Select to expand quoteHG02 said...
I just wonder about Japies point of view and prospective living in Fuji
Fiji is a pretty rotten place to live actually.
Select to expand quotestupid said..
Sorry loose change was in a stupor last night .
was on it! 
I am occasionally afflicted with that as well, the curse of having a Dan Murphy store in the sight line from my kitchen window.
Select to expand quotestupid said..
I've cut out the middle man and bought my own still!!!
dangerous at times 
I have two of those as well but I do like a nice wine at times and Dan is close by.
I live in Queenland and after paying my rego I can't afford to drink or even buy a still.
I think the point to this topic is that owning a boat has become a mark of wealth in most peoples (non boat owners) and politicians eyes.
We boat owners (well most of us) aren't actually wealthy!
Most of us have boats that we just like to spend time on to escape out of the rat race (who dies with the most wealth and property wins).
We have adventures on our boats that we will be able to recall for the rest of our lives and who knows maybe take into the afterlife whatever that is.
For the last 10 years my bicycle has been worth more than my car. My boat is my home (and it keeps losing value as the ownership costs increase).
I chose to move to a state that hasn't aligned owning a boat as a status of wealth. I can afford to slip it annually, park it and register it as well as use it as the means to the next adventure.
A good friend of mine has a british passport so registered his boat as british and stuck by his rights whenever challenged by state officials. They threaten but always back down from actually taking the court option. Unfortunately an Australian registered ship also has to have state registration. Tassie state rego was exempt until 8 years ago. But at least it is still affordable at the present time.
Boat registration is a fact of life if you are going to go anywhere on your yacht, so we have to live with that.
In Qld what we should not have to live with is the disparity of facilities provided to tinnie owners opposed to facilities provided for vessels 25 ft and over.
What is really needed is to get rid of State Governments completely. They really aren't necessary for our population. Merge Local Governments to align with federal electoral boundaries.
Amen to Freeradical. Australia has absolutely need NO need for State Governments. Massive waste and replication of federal services and bureaucracy.
The trouble with FreeRadical and drpete's last posts is that to do that you need the vote of the Government members and they aren't going to vote themselves out of a job.
I think when we all started out on this course where we fell in love with the wind and the water we did it with the knowledge that it wasn't a cheap pastime/lifestyle to pursue.
Any of us over 40ish would know by now that taxes only ever increase and it goes without saying that the cost of our passion for sailing goes up with it.
It has been stated earlier that most of us aren't the wealthy types, we do this because we love the challenge, freedom, adventure etc. but we also do it knowing that it comes at a cost.
Sailing has been seen as an exclusive sport/pastime for decades even though you can purchase a half decent used cruising boat for the price of a decent 4wd, or even less. It's the associated costs and maintenance that make it so expensive.
But think about it. If you could buy a yacht for the same price as a 4wd and DIDN'T have all the other associated costs then every Tom, Dick and Harry would be out there on the water with us and there are enough idiots out there already.
