Here is another interesting and informative blog from a couple cruising the Waterway and other travels.

Our Happy Life  

Re-posted with permission.

Our thanks to Melissa G for this good news:

s/v Ellipsis found, washed ashore the night of Jan. 8 on Elbow Cay, Hope Town, Abaco. Both passengers and their dogs are alive and in a home onshore.
Melissa G

This alert comes to us from St Augustine Cruisers Net.

Sharing this info:BOLO for the S/V ELLIPSIS
Seven Seas Cruising Association’s HF Radio Service KPK has been asked for assistance in locating the S/V ELLIPSIS which departed Puerto Rico on December 26, 2017 on a voyage to St Augustine, Florida. The vessel is a 32’ Westsail cutter rig sloop, light tan hull, maroon stripe below the rail, with tan bark sails.
There are two POB. The Captain is Scott Kans, age approx 55, accompanied by crew Rafael Torres, approx age 30. Neither men are known to have medical issues, although Scott is believed to have a hernia.
The vessel has a 6 person life raft, however no EPIRB, SSB or HF Radio, or other means of communication other than two cell phones. They have no way to receive weather information since departing Puerto Rico. Scott’s cell phone is 787-306-9114.
The vessel sustained major damage during the hurricanes in Puerto Rico, including damage to its rigging which is believed to have been repaired prior to departing Puerto Rico. It is believed the vessel may have a cutlass bearing issue.
Their intended route was to pass close enough to the Turks and Caicos to allow them to call their emergency contact via cell phone. The contact expected hearing from them on or around January 2nd. From the Turks and Caicos they planned to continue through the East Bahamas into the Gulf Stream to St Augustine, Florida.
The USCG Sector Jacksonville has been notified.
Chris Parker of the Marine Weather Center is also aware of this overdue boat and will broadcast a lookout on his Monday SSB morning weather report for the Bahamas.
Dick Giddings of the afternoon Doo Dah SSB Net is also aware and broadcasting a lookout as well as putting it out on the morning Cruiseheimers Net.
KPK will ensure the Waterway Radio & Cruising Club Amateur Radio Net covers it as well as the both SSCA morning SSB nets at 1215 hrs UTC and 1315 hrs UTC on frequency 8.104.
Anyone with information regarding this vessel may contact KPK@ssca.org and the USCG.
Glenn Tuttle – Net Manager
SSCA HF Radio Service KPK
941-456-5070

A multi-year documentation renewal is good news for long term liveaboard cruisers, but might not be a wise option for smaller vessels. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

“The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018 was signed into law on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. Included in this Act is a provision providing recreational Certificate of Documentation (COD) holders the ability to select a multi-year renewal (1-5 years) during an implementation period (January 1, 2019-December 31, 2021), after which a five-year document (recreational vessels only) will become automatic.

Implementation of this provision will require an update to automated systems at the National Vessel Documentation Center (NVDC) in order to accommodate multi-year renewals. Additionally, the Coast Guard is evaluating what revisions to existing regulations may be needed to incorporate the provisions of the Act. Recreational vessel owners should continue to follow the current process for requesting/renewing CODs.

Please visit our website under ‘NVDC Latest News’. Updates will be posted as received. You may also elect to receive automated messages by registering under ‘SUBSCRIBE TO NVDC INFORMATION.”

And this note added 1/4/2019:

Recreational vessel owners who wish to renew for more than one year may do so by including additional fees in the amount of $26.00 per extra year requested, and annotating same on the CG-7042 Credit Card Form, or in the Memo line of checks.

For more information, please see Instructions under the Instructions and Forms tab on our website [above].

Tax Reform Report from National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA)

Analysis: Our 9 Takeaways from Tax Reform
Published on December 20, 2017
Congress is on track to send historic tax reform legislation to President Trump’s desk shortly. While no legislation of this magnitude is ever perfect, the final package includes a number of provisions that can be considered “wins” for marine manufacturers and the recreational boating industry. Some highlights of the tax package:

·     No new luxury tax on boat sales.

o  This was a priority for NMMA, and we were successful in ensuring no new luxury tax was ever considered.

 ·     Preservation of the 2nd home interest deduction for boats.

o  NMMA lobbied for parity with regard to the 2nd home interest deduction for boats. We didn’t want boats to be unfairly singled out and we were successful in this regard. The 2nd home interest deduction will remain without changes to boat eligibility. However, the tax reform package does lower the mortgage interest cap from $1 million to $750,000.

 ·     Lower corporate rate. 

o  NMMA lobbied for lower corporate rates to ensure manufacturers can remain globally competitive and spur capital investment to create jobs and sustain economic growth. The new tax reform package lowers the corporate rate from 35% to a flat 21%, and also repeals the corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

·     Lower pass-through rate. 

o  Many of NMMA’s members are organized as pass-throughs. Under current law, pass-throughs are taxed up to 39.6%. Under the new package, pass-throughs would be taxed up to 37%, with a 20% deduction of qualified business income.

·     Lower individual rates.

o  The new tax reform package also lowers individual tax rates. This will ensure people have more take-home pay and disposable income. You can find a breakdown of those brackets here.

·     Doubling the standard deduction.

o  The tax reform package nearly doubles the standard deduction, raising it to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for joint filers.

·     Changes to the estate tax.

o  In order to protect family owned marine manufacturing plants, NMMA had asked for the estate tax to be repealed. While the final package falls short of full repeal, it does double the exemption from $5.6 million to $11.2 million. 

·     Allows for immediate expensing.

o  NMMA had asked for immediate expensing of capital investments so that businesses can continue to reinvest and grow. The final tax package allows for full and immediate expensing of short lived capital investments for five years. It also increases the Section 179 expensing cap from $500,000 to $1 million.

·     Preserves the R&D tax credit.

o  The R&D tax credit is important to many manufacturers in order to spur innovation and new technology. This credit is preserved under the reform package.