Med boaters - will you get to your boat this year?

[John100156]

..... .Plus test test test when you return to sure be you are not an a symptomatic carrier of a mutant you picked up abroad....

Will a test be able to detect a new mutant strain I wonder, would it not just indicate positive, to known strains/viruses?

The body is marvellous at remodelling its own defence systems to cope with virus mutations over time, I just don't think we have any real data to know how this will develop in future, just too early to say, I hope its just like the flue jab modified each year and given to old codgers like me.

To debate this is interesting, in the meantime do Test but Vaccinate, Vacccinate and Vaccinate and then continue to research, without the hideous political agenda(s) is the only true way out of this I reckon.

We survived the Bubonic plague , albeit with a massive mortality rate and in those days, we were using leeches, we WILL survive this...!

My old mum long dead now would have said "Don't worry son, its just Mother Natures way of......' Mind you, she also use to say that when many boys were born, there was going to be a war...

 

[crazy4557]

Bit off topic but would it be possible to go to Europe to retrieve your boat and bring it back to the UK? My rib is in Sardinia, if we're not allowed to go there on holiday then I'll be trying to get it back to the UK to use for the summer. Appreciate we can't travel, are there any reliable towing companies out there who could bring it back?
Anyone in the same boat(pardon the pun) ?

 

[jakew009]

Bit off topic but would it be possible to go to Europe to retrieve your boat and bring it back to the UK? My rib is in Sardinia, if we're not allowed to go there on holiday then I'll be trying to get it back to the UK to use for the summer. Appreciate we can't travel, are there any reliable towing companies out there who could bring it back?
Anyone in the same boat(pardon the pun) ?

You'll be liable for VAT on it if you do that...

 

[John100156]

Why not try a boat transporter, depending on rib size, sometimes they can add a rib to a larger boat they're returning to the UK. for a sensible cost. Is Coast2Coast still around, they transported my old Targa out to Spain and often looked for return package...! Notwithstanding recent developments of course importing anything into the UK...

 

[DavidJ]

Bit off topic but would it be possible to go to Europe to retrieve your boat and bring it back to the UK? My rib is in Sardinia, if we're not allowed to go there on holiday then I'll be trying to get it back to the UK to use for the summer. Appreciate we can't travel, are there any reliable towing companies out there who could bring it back?
Anyone in the same boat(pardon the pun) ?

I’m sure you’ve been following the Brexit VAT debate but I have to ask, did you buy in the UK? If so you have until the end of the year to bring it back, if not you will have to pay VAT on import.

 

[Portofino]

Will a test be able to detect a new mutant strain I wonder, would it not just indicate positive, to known strains/viruses?

The body is marvellous at remodelling its own defence systems to cope with virus mutations over time, I just don't think we have any real data to know how this will develop in future, just too early to say, I hope its just like the flue jab modified each year and given to old codgers like me.

To debate this is interesting, in the meantime do Test but Vaccinate, Vacccinate and Vaccinate and then continue to research, without the hideous political agenda(s) is the only true way out of this I reckon.

We survived the Bubonic plague , albeit with a massive mortality rate and in those days, we were using leeches, we WILL survive this...!

My old mum long dead now would have said "Don't worry son, its just Mother Natures way of......' Mind you, she also use to say that when many boys were born, there was going to be a war...

Para 1 , no but is does not matter on return to know immediately what strain , if returnees test +ve then it’s important they isolate .Stop mixing . A few hundred or thou you can control, Millions flocking back from the Costas thats another logistical nightmare.
Does not really matter as assume they are asymptomatic or minor symptoms.

Thats the point a vaccinated robust individual with strong antibodies ( from the UKs vax program) might bring back a stain that does not bother him / her but finds weaknesses in the less robust population and takes hold in another wave as it becomes the dominant strain , because it’s passed on and on until it finds a suitable host to multiply , this host then gets ill and potentially spreads it further and karboom its R number exceeds 1 .

