We informed California that we bought the boat in Florida and left Florida in 30 days. I sent them a copy of the clearance papers and a gas receipt from Nassau 39 days after purchasing the boat. A 50' Gulfstar.

California said it wasn't good enough because we could have brought it from Florida to California and then took it back to the Bahamas during that 39 days.

WTF? Are you crazy?

It was a good laugh but they had me jumping through hoops to document that it was in Florida for the month. I sent them all the receipts from Playboy Boatyard. The yacht brokerage also sent them a letter. While I was getting all the papers together they put a lien on some property I owned.

It all worked out but states are persistent. You have to document everything.