Doubletyee
Active Member
I am starting a thread to share information on buying a boat in the US PostCOVID. I have bought a few boats in the States and have them shipped to Blaine but can Canadians get them across the border now?
Buying a boat in US Post COVID
- Thread starter Doubletyee
- Start date
Charts
Active Member
Nope can't get them but there are a few services that will bring them over. Family member kept his boat over the border...covid hit and got screwed having his boat over there. Ended up hiring a company to drive it over. Was pretty seemless. Only thing I don't know is proof of ownership and insurance issue as it would be a new boat to you
jasonj
Member
I just did it for a sailboat on a trailer located in Michigan. I spent considerable time FaceTiming with the seller to go over everything with the boat and building trust. I even had him open up every inspection port and send photos inside. I researched the history of the boat and contacted the last 2 owners. (It would be prudent to get a survey done at this time which I didn’t do because I really trusted the seller and the previous owners and had a copy of a previous survey). Then we agreed on the price.
Then I used uship.com to find a driver to bring it to Blaine. I received a few bids and accepted a bid from a driver with many good reviews and a good price. I arranged the timing for the driver to pick up the boat.
To arrange bringing the boat across the border, I contacted Bayview towing at the truck crossing in surrey and let them know my plan. They drive across the border multiple times a day to do pickups. They were instrumental for my plan to work. They advised me to hire a customs broker to handle the import paperwork which I did (used border buddy).
For the ownership transfer there was a lot of trust. A few days before the driver pickup, I had the seller sign an agreement to sell with details of the purchase and email me a copy. Then I sent a wire transfer for the boat to his bank. Once the wire was received I had the seller sign bills of sale for boat and trailer and the titles and then send them to me via overnight courrier which I was happy to receive.
The seller then prepared the boat for shipping. The driver met the seller for pickup and kept me up to date on his progress as he travelled west. It took 3 days for him to reach Blaine. While on route, I kept Bayview towing up to date with the timing of arrival.
The boat arrived in the evening and I was able to arrange for Dennis at Bayview to meet the other driver on the Blaine side of the truck crossing. The transfer went smoothly and within an hour, the boat was in BC and I was very happy to pick it up at the Bayview towing lot near the truck crossing!
The cost was $450 for the customs broker, $250 for Bayview to bring it across the border, and US$2500 for boat shipping from Michigan.
I would say you can only do this if you really really really trust the seller. Otherwise don’t do it.
