Sounds like fun, and an adventure for sure considering you will be going down the Danube from Germany, through Austria, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, Serbia (problematic??), and Bulgaria. After getting several bids, I settled on the bottom line (cheapest) $4,500. The shocker came, when Dutch customs would not release the boat until the VAT, value added tax was paid. Cin Cin was first sold in Germany and the VAT was paid then, but I had no way of proving it (I presently have two lawyers, one in Berlin, Germany and the other in Amsterdam trying to get my money back - however I have pretty much resigned myself to having lost the case). The VAT levied will be based on the boats value, so of course I quoted a low USA resale value, and showed them some for sale ads from Florida, they would'nt buy it, and quoted a price that almost doubled it. Then one of them decided to check the internet for local selling prices, and that was that!! Incidentally Dutch VAT is 19%. It is different for different countries, i.e. Germany and Spain 16%, UK 17.5, Sweden 25%, France 19.6. It was the only sour note on an otherwise wonderful time through the Netherlands and Germany, except for diesel costs, everything else so far is much cheaper than Florida, i.e. I averaged between $5.00 and $8.00 per night in marinas. If you decide to purchase here, boats are generally more expensive, and if you decide, I can probably find some on-line sites for you, to give you an idea. You might also need an ICC, International Certificate of Competency in some countries, to show that you are a competent sailor. Some sort of license will probably be accepted. More info can be found at
www.rya.co.uk If I can be of any further help, let me know.
Frank Gallardo Jr, V-2184, Cin Cin"Morton L. Caplan" MortonCaplan@... wrote:
