National Yachtline - HMRC

VicMallows said:
...but you EVADED paying it in France :p
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Yep, but that makes it the French's problem, not HMRC's. And if the French are not inclined to worry about it, then all to the good :p

(All entirely theoretical here, I've never sailed from the CIs to the UK, via Cherbourg or otherwise.)

Pete
 
Camelia said:
I take it you never sailed overseas 25 years ago. It is all so simple now; they even use this new fangled telephone.
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Yes indeed. way back and living in Poole we had to go to clear customs/immigration inbound at Poole Quay,in later years they gave a general concession we could go to our normal berth or mooring and one person could go ashore to telephone customs, thereafter we still had to wait 2 hours with'Q' flying and illuminated at night, after which we could go ashore and even go home if we wished, but still completing part two of the C1338 form and mailing it in. another concession was to install 'customs' letter boxes at the marinas and Yacht clubs for the forms although they frequently forgot to empty these. When mobile phones arrived they made it seem difficult because they rarely had anyone to answer the phone their end,'our' local number in fact was to the Southampton office 40 miles away who had no idea of where we were telling them we were waiting patiently ( 'on a mooring east of Brownsea Island' ( exactly where is that sir?) all of which when opportunity arose made it easier to return from the Channel Islands via a stopover IN Cherbourg Indeed our CI cruise routines were to go direct to Jersey or Guernsey from Poole then do shorter hops on the return leg with a final stop off for wines and moutarde in Cherbourg and thereby conveniently avoiding the need to clear customs again on arrival in Poole.
 
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We used to have to call the local RAF Aerodrome ( USAF Bentwaters). They would come out & get taken o/b via our dinghy to clear us.
Once or twice we went to the pub after with them for a swifty.
I still have the chitty given to me by John Hailstone on my very first return with my own boat.
 
Robin said:
with a final stop off for wines and moutarde in Cherbourg and thereby conveniently avoiding the need to clear customs again on arrival in Poole.
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But only since 1993 !! Prior to that (when we could still buy duty-free in EU countries) you had to fly a 'Q' and go through the clearing formalities wherever you arrived from, including France.
 
VicMallows said:
But only since 1993 !! Prior to that (when we could still buy duty-free in EU countries) you had to fly a 'Q' and go through the clearing formalities wherever you arrived from, including France.
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I well remember the changeover to not gwtting Duty Free from within the EU. The nice M Guerin had some in his warehouse and was allowed to sell off existing stock, we bought all we could and his entire remaining lot of gin he said and then two weeks later we went again expecting nothing but asked anyway and surprise surprise he had more to sell us explaining that he still sold legitimately to vessels leaving the EU as bonded stores and sometimes there was 'un petit mixup' in his warehouse. Typical French pragmatic interpretation of the EU rules :)

NOW i'm not allowed alcohol (SWMBO"s interpretation of the witch doctor's rules) we can (could if allowed ) BUY LOCAL USA Made Gordons or Booths for just 8($ about 5 squids) per 1.75 litres, it costs us much more to drink alcohol free wine or beer ( IE proper wine/beer but with alcohol removed), why so and what do they do with the alcohol they removed??
 
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Robin said:
The nice M Guerin had some in his warehouse and was allowed to sell off existing stock, we bought all we could
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Well done! I well remember M Guerin. On one occasion I was dried out on the beach (no longer possible because of all the silly new pontoon berths:)) and he wrote "sur Napoleon" as our delivery address. I think he had quite an empire ...the (excellent) brandy had his name on the corks.

Are there any 'dry' counties left in the US? I still recall asking in a Kentucky store where I could buy beer in the town. With a wink the girl said "that's the sheriff walking down the street ... best ask him". That was late 1970s.
 
VicMallows said:
Are there any 'dry' counties left in the US? I still recall asking in a Kentucky store where I could buy beer in the town. With a wink the girl said "that's the sheriff walking down the street ... best ask him". That was late 1970s.
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Somewhere amongst my possessions I still have a licence to buy beer, issued outside Dallas, Texas relatively recently, about 2000. I think I paid $2 for the privilege but they wouldn't serve me without it.
 
vyv_cox said:
Somewhere amongst my possessions I still have a licence to buy beer, issued outside Dallas, Texas relatively recently, about 2000. I think I paid $2 for the privilege but they wouldn't serve me without it.
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No stores to buy anything for at least 50 miles down at Big Bend, Texas! ... but you can walk across the river just to say you've been to Mexico and (illegally?) re-entered the US.

It illustrates though a very pertinent point. We refer to 'America' or perhaps 'the USA' as if it is one homogeneous area. Apart from the fact that everyone speaks the same language, it is in many ways more akin to the EU ..... except that the individual states would never accept bossing around by Washington the way we do by Brussels.

(But perhaps we should retire to the Lounge)
 
VicMallows said:
Are there any 'dry' counties left in the US? I still recall asking in a Kentucky store where I could buy beer in the town. With a wink the girl said "that's the sheriff walking down the street ... best ask him". That was late 1970s.
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Haven't encountered any, but I have a story that illustrates US attitudes to alcohol!

In 1993, my Boss ( a lady about 10 years older than I), myself and a young man (mid 20s) had a meal in a restaurant in Redlands, California. Of course, we ordered a bottle of wine. Embarassed looking waitress came up and asked my boss if they should put a glass out for "our son"? There was so much wrong with her assumptions that we all found the situation hilarious! Perhaps you had to be there and know the people concerned :D. But it only arose because of the slightly censorious attitude of parts of America to alcohol.

Certainly in 1987 I was warned in Houston, Texas that alcohol was only available with meals in public places. And in 1993, you could only buy alcohol from official liquor stores in Redlands, California.
 
VicMallows said:
It always intrigued me that every shopping mall had an outlet selling cannabis 'paraphernalia' but no where to buy the necessary ingredient:p Same even in Woodstock village which was very nearby (but did sell fantastic artisan bread).
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Someone in those shops will be able to tell you where to get the necessary. Most of them sell legal highs though anyway.
 
VicMallows said:
It always intrigued me that every shopping mall had an outlet selling cannabis 'paraphernalia' but no where to buy the necessary ingredient:p Same even in Woodstock village which was very nearby (but did sell fantastic artisan bread).
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In 1993 it was openly on sale on Venice Beach, LA. Seeds, plants and ready to roll. No, I didn't buy any!
 
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