NICK BUBB EXPLAINS WHY HE DECIDED TO SELL UP RATHER THAN SAIL HOME AFTER A PACIFIC VOYAGE
All good things have to come to an end sometime, don’t they? We asked ourselves this question many times in August and September last year, along with a whole lot more. When to stop sailing, how to stop sailing, where to stop sailing, or where to go next?
The answer will be different for everybody but for us the main considerations revolved around what was right for the boys, and some economic realities. In Fiji, having explored some of the more remote islands and mulled over our options with cruising friends, we came to a decision.
Pushing on to get back to Europe was going to be a rush. We’d need to leave Fiji quickly and head for Vanuatu. After that it was getting late in the season to cross Torres Strait just north of Australia and we’d have wanted to go north of Papua New Guinea anyway (to Raja Ampat). Either way, if we were going to carry on round, we needed to leave soon and we weren’t ready to quit paradise!
We also couldn’t afford to be away for more than two years so we’d have to make it to Thailand for January, to cross the Indian Ocean in February before battling our way up the Red Sea to Suez and into the Mediterranean.
This wasn’t going to be the same downwind sleigh ride we’d had for the first 16,000 miles and by the end, the boat was going to be pretty battered.
The alternative was to spend more time in Fiji and then probably New Zealand before going home. We knew we’d be able to sell the boat pretty well as she was in good shape after a mini refit in Fiji. I suppose it’s also true that home educating wasn’t getting any easier and it felt like maybe it was time to get the boys back into school. The final nail in the coffin was a request for me to come back to my full-time job at Fauna & Flora a little earlier than planned. The decision was made: Quickstep Too would be sold and our little odyssey would end in the Pacific.
WHERE TO SELL
We next had to confirm where we wanted to go. Our realistic options were to sell in Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand or Australia.
There were many pros and cons but while it was better to sell from a tax perspective in Fiji or New Caledonia, sale prices are generally lower and you risked being trapped there for cyclone season, which was fast approaching.
Reviewing our options in Australia, we’d immediately have to import the boat and pay the duty and GST on arrival, if we wanted to advertise the boat there.
