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Jam 'n' cram at Long Wharf

By adamg on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 3:26pm
Yachts in Boston Harbor, at Long Wharf

There were several large, ocean-going yachts tied up at Long Wharf today, including one registered to Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands:

Yacht from Bikini Atoll in Boston Harbor
Neighborhoods: 
Downtown
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Boston Harbor
Long Wharf


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Comments

By anon on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 3:42pm.

Nobody lives on bikini atoll. They tried to repopulate it in the 1970s but people got sick, so they were removed. I am not sure but I might smell tax fraud.

By Michael Kerpan on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 4:25pm.

No Bikini Atoll.

By waspypants on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 4:32pm.

What you smell is a flag of convenience and not tax fraud. Tax evasion, yes, but it's also completely legal.

By Michael Kerpan on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 4:36pm.

... is the term for legally (if perhaps sneakily and underhandedly) minimizing one's taxes. Tax evasion is the name for doing this in a way that DOES run afoul of the tax laws.

By anonism on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 5:56pm.

.

By SwirlyGrrl on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 6:50pm.

He still had US registry on the boat. I believe he simply paid the taxes where it was in harbor?

Something like that.

Not that such things aren't made easy by miniscule sized states a day's bike ride from each other.

By anon on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 7:00pm.

He would have been all over this post.

By dmcboston on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 10:03pm.

Yup. Registered it in RI, Newport I believe. No tax. No sales tax. No excise tax. Really.
http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bpoladm/manserv/hfb/boating/boatfaq.htm

Heh: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/sen_john_kerry_docks_new_...

Howie Carr was all over it a few years ago. You should read him. Very informative.

By dmcboston on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 10:05pm.

I like that older looking wooden boat hiding in the middle of all that fiberglass. If that's what it is.

By anonism on Tue, 07/21/2015 - 8:10am.

John Kerry celebrates the fifth anniversary of doing right by his home state. Such a fine Senator he was!

From July 2010:
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/656985

By merlinmurph on Tue, 07/21/2015 - 8:57am.

...isn't that what John Kerry tried to do a while back?

Not really. The owner pays sales/use tax where the boat resides, not where the owner lives. If his boat spent a certain amount of time in MA (don't know how much), then he would be liable for sales/use tax in MA. But his boat resides in RI.
Kerry caved because of the all the negative PR. Any normal person would not have had to pay MA sales/use tax.

By anon on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 3:49pm.

Bikini Atoll:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Hpp99HXZo

By adamg on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 3:56pm.

And it's for sale.

By anon on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 3:59pm.

Not for sale.

By adamg on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 4:05pm.

Specifically, the part where it says:

Represented for sale by:
Josh Gulbranson

By FredQuimby on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 4:36pm.

Whether is it is listed or not. Depending on registration, they may not be for sale while in US waters, but they can be bought.

These yachts list in the $20-$100 Million range (100-175feet). They cost about 10% of that price EACH YEAR to run.

If a yacht owner buys a boat for 50 Million and two years later somebody offers him $50 million for it, I guarantee you it will sell.

A new yacht is a multi year project. There is always somebody looking for a yacht right now. Smart money buys new and sells for a profit before delivery.

By roadman on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 7:01pm.

There are only two times when a boat owner ever smiles: The day h/she buys the boat, and the day when h/she sells it.

By Markk02474 on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 9:34pm.

One could buy a used 360 for a reasonable sum, but the oil changes and regular maintenance charges are a killer compared to a corvette of comparable price.

By ECG not logged in on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 4:16pm.

Wow. Are the others also for sale? Maybe someone had them brought here for to comparison shop.

By dvg on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 4:20pm.

I was considering it. Then I looked at the specs, and I realized that the fuel tank of the thing (50,000 litter, or over 12,000 gallons) is bigger than my living room...

By jp_guy on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 4:42pm.

Great questions. I searched and found this article:
http://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/ownership/cost-american-megayacht-owne...

By Baker-Christie 2016 on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 5:12pm.

When people talk about building on the waterfront they complain about blocking water views. These yachts that park all along the harborwalk all block the view of the water, why arent people complaining about these? The South Boston waterfront used to be one of the only places you could actually see water in front of you along the harborwalk, but that area too is turning into a parking lot for yachts.

By adamg on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 5:21pm.

They kind of blocked the view from Christopher Columbus Park, but no more so than all the ferry boats that dock there regularly, anyway. From the end of Long Wharf, they didn't block the view of the harbor at all.

By FredQuimby on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 5:40pm.

But im pretty sure most people living next to the water will want a view of these yachts. When selling, do you want a view of the megayachts, or a view of another building?

By dmcboston on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 9:54pm.

I would expect that water views of a wharf would naturally include, ya know, boats and stuff.

By anon on Tue, 07/21/2015 - 5:47am.

The boats were here long before you dear.

By anonism on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 6:01pm.

http://www.marinevesseltraffic.com

http://www.sea-scanner..com

By chaosjake on Mon, 07/20/2015 - 9:22pm.

A couple years ago, the wife and I saw a real mega yacht in port in San Juan. It was big enough that it had a 30 foot (ish) sailboat, submarine, and some jet skis that could be lowered off the deck with a crane. And a helicopter. It was a big boat.

By anon on Tue, 07/21/2015 - 4:52am.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus_(yacht)

By chaosjake on Tue, 07/21/2015 - 3:26pm.

The superstructure on the one we saw was proportionally less of the boat's length, and the aft deck where the sub and sailboat could be deployed was longer. And there was only one helipad (that I saw, at least).

By roadman on Tue, 07/21/2015 - 4:12pm.

My dinghy is bigger than your whole boat!

By chaosjake on Tue, 07/21/2015 - 4:20pm.

I hope the one registered in the Marshall Islands uses a traditional stick chart. (But they probably don't with all those fancy antennas on top.)
IMAGE(http://mfas3.s3.amazonaws.com/objects/SC310134.jpg)

The inhabitants of the Marshall Islands are skilled sailors, able to traverse vast distances in large outrigger canoes. This is an example of the sailing charts that once aided their voyages. Bent sticks indicated wave formations, while shells referred to the location of islands. The unique design of these functional objects has attracted the attention of museums and collectors, who appreciate them for their formal qualities. In 1961 Governor Carlton Skinner and Solange Skinner received this chart as an official present from the government of the Marshall Islands, then under U.S. administration as the eastern most part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

-Museum of Fine Arts.