Hi Chris ,
I just recently bought a 40' boat from Europe, but I don't think my experience is what you are looking for as I imported it back home.
If you are looking to sail from where you buy, I would suggest looking at Fiji, lots of people seem to get this far, decide it's not for them, leave their boat on consignment and fly home.
Cheers,
SB

Tahiti sounds nice, for exactly the same reason as Fiji.

Hey Everyone,

Thank heaps for the feedback, we are looking to sail for around two years then do the four week sail back to Australia then import the boat.

La vavagabonde has been a good inside to how thing work.

One of our forum members went to the UK and bought a Contessa 26 with junk rig. Had similar ideas. Unfortunately he had difficulty finding work in the UK, and found that yachting costs in Europe were a lot more expensive than in Australia. Winter storage being one problem.

In the end he had to return to Australia, and when last heard of, the boat was still in the UK, and was for sale.

So I guess the moral of the story is start with plenty of money in the kitty after you have the boat.

I like the idea of buying an "abandoned" boat in Fiji or other Pacific island, and sailing from there to Europe. More likely to get a bargain, and maybe some of the preparation costs would be less in a place like Fiji.