We are thinking of trying to get into New Zealand later this year on the basis Memo will need a refit. Can any one recommend New Zealand yards that would have experience of Amel yachts.

Hello Robert,

Thanks for your reply. As far as we can see we need to enter into a contract for the work before being allowed in. Is there any particular yard/company that you could recommend for the variety of work required, rerigging, lift out, antfouling, bowthruster, cdrive, winch service etc.

Hello Robert,

I concur with JP...BUT I would think your chances of getting into New Zealand would be almost NIL for the foreseeable future.
There's a flight travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand, but from anywhere else it's almost impossible.
You can't sail here, that's for sure, and for those of us that are here, our tax exemptions have been extended to June 2022
So that should tell you something.....
Where are you ? What Amel do you have?
Cheers
Alan
Elyse SM437

--
Bob Thomson
SY Memo
2001 Amel SM2000
Ser No 326

Robert,

This is information from NZ Customs regarding yacht arrivals in New Zealand.

• Foreign flagged yachts are still not permitted to arrive in New Zealand unless specifically exempt.
• Application for exemption can be made to the Director-General for permission to arrive in NZ if there is a compelling need for the ship to arrive in NZ either to re-provision and/or refuel OR for the purpose of delivering the ship to a business, including for the purpose of repairing or refitting the ship OR for humanitarian or other compelling needs.
• In all cases, a ship is not permitted to arrive unless every person on board is a New Zealand citizen, or satisfies NZ immigration requirements.
• There is information about the requirements on the Ministry’s website and applications can be made directly to the Ministry of Health.
• In order that the Director-General can fully consider the application, skippers will be required to provide the following information in the application to the Ministry of Health:
  – name and nationality of the ship
  – the size of the ship
  – the business in New Zealand to which the ship is being delivered
  – why there is a compelling need for the repairs and refit to be carried out
  – why there is a compelling need for the repairs and refit need to be carried out in New Zealand
  – the nature and purpose of the repairs and refitting
  – schedule of intended works/equipment purchased for repair, refit or refurbishment
  – the time required to complete the work
  – the total value of the work (must exceed $50,000 excluding GST)
  – written evidence of a contract for repairs and re-fitting
  – number and nationality of crew members
  – voyage history including last port and date of departure before coming to New Zealand
  – state of health of crew and any measure taken to ensure they are not infected with COVID-19 before leaving their current port
• If granted permission to enter NZ, the crew will need to self-isolate on the vessel for 14 days after arriving in NZ. Please provide your isolation plan.
• Officials from Immigration New Zealand have advised the crew cannot enter until the vessel applies for and is granted an exception to the border restrictions and the crew have applied for and been granted the right visas.  If granted an exception (based on the fact the Director-General of Health’s has granted permission for the vessel to arrive) then the crew will be able to apply for an exception to the border restrictions.
• Crew will be invited to apply for visas and undergo visa assessment process only if the Director-General of Health has granted permission for the vessel to arrive.
• For more information refer to the following website https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/covid-19/border-closures-and-exceptions

NOTE : You need to have an application APPROVED before you leave, otherwise they won't let you in. Last year a German yacht tried it on, the crew were arrested and deported and their yacht confiscated.

Good luck

Cheers
Alan
Elyse SM437

When there is a will, there is a way.

Here is a message from Anna Eriksson on Vista. They were in French Polynesia (where we are and where we met them) and got permission to enter New Zealand. They are not the only ones who have been approved to sail to New Zealand.

_________


--
Scott 
2007 A54 #69
SV Tengah
http://www.svtengah.com

Hi Robert,
I can warmly recommend Riverside Drive Marina in Whangerei!!! We stayed there 2018/2019 and it’s the best yard we’ve been to. It’s managed by two fantastic guys, Karl (his dad started the yard way back) and Moe. They have a team of very competent companies that can help you refit your Amel, and they did a very good job with ours.  Whangerei is a very good place to stay since the town is full of marine companies. At Riverside drive you’re not forced to use “the yards companies” to do work on your boat, which very common in other yards.
Many of the other yards in the area is also dependent on the tide to when the can haul your boat out/launch it but Riverside drive can do that any day of the month.
Another big plus is that it’s easy to find somewhere to stay during the refit if you don’t want to live aboard. We rented a little apartment on walking distance (4 minutes walk from the yard) while we stayed on the hard.
We have many friends that have returned to Riverside Drive over and over again for years while cruising up/down to Fiji. Beside doing a excellent job with the boats Karl & Moe helped to created a strong cruising community and staying there was like being part of a big family.
if we ever come sailing that way again we will definitely stay in Riverside Drive!
--
Carina
SV Ultimo
Amel 54 No 165

