Clarifiction Coast Guard Documentation

As for the hailing port I'm not sure, mine is doc in Hampton VA. She was going to the Hampton Salt Ponds, for now she is in Jamestown. We have boats there that are doc in Lewis DE, Newport News, even one from Franklin VA. I don't think you could use your community, but I swear I've seen some that say Kingsmill VA. Ask the CG, they were very helpful for me
 
dwna1a said:
True, the upfront cost is a bit, $450 for mine, but that's it as long as I renew on time each year. It's free to renew, where as if you register the boat you pay a smaller amount but every year. My dealer explained it as a pay now.....or pay as you go. I guess I'm one of those that wants to pay it and be done.

Leave your numbers in place, you could do some wicked damage removing them
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Did you use a doc service to handle yours?
 
Yes, I hired an attorney and they got the job done for me. I didn't understand the job and all the paperwork
 
My boat isn't documented but I thought of it. My understanding of the hailing port is that it could be anywhere...not necessarily where the boat is used.
 
In my state there is no sales tax on documented boats. So the advantage was significant on a documented boat.