Gogarty wrote in news:20080915-183106.101.0
@Gogarty.news.bway.net:

Little Neck Bay is a fine place to anchor out

No thanks.....We prefer lazing back adrift on Charleston Harbor or rafted
up in one of our many lovely estuaries with friends for the weekend.....

When the crabbers go by to tend their traps, we flag them down to buy
dinner....sometimes trading them glasses of some inebriating concoction
from the large coffee pot in exchange for the Blues in the basket....(c;

I couldn't take the pressure around NY. Charleston only had that much
"rush" during Hurricane Hugo!

Y'all stop by. Lotsa Yankees do! They seem to enjoy it.

Heah....try suma this mint julep.....(c;

Our clocks are set to "sometime".....

On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:07:17 +0000, Larry wrote:

Y'all stop by. Lotsa Yankees do! They seem to enjoy it.

Until the local tax collector takes a liking to your boat for some
inexplicable reason. It's a nice enough town but it will be a *long*
time before I take a boat there again.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:07:17 +0000, Larry wrote:

Y'all stop by. Lotsa Yankees do! They seem to enjoy it.

Until the local tax collector takes a liking to your boat for some
inexplicable reason. It's a nice enough town but it will be a *long*
time before I take a boat there again.



God, how long did you stay?!

We want Yankees to VISIT....not drop anchor until it rots!

On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 04:20:35 +0000, Larry wrote:

Wayne.B wrote in
:

On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:07:17 +0000, Larry wrote:

Y'all stop by. Lotsa Yankees do! They seem to enjoy it.

Until the local tax collector takes a liking to your boat for some
inexplicable reason. It's a nice enough town but it will be a *long*
time before I take a boat there again.



God, how long did you stay?!

We want Yankees to VISIT....not drop anchor until it rots!

We spent two nights at the city marina, a very nice facility as I'm
sure you know. We needed a generator repair which was handled very
efficiently by a local mechanic that the marina recommended. Some how
the tax people thought that money was owed by a previous owner and
they made my life miserable for about 6 months trying to collect.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Some how
the tax people thought that money was owed by a previous owner and
they made my life miserable for about 6 months trying to collect.

Wow...I'd like to hear more about that story. Did you buy it from here?

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:45:07 +0000, Larry wrote:

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Some how
the tax people thought that money was owed by a previous owner and
they made my life miserable for about 6 months trying to collect.

Wow...I'd like to hear more about that story. Did you buy it from here?

No, we purchased the boat in Florida and all applicable Florida taxes
and fees were paid at time of sale. We received the usual assurances
in the purchase contract that the boat was being sold free of any
liens or encumberances. The next year we took the boat north for the
summer, stopping at Charleston for 2 days along the way. About 3
months later we received a letter from the Charleston County tax
office that we owed over $14K in retroactive personal property taxes.
Our choice was to pay or have the boat seized and auctioned off. As
you can imagine a number of phone calls ensued. They were adamant
that a prior owner, some ten years previously, had overstayed his time
in Charleston and that we as the current owners were liable for the
taxes and penalties. They informed us that we either had to pay, lose
the boat, or prove that the taxes were not due.

We went back and forth with them for over six months, exchanging
lawyer letters, tracking down former owners, etc. After being
threatened with seizure any number of times they finally decided that
no money was due after reviewing all of the available evidence. I
insisted that they write me a letter to that effect which I still have
in the boat files. The whole affair has left me with a rather bad
feeling toward your otherwise fine city. We won't be back any time
soon. I even get nervous transiting the coast.

Wow. That's the end of my plan for taking "Strider" to Charleston for the
winter (next year). If I ever go that way, I'll do the fast transit thing
as well.

With my boat's history, I don't have any real concern about what you went
through but, as a matter of principle, I don't want my money to go to any
state that would allow such things to take place.

You should write this story up and submit it to some of the cruising
magazines. This kind of crap is like mold. Exposure to light and air is
the best cure.

--
Roger Long

Wayne.B wrote in
news
We went back and forth with them for over six months, exchanging
lawyer letters, tracking down former owners, etc. After being
threatened with seizure any number of times they finally decided that
no money was due after reviewing all of the available evidence. I
insisted that they write me a letter to that effect which I still have
in the boat files. The whole affair has left me with a rather bad
feeling toward your otherwise fine city. We won't be back any time
soon. I even get nervous transiting the coast.




I don't blame you! I'd never come back here if I were treated like a
criminal.

I'm forwarding your post to someone I know in County government who will be
very interested in this. I'll be sure to cut your header out of it.