taking the MAC overseas

[Kelly Hanson East]

Safety note to members in NA - before you go out and blow your tires up to 90 psi (and blow them up, literally) note that the UK and EU use very different tires (spelled tyres for this reason) than in NA. Max pressure on most NA tires is 50 psi - do not exceed this as printed on the sidewall!!!

[c130king]

Dutch,

When I PCS'd to Germany in 2001 I paid to ship my truck on my own dime as the USAF was covering the shipment of my van and of course they only paid for one back then...not sure if that is still the rule. It cost me $1600 back then. I didn't have the Mac back then.

When I moved to the UK in 2007 I left my Mac in Florida. I didn't consider bringing it over as I really didn't think I would be able to store it in London where I live. But I was nearly maxed out on my weight allowance with just the normal crap that my wife and daughter have collected over the years anyway. So I would have had to pay for shipping it anyway.

You may be able to ship your boat on your own dime if weight allowance is an issue.

Not sure where you are getting those trailer regs from but make sure you try to contact the vehicle registration folks at Stuttgart...maybe your sponsor can go ask for you and get you a name/number. They may have info on how to register trailers and boats for US Servicemembers. In the UK I know the US folks have to get their car lights modified to meet UK requirements if the car will be here longer than 12 months. We do get tax free cars. But just ensure that the US registration office will register your trailer. If they won't you would have to go to the local govt office and in that case you may have to pay the taxes...not sure about that.

Good luck. Let us know what you finally figure out. As for me I can't wait until 30 Aug when I fly back to Florida for 10 days with my boat.

Cheers,
Jim

[dutchwinter]

when it comes to POV registration, Im not too worried about what the country Im in says about standards. the only thing Im worried about is what the Army says about it. if we had to comply with the local laws every time we moved, we'd pay sales/use tax on the boat just about constantly. same goes for the car. the documents that I found would apply to DOD id card holders in Europe ONLY. it wouldnt apply to ex-pats and EU citizens. the reaon that I posted what I found here, was that if some servicemembers should decide that they want to PCS with their boat, it would be nice to have a jumping off point, and theres not one place that has all the data that they might need to make choice. I have to do some more checking still but so far it looks like Ill be moving the boat myself and applying for reimbursment, and getting nato plates shouldnt be an issue. what I need info on now, is sailing a US flagged vessel in Europe. Im sure that most people when they move, get their boat and trailer registered in the place that they are living in, and that of course opens up the can of worms about the european standards, if thats where they are moving too. The regulation that I found and posted isnt somthing that I made up, and it appears that I wont have a problem getting a NATO plate for the trailer. As far as the trailer being unsuitable for European roads, I dont even know what thats supposed to mean. Ive driven there before, and they are black and hard on top, just like roads in the states. Im hoping to get in touch with anyone who has made a military move with their boat.
When I was shopping for a boat, not too long ago, everything that I found showed how easy the boat was to move, and ship around the world. Now that We are in a position of actually doing it, we are being advised to maybe sell the boat and buy a new one, or at least sell and buy a new trailer. If I thought that Id have to sell the boat, because of a simple military move, I wouldnt have bought the MAC in the first place. on yachtworld.com theres plenty of nice used full sized boats, with things like standing showers and full galleys, and with the advantage of being perhaps even less money than a new MAC. Dont get me wrong, I love the boat, but one of the major reasons for a military family to buy it, over another boat, would be that they can take it with them just about anywhere. If that ends up being more empty clever marketing, Ill be more than disappointed.
As far as selling the boat overseas, I dont want to do it, but we know people that have brought over cars, and later sold them to german nationals with no problems, and those were american spec cars too. Again, I think that the tax exemption has more to do with keeping your goods for a certain amount of time, to show that you are not just bring it over to sell at a profit. Nothing that we bring over will have vat or import tax on it. Are you thinking that we would not be able to sell any goods over there? thats not the case. There are other odd rules that apply to miltary. like in Iraq, there are loads of bootleg dvds, and normally even the military frowns on stuff like that. In this case however, we are allowed to not only purchase the bootlegs, on the bases down there, but we can send them home. thats one of the funnest examples of double standards. theres a federal law against bootlegs, but you can still do it openly and withoutr fear of any kind of consequences. I can tell you that the same kind of thing applies to other places like Korea is infamous for knock off designer goods. Normally the US stricly enforces bringing those things back into the states, but do you think that they stop us at the port of entry and make us turn them in?

[dutchwinter]

Jim,
as far as I can tell, the boat wouldnt go over as a POV, but its added to household goods weight. we are about 4500 lbs light now, so we will be covered for the boat, even if its just for reimbursemt. we talked to our sponsor about the boat already, and he said theres a military stoarage place about 2 hours away, but with the oha in stuttgart, we are planning on renting a freestanding home, and home to keep it there, if at all feasible. if not, perhaps theres something on the economy thats closer, but if not, its not too big of a deal to us. just having access to the boat without coming back to Ft Lewis is good enough for us. with the trailer, Im betting it would be near impossible to get an opinion about it, without getting an inspection, but I will make an inquiry at vehicle reg. Im wondering more about the boat getting messed with from authorities on the water.

[c130king]

Dutch,

I hope it works out for you. To be honest, I have never heard of anyone shipping a boat and trailer overseas on the military dime. But if it can be done I am sure some enterprising Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Marine has figured it out. If you get yours over there, I might just have to come pay you a visit next time I am TDY to Ramstein...which is every 3 or 4 months.

Watching Saving Private Ryan on Sky2 right now. Just starting with the old man at the cemetary in Normandy. Been there a couple of times...it is SPECTACULAR and very moving! Will be taking my in-laws there in October.

Cheers,
Jim

[Hamin' X]

Here is a DoD press release on the subject.

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsart ... x?id=45485

~Rich

[c130king]

Small boats being shipped overseas that fit into a standard overseas container and are accepted by the carrier may be included in household goods shipments

I wonder if this means those standards wooden crates that they pack our boxes in. Those definitely aren't big enough for a Mac.

Jim

[dutchwinter]

Small boats being shipped overseas that fit into a standard overseas container and are accepted by the carrier may be included in household goods shipments

I wonder if this means those standards wooden crates that they pack our boxes in. Those definitely aren't big enough for a Mac.

Jim

I wouldnt think so. A motorcycle ships as household goods, and im pretty sure they get their own crate, so I wouldnt think a boat would be expected to get crammed into those little ones that our other goods get thrown in. my guess is they mean the shipping containers that those crates get put into b4 they get put on the ship. when you consider that a typical household goods shipment goes through many different carriers, i think that the coordination that would be required would make this method just too hard. and I dont think id want my boat in a container with my household goods, if thats even possible anyhow. I have a call into military one source, and if they can shed more light on the subject, I'll post it. by the way, that DOD article is what started all this, at first I was thinking it couldnt happen either.
Im pretty sure that I'll need an ICC for sailing in Europe, but Ive read in other forums thats one of those rules that people ignore, lke the black anchor ball, over here. i noted all the concerns about the trailer, and the boat, and shipping when I called onesource, maybe they can find out what the deal is. It will likely be at least a week before I hear anything from them. Ill have to call a marina on lake Constance to see if they will even let me moor there. Im much more confident about sailing in Holland, than Germany. it goes with being much more familiar with the authorities more than anything I suppose. that and knowing that there are loads of unducumented vessels littering the country makes he worry far less about any issues that I might run into over there.

I think its worth the hassle.