Chasing silver
Say again?
USCG clarifies ‘port or place’ for NOA.
A6 Chef-turned-captain celebrates 25 years.
C8 Vol. 3, No. 6
www.the-triton.com
BVI’s Tortola It’s still a gem and great for cruising.
B16 September 2006
Lionwind skipper not jailed in diving case
Paying more to cruise the Med
By Lucy Chabot Reed
Several Sardinian ports, many of which object to the tax, are giving yachts favorable rates for annual contracts. Yachts with annual contracts are exempt from the tax. Franco Cuccureddu, president of the regional port authorities’ network, invited tourists to come to Sardinia just the same “because we will find a legal way not to pay the regional tax on maxi yachts,” according to AGI. And come, they have. Many megayachts have visited the island this summer, often over the objections of the captain, who is charged with the fiscal responsibility of the yacht. “I suggested to the owner that we boycott Sardinia due to the extortionate tax charges,” said Capt. Glynn Smith, skipper of M/Y CV-9, a 131-foot Delta. “It still does seem busy but I was personally hoping that everyone boycotted Sardinia. Every captain I have spoken to certainly voiced
Capt. Ian McCombe, who was fired from his command of M/Y Lionwind in May, was not jailed in relation to a diving incident in Palau lagoon earlier this year. An article in the August issue indicated otherwise. The Triton reprinted reports from a newspaper in the South Pacific that indicated two crew members went to prison for removing artifacts from a World War II wreck. McCombe was one of five people charged in March with myriad infractions, including grand larceny and damaging a historical site, even though he had not been diving at the time. The charge against him was dismissed on May 23, according to a copy of a court record from the Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau. The four others charged were Lionwind’s first mate, the yacht’s bosun/dive master, an American dive instructor who lives in Palau and was certifying the bosun in a technical dive course, and the dive boat driver. The yacht’s chef accompanied the bosun/dive master on the mixed-gas dives as his dive buddy, McCombe said. She took photographs of the various wrecks and artifacts, then talked about the dives and the bosun’s actions with
See SARDINIA, page A18
See LIONWIND, page A19
Capt. Glynn Smith takes M/Y CV-9 into Sardinia’s Porto Cervo, despite suggesting to the yacht’s owner that they PHOTO/KATHLEEN SMITH skip the Italian island this year because of the new luxury tax.
Sardinia enforces tax on yachts By Lucy Chabot Reed Dozens of yacht owners have been tapped by Italian authorities for not paying Sardinia’s new luxury tax for nonresidents. Checks of the island’s marinas began Aug. 9, the day after a 60-day enactment cushion had expired on the tax charged to yachts over 14m, private planes and second homes within 3km of the sea, according to a report by the Italian news service AGI. Many yachts paid the tax on the spot, but some refused, saying they stopped for “technical reasons,” while others have said they are waiting for the ruling on an appeal by the Constitutional Court of the European Union, AGI reported. The yachts not paying are being noted and reports are being filed, according to AGI. If the tax is not paid, invoices will be mailed.
The Triton grows to three sections You hold in your hands the first edition of The Triton to include three sections. Make sure to check out the new B section, Getting Under Way, which is full of all our technical and travel news. And Section C, Earning Your Stripes, is still full of career news and classifieds. Enjoy.
Captains stay in hurricane zone for work, boss Yacht crew and residents in Ft. Lauderdale and points south and east stayed close to televisions in August as Tropical Storm Chris spun a familiar pattern in the Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, South Florida shipyards remained bustling with yachts. What’s up with From the Bridge that? Lucy Chabot Reed So we asked
The Triton’s monthly gathering of yacht captains why they were in Ft. Lauderdale at the height of hurricane season. As always, individual comments are not attributed to any one person in particular so as to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph on page A20. “I’m waiting to get out,” said one captain who is nearing the end of several months in a Ft. Lauderdale boatyard.
Several captains were wrapping up business or yard work that had extended from summer and were headed out of town. Indeed, many Ft. Lauderdale shipyards began emptying out in mid-August. Still, once was the time when insurance companies discouraged yachts from venturing below 36 degrees before Oct. 1 by applying higher premiums (nevermind that hurricane
See THE BRIDGE, page A20