other places in the tropics might be too hot and humid?

 

[DGreenwood]

A few observations:
-In the case of developable surface steel boats being near CNC cutting facillity can save tons of labor. That is of course available in Halifax NS and there are qualified welders at a reasonable rates.
-Keep in mind that schedules are rarely accurate and you can usually count on doubling or tripling your estimated time for build.
-If the keel is laid in a foreign country the boat cannot be used for charter in the US. I don't know what your purposes are but that can also affect sales value.
-A place like South Carolina makes the most sense to me as there are skilled people for reasonable rates there, it is nearer to your home, the weather is good for building boats and you are likely to find a shed there.
-One way or the other you are going to pay taxes on the boat if you bring it to the states.
-Keep in mind if you get into a legal issue in other countries you are going to be pretty helpless there.

 

[M&M Ovenden]

No problem building and registering a boat in Canada. Our steel is very high quality compared to what you will probably find overseas. Why not just build in Florida?
I wouldn't be so worried about a heated shed (we have a heated shop), but if I was doing it again a roof to keep the sun off would be nice !

Cheers,
Mark

 

[M&M Ovenden]

Leaving aside advantages and disadvantages for building, you also have to live there for the duration of the project, so you don't really want to be in some hell hole.
Which would be your favourite countries (say the top three) for building your boat in?
And what are the main influencing factors so far?
I am thinking perhaps easy availability of materials at a 'reasonable' price?
Similarly outside labour - I am sure that you will need to employ some help if you are building a 50'+ boat in steel.
And working conditions - you mention that Canada is too cold for 9 months of the year; other places in the tropics might be too hot and humid?

Living beside the build saves so much time & added security for tooling.

You don't really need help for a 50' boat in steel. My wife built ours (picture above) with me helping out part time weekends / evenings.

The heat is hard to deal with, humidity is a pain for surface prep and painting.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[wet feet]

Living beside the build saves so much time & added security for tooling.

You don't really need help for a 50' boat in steel. My wife built ours (picture above) with me helping out part time weekends / evenings.

The heat is hard to deal with, humidity is a pain for surface prep and painting.

Cheers,
Mark

I'm very impressed by your wife's work.




Does she have any sisters?

 

[Ike]

What are you planning to do with the boat? If it is a recreational boat, for your own use, then it really doesn't matter where you build it. Canada is good because the safety standards are the same as the US and most any EU country as well. You can import it into the US with few hassles. However, if you are planning to use it commercially you will have a serious problem.

 

[DCockey]

My understanding is imported boats, perhaps up to a certain size, can be used for commercial fishing in the US.

 

[jon haig]

What are you planning to do with the boat? If it is a recreational boat, for your own use, then it really doesn't matter where you build it. Canada is good because the safety standards are the same as the US and most any EU country as well. You can import it into the US with few hassles. However, if you are planning to use it commercially you will have a serious problem.

I have no intention of coming near us waters. it is for private use, and it will be to high strenth standards and low quality of finish .I will have it sandblasted white and hot flame zink sprayed.