Each wave I reckon will less and less but how less is society prepared to accept ?
At the peak this one Jan was killing over a 1000 / day and your hospitals rammed with 40 K cases .So 1/2 as much @ 500 / day is still pretty shocking considering its could have been prevented by restrictions this summer continuing re foreign travel .

Ideally but unrealistically , may be possible to genomic sequence every new new case or at least batch test + ve groups.
If you have 4/5 000 new cases +ve then if the GS capacity is say 4000 / day ?? You will know , pick up variants and contain the thing while enjoying a pretty normal un lockdowned life .....except limited MASS foreign travel .
You can’t let loose 20 M into say Spain over the summer hols .
Even with robust fines Quarantine etc etc the shear numbers there will be a escape of a variant .

Its genomic testing that’s needed while they are in isolation to drill down into the variant and ideally you need blood I think .
Once I thunk your new case rate drops to under 2000 /. Day the lower the better then every case can be GS d .

With that level of surveillance you can then more accurate, in fact with pin point accuracy attenuate / modify you booster , round 2 jabs with certainty.

As I have said before surveillance is king here or will be once the lockdown has eased and the majority are vaccinated.

You are making it very hard nigh on impossible for yourselves if you let loose your healthy cleanly effective vaccinated population in large numbers into the party vaccinated (some 444M );EU

Its a breading ground for mutants at the moment because of incoherent lockdown strategies and a crazy , failing vaccination programs , They are playing whack a mole because they lack the genomic sequencing capacity , by the time the hospital’s are filling up it’s too late , They can and are locking down after a surge in numbers , it should be the other way round .
Surge test find the variants .Stop people moving and vax the vulnerable quickly, otherwise theses will fill the hospitals .
Like Paris .

Its now not clear how effective the current crop of AZ / Pfizer is against the Brazilian variant....watch this space the EU are about to find out .

Which I will finish on the political side , all these threats of withholding Vac from the U.K. , well those vaccines might be effective in the U.K. with its current Kent , but by the time the EU gets its act together ( lost a week with AZ ) the virus may have run away further in the 440;M ie = more Brazilian becomes the dominant strain and the 84/92 % effectiveness the U.K. enjoys driving down numbers ..........drops to something crap like 40 % ? Or what ever , not low enough to press down the numbers .

Its all to play for in the next 6/8 weeks by June we will have a better idea where everyone is .
So you can’t blame U.K. Gov foreign travel hesitancy .

 

[crazy4557]

I have skim read it, bit unsure of the exact rules but I'd assumed there maybe a VAT issue on my boat although I bought it in the UK took it out in 2016 and have used it in Sardinia for the last 5 years. Do I need to bring it back by the end of this year and then will I be able to take it back out and leave it or will storing it abroad no longer work?

 

[Andy Bav]

I have skim read it, bit unsure of the exact rules but I'd assumed there maybe a VAT issue on my boat although I bought it in the UK took it out in 2016 and have used it in Sardinia for the last 5 years. Do I need to bring it back by the end of this year and then will I be able to take it back out and leave it or will storing it abroad no longer work?

Our V42 was a Med boat and brought back to the UK by Burton Waters as a stock boat, where we bought it and trucked it back to the Med !.

From my investigation, if I can prove it was used in UK waters up to three years prior to Brexit, I can bring it back to the UK claiming Returned Goods Relief. We did our ”sea trial” on the Trent and she was trucked to the Med in Feb 2017 - all with pictures etc to prove.

Beware everything you read on forums etc, but you may find that 2016 is too far back. The Tax office in Southampton were pretty good, albeit slow with their response...

 

[Seastoke]

Our V42 was a Med boat and brought back to the UK by Burton Waters as a stock boat, where we bought it and trucked it back to the Med !.

From my investigation, if I can prove it was used in UK waters up to three years prior to Brexit, I can bring it back to the UK claiming Returned Goods Relief. We did our ”sea trial” on the Trent and she was trucked to the Med in Feb 2017 - all with pictures etc to prove.

Beware everything you read on forums etc, but you may find that 2016 is too far back. The Tax office in Southampton were pretty good, albeit slow with their response...

That was 4years ago.