It’s disgusting the game NZ is playing. Entry for money… what a shame for the city of sails, Auckland
-- 
Bernd
SN 119 / Cascais, Portugal

Hi Bernd,

Greetings all,

Yes, the maritime border to NZ is closed. But it is possible to apply for and be granted an exception to arrive in NZ via sea. We have done so.

You can make the application the relevant authorities yourself, at no cost to lodge, but increased uncertainty as to the outcome. Or you can engage an agent who has processed applications into the system before = greater certainty. We used an agent. Cost was a one-off agent’s fee of USD650- to do so.

The time was 4 weeks to complete the paperwork in coordination with the Agent. Then, once the (32-page) application was submitted, it took three weeks to be granted the exemption. The exemption does not have an expiry date on it; but your application paperwork does have time-and-cost elements as a component of the committed work schedule/s, so the timing is inherent in the approval.

Apart from humanitarian / compassionate grounds, the only grounds for approval with be on the basis of delivering Economic Benefit to NZ. There are only two main reasons that will be considered in support of an application for exemption.

1. Delivering your boat to a business (e.g. for sale); or
2. Major refit, repairs, &/or refurbishment.

We used the term “significant programme of repairs & refurbishment” to support our application.

There is no exact defined figure for economic benefit, but (based on seeing who got approved, and who not) the baseline amount before your application will be considered is NZD50k.

Marina fees, yards fees, part & paid labour, and project management fees may be included. Costs incurred by crew (such as food, accommodation, lodging, land-travel, or consuming copious quantities of great Kiwi wine) are not.

To start with, we baulked at that amount. But, upon reflection, we realised that, by the time we get to NZ, we will have been sailing more-or-less constantly for almost 5 years. And so it will be high time to take some time-out, pause and find a base from where to attend to those many items of repairs and maintenance (“The List”) that cannot be so easily done in remote areas, or while there is an imperative to keep the boat in one piece and in a seaworthy condition (meaning, available to move to avoid adverse seasonal weather – i.e. the cyclone season in the South Pacific).

So, I totalled up all of those items of repairs & maintenance (including planned upgrades), and were able to easily exceed the NZ$50k threshold amount. It is also made easier to swallow, considering that we plan to be in NZ for 18 months, and additional items of repairs & maintenance will naturally arise within that timeframe.

When you consider the difficulty in getting *quality* work done in many other places, especially whilst on-the-move, the lure of NZ is undeniable. And if we are going to do the work in any case, then the cost is really not so much of an issue. Compare this to the rule-of-thumb, 5 to 10% of the value of the boat on R&M in any one year, spread over two years, with guaranteed quality, then it becomes a much easier decision.

All that said, we plan to travel from French Polynesia to Fiji, before heading southwards to NZ. Things are very changeable out here at the moment, with Fiji closing up a little more this past week, so another season in FP may become a necessity. The list of R&M won’t get any shorter …

Hope this information helps inform the debate.

And thanks to those providing recommendations for vendors and suppliers in NZ – very much appreciated.

David
Perigee, SM#396
On the dock attending to turbo issues
Papeete Marina, Tahiti


From: <main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io> on behalf of Robert Thomson <yachtmemo@...>
Reply-To: <main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io>
Date: Monday, 24 May 2021 at 11:27 am
To: <main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io>
Subject: [AmelYachtOwners] New Zealand

We are thinking of trying to get into New Zealand later this year on the basis Memo will need a refit. Can any one recommend New Zealand yards that would have experience of Amel yachts.