On Nov 11, 6:47 am, "Roger Long" wrote:
There is an important distinction as to whether Joe owns the coffee or is
carrying it for someone else. The problem with these distinctions is that
the Coast Coast Guard doesn't always understand them. They made one school
ship I was involved with stop carrying tee shirts and caps that they sold at
port stops because they considered it "cargo" even
though the organization owned them. When the USCG gets something like this
wrong, they still get to be right for the first five years and $50,000 of
legal fees. It was easier for the school ship to just send the stuff around
by UPS to meet the ship.

It sounds like Joe has done the right thing by making sure he's on the same
page with everyone first. As long as he keeps dealing with the same people,
he'll be OK. Where the problem can come up is if some bonehead comes into
the process through transfer or other shakeup and calls it different. If he
rules the other way, it would be typical of the same people Joe spoke to
before to say, "Oh, we didn't mean that. You must have misunderstood."
I've seen it happen. I hope he has it in writing. Even that doesn't always
work.

Where the problem could come in is with the school supplies. Contributors
may not want to give them to Joe personally. If they are not owned by him
while in transit, they then become cargo. If the contributors want tax
deductions, the owner of the boat then has to be a 501 (c) 3 non-profit to
avoid having the stuff become cargo.

It's a minefield but it sounds like Joe is well equipped to navigate it.
Still, it only takes one miss step or bit of bad luck. I saw a lot of
people blown up back when USCG regulatory approvals were the major part of
my business. The boys in blue seem to get especially wacky and paranoid
whenever a sailboat is involved.

--
Roger Long

Good point Roger. The school supplies will have to be given to the
El Lago Coffee Co. as we refused to register as a 501(c). Our goal is
to be a model of profit for others to follow. A good friend tried and
tried to get me to set the business up as a church, removing all tax
burdens. Even the folks in Ambergirs Caye had to jump through hoops
and become an FDA registered food facility. We meet with the Mayor of
San Pedro and he assured me he will be able to accept the donations on
behalf of the school and have it classified as humanitarian relief
free of any tarriff's.

I've been working on this project for over 2 yrs now and hope I have
all ave's covered.... but since this has not been done for almost 100
yrs no telling what hick-up's we will run into.

Joe