 

[crazy4557]

Our V42 was a Med boat and brought back to the UK by Burton Waters as a stock boat, where we bought it and trucked it back to the Med !.

From my investigation, if I can prove it was used in UK waters up to three years prior to Brexit, I can bring it back to the UK claiming Returned Goods Relief. We did our ”sea trial” on the Trent and she was trucked to the Med in Feb 2017 - all with pictures etc to prove.

Beware everything you read on forums etc, but you may find that 2016 is too far back. The Tax office in Southampton were pretty good, albeit slow with their response...

Thanks Andy, I've brought the boat back in late 2018 for some work at Cobra who are the manufacturer and have invoices to prove etc, I then took it back out in 2019 so that should fit the criteria, do you know how long the RGR will be used to allow VAT free return ?

 

[DavidJ]

I have skim read it, bit unsure of the exact rules but I'd assumed there maybe a VAT issue on my boat although I bought it in the UK took it out in 2016 and have used it in Sardinia for the last 5 years. Do I need to bring it back by the end of this year and then will I be able to take it back out and leave it or will storing it abroad no longer work?

It’s been out of the UK for more than 3 years so on 31 Dec 2020 it should have lost its UK VAT status. Because of covid the HMRC granted a years grace to return it back to the UK.
You now have EU VAT status ( because it was in the EU on the night of 31 Dec 2020) which you might consider retaining by not bringing your boat back.
You can‘t have both UK and EU VAT status.
If you bring your boat back and retain UK VAT status you can take your boat into the EU but it has to come back within 18 months ( I’ve seen 3 years mentioned so could do with some clarification myself) or you will be due for EU VAT and loose your UK VAT
All a bit of a nightmare

 

[crazy4557]

It’s been out of the UK for more than 3 years so on 31 Dec 2020 it should have lost its UK VAT status. Because of covid the HMRC granted a years grace to return it back to the UK.
You now have EU VAT status ( because it was in the EU on the night of 31 Dec 2020) which you might consider retaining by not bringing your boat back.
You can‘t have both UK and EU VAT status.
If you bring your boat back and retain UK VAT status you can take your boat into the EU but it has to come back within 18 months ( I’ve seen 3 years mentioned so could do with some clarification myself) or you will be due for EU VAT and loose your UK VAT
All a bit of a nightmare

It was back in the UK in 2019 for a short time so it was only out of the UK for about 15 months before 31st December 2020 so does this change the scenario? What a bloody nightmare this is, I'd hate to have to haul it back every 18 months just because of the VAT man so 3 years would be better, it's an expensive trip if it's for that reason alone if it were 18 months. If it was a med type rib I'd leave it there and sell it when I wanted to but being a Cobra it's more suited to the UK waters so less desirable out there which means I need to sell here.
At least I have some time to get it sorted one way or the other.

 

[DavidJ]

It was back in the UK in 2019 for a short time so it was only out of the UK for about 15 months before 31st December 2020 so does this change the scenario?

I think it does. You can “bank” the 20 months however I don’t think you can add the 12 month concession to that......who knows!!!!
Best to get it back by year end if that’s what you want to do.
You have to appreciate that my diatribe is only a stitch together of what I’ve picked up over the last few months. All I’d say is that try and put together proof of your boats locations and movements over the last couple of years, iphone pics are useful because they are date stamped.
Like you I would like clarification on the “is it 18 months or 3 years out of the country?”

 

[Andy Bav]

It was back in the UK in 2019 for a short time so it was only out of the UK for about 15 months before 31st December 2020 so does this change the scenario? What a bloody nightmare this is, I'd hate to have to haul it back every 18 months just because of the VAT man so 3 years would be better, it's an expensive trip if it's for that reason alone if it were 18 months. If it was a med type rib I'd leave it there and sell it when I wanted to but being a Cobra it's more suited to the UK waters so less desirable out there which means I need to sell here.
At least I have some time to get it sorted one way or the other.

The advice the VAT team gave me was that RGR applies if you can prove the vessel was in UK waters at some point in the 3 years up to Brexit - thanks Seastoke for me sums - but we are hoping to change our boat shortly so will effectively be "trapped" Med boaters. The VAT team at Customs and Excise were very good with their advice and even quoted for the form numbers that need to accompany your boat when it returns to the UK.

The chap I spoke to was equally as exasperated as you, but its one of those things we have to get used to now - I have heard of someone sending a relatively low priced item to "themselves" in Spain via the marina and having to pay almost as much in import duty as the item is worth.

As I say, Caveat Emptor applies, but based on what you have said, you may be OK, but only until the end of this year. If you are serious about bringing it back, get everything in writing from all relevant authorities including the haulier.

Its a bl00dy nightmare, and seeing the news this morning looking less likely we will see ours until the late summer at the earliest.... but lets take each month at a time ...

 

[petem]

Covid: Summer holidays abroad 'unlikely', warns government adviser
Looks like Porto could be right
I’m going boating tomorrow because our region only just escaped lockdown (a third of the French are locked down), so we should make hay while the sun shines. But, people, be like us, don’t go near other people. Stay isolated as much as humanly possible ??

Government advisers don't make the decisions, thank god.

 

[Bouba]

Government advisers don't make the decisions, thank god.

True, Boris has to weigh up a lot of conflicting outcomes. Not an enviable job.
But deteriorating relations with Europe won’t help

 

[Hooligan]

True, Boris has to weigh up a lot of conflicting outcomes. Not an enviable job.
But deteriorating relations with Europe won’t help

The news is awful but always is at the height of tensions. This is still March. The difference is that in 2021 more people have had this virus and on top of that more people have had a vaccine. Yes the new variant sweeping Europe is spreading faster but that too is no bad thing if one believes in herd immunity - through disease or jabs. The point is we had the same discussion last year re the Summer and in my view it was the best boating summer ever. re mutants, I am no epidemiologist (obviously) but Summer is coming and it seems to me that any risk of new variants will come in the Winter. Right now there is a shit storm re the vaccine row. It is absolutely no coincidence that everyone and their dog in the government is saying no summer for Brits. It is our biggest economic weapon against the poorer countries in Europe. You stop our vaccines and we will contribute to the bankruptcy of Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain. I appreciate it is not a simple as this but I remain confident that there will be a way through all this. In any case we can all either take a optimistic view and plan as such or believe Porto and go out and slit your wrists. The choice as they say is all yours . For me I plan on sending Bouba a picture of the azure waters of Italy and Greece every day for a month, and burger free meals of course

 

[Bouba]

This was earlier today

 

[crazy4557]

The advice the VAT team gave me was that RGR applies if you can prove the vessel was in UK waters at some point in the 3 years up to Brexit - thanks Seastoke for me sums - but we are hoping to change our boat shortly so will effectively be "trapped" Med boaters. The VAT team at Customs and Excise were very good with their advice and even quoted for the form numbers that need to accompany your boat when it returns to the UK.

The chap I spoke to was equally as exasperated as you, but its one of those things we have to get used to now - I have heard of someone sending a relatively low priced item to "themselves" in Spain via the marina and having to pay almost as much in import duty as the item is worth.

As I say, Caveat Emptor applies, but based on what you have said, you may be OK, but only until the end of this year. If you are serious about bringing it back, get everything in writing from all relevant authorities including the haulier.

Its a bl00dy nightmare, and seeing the news this morning looking less likely we will see ours until the late summer at the earliest.... but lets take each month at a time ...

Looks like I need some grease for the towbar then

 

[crazy4557]

I think it does. You can “bank” the 20 months however I don’t think you can add the 12 month concession to that......who knows!!!!
Best to get it back by year end if that’s what you want to do.
You have to appreciate that my diatribe is only a stitch together of what I’ve picked up over the last few months. All I’d say is that try and put together proof of your boats locations and movements over the last couple of years, iphone pics are useful because they are date stamped.
Like you I would like clarification on the “is it 18 months or 3 years out of the country?”

Thanks for your diatribe it's more enlightening than the new Brexit rules