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sailorboy1 · 13-07-2017, 09:56

Whatever reason you use to start on your cruising life it is almost guaranteed that it will be something different than you expected. Just my opinion after my first 10 months!

SV Bacchus · 13-07-2017, 10:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwedeking2

need to do repairs on the new boat before I can move aboard so am in an exteneded-stay motel. Hate living on land now lol.

Ugh, did that once between houses, truck was broken into in the parking lot (Tampa area) trying to get to my tools. Hated living there.

Probably moving into one in 3 weeks when the house closes while we finish enough refit to make the new to us boat bare minimum livable. Ugh again!

Group9 · 13-07-2017, 10:43

Until you have actually done it, I don't think anyone accurately predicts one hundred per cent what they are signing up for. I know we didn't. There were parts about it that ended up being better than I thought they would be, and things that ended up being worse.

But, I've seen more than one cruising boat turned around because grandma missed her babies.

jmschmidt · 13-07-2017, 10:53

Harsh but well said. No point in sugar coating it. Don’t believe it? Read history, real history, not fake news. Besides if bad things turn out not to happen you’ll still have had a blast and own the boat. Plan C…have a plot of vacant land somewhere reasonable safe to go to if things turn out better than expected.

fatherchronica · 13-07-2017, 12:20

There are several great sailing books written by folks who left England after WWII because universal healthcare was the gateway to full blown communism. If you get to La Paz BCS there is a radio net in the mornings for the hour preceding the Club Cruceros net that is by and for angry Americans. Many interesting conspiracy theories are discussed and recommendations made. An all steel pilothouse boat is among the recommendations, so the satellites cannot read your lips or mind. I did not make that up by he way. We are lucky in California to have really low property taxes. Warren Buffet said his taxes on his California mansion were a fraction of the 3 bedroom suburban home he keeps in St. Louis. Zombie apocalypse is a good reason to go cruising in my opinion.

Rorzech · 13-07-2017, 15:23

Everybody has their own reasons for doing anything. ALL is VAIN. There's a million reasons to set out to be a cruiser and I bet there isn't two alike. But usually there is only two reasons for doing something. The one that sounds real good, and the real one.

**a64pilot** · 13-07-2017, 15:48

Taxes did to some extent drive me to cruising.
We saved $500 a month to pay property taxes each year, and the land was if anything depreciating in value, as was the house on it. Yes it was to us our dream home, 3500 sq ft on 100 acres, but to have to pay $6,000 a year in taxes for the privilege to live in your paid for home is I think wrong.

Kenomac · 13-07-2017, 15:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Taxes did to some extent drive me to cruising.
We saved $500 a month to pay property taxes each year, and the land was if anything depreciating in value, as was the house on it. Yes it was to us our dream home, 3500 sq ft on 100 acres, but to have to pay $6,000 a year in taxes for the privilege to live in your paid for home is I think wrong.

$6000??? We pay $14,000 to live in Massachusetts 6 months per year on 1/10 of an acre.

Scout 30 · 13-07-2017, 16:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Taxes did to some extent drive me to cruising.
We saved $500 a month to pay property taxes each year, and the land was if anything depreciating in value, as was the house on it. Yes it was to us our dream home, 3500 sq ft on 100 acres, but to have to pay $6,000 a year in taxes for the privilege to live in your paid for home is I think wrong.

I'll go ahead & jump in here before this thread gets shut down. You don't pay property taxes for the privilege to live on your property. You pay property taxes to be able to call the police when someone breaks into your home or the fire department when your home catches fire or send your kids to public school or have roads to drive on or have libraries to get something to read from or building codes enforcement so that the school doesn't collapse on your kid or zoning enforcement so that your neighbor doesn't build a mine next door or a court system so that the guy that breaks into your home goes to jail and the jail itself... Everybody wants services but nobody wants to pay for them.

rockborn · 13-07-2017, 16:38

im w softdown. kids left, 30k taxes. schools mediocre, cops,town , county, state bloated pensions, good luck not on my dime. no real estate taxes for me. the number two reason to weigh anchor.

**JPA Cate** · 13-07-2017, 16:38

I guess it's possible to look at a $6k property tax bill, as a privilege tax for being able to buy a dream house on 100 acres. And the 14k, well isn't that a part time rental? but it's still a tax on the wealthier among us.

Almost everyone hates paying taxes, guys, and rarely does anyone think they're fair. Complaining about it is sort of like trying to do something useless that may come back on you in a way you don't like.

Ann

**a64pilot** · 13-07-2017, 16:51

My point I guess is that $6K a yr property tax is out of line, too much. I lived in Alabama in about the same house, tax wasn't 1/4 as much. Where I lived it was called an "entitlement town" they would run out of money and jack the taxes up, lather, rinse repeat. What happens is of course is you kill the Goose that lays the golden egg.
People left in wholesale numbers. City came into Walmart and told them that each dept was now considered a separate store and they would have to get separate licenses, etc for each dept.
Walmart left and moved almost literally across the street in the other County.
You do this and property values drop drastically, making it awfully hard for the common man to sell as he now owes more than its worth.
Somewhere around 2005 or 6 I got a letter saying they have revalued my house and land, pretty much doubling my bill, I mean that was about the time everyone's house increased tremendously in value, right?
Yes I started to fight it, found out that if I didn't have a job and could spend days and weeks waiting at City Hall, I could fight it.

No, in my opinion in certain Cities the property tax thing has gotten out of hand, and they will kill the Goose, and then what? Once all the people you can tax leave, where will the money come from then?

sailorboy1 · 13-07-2017, 17:05

I suspect this tax complaint has been the same for 100s of years.

Sell your stuff and live on a boat!

**a64pilot** · 13-07-2017, 17:05

This isn't a rant, but to some extent cruising to me is a way to as much as possible escape that type of behavior. I won't get into specifics but the system is to some extent set up to keep a person in debt by rewarding them with tax breaks if they are in debt. If you owe nothing, taxes will eat you alive.
I saw pretty quickly that I could not win that game, so I decided to no longer play. The other choice I had I guess was to continue to work, to pay for the cars needed to go to work, clothes to wear to work, etc, etc.
I don't know what it's called, but it's a self replicating machine type of thing, you work, so that you can buy things required of you to work, a never ending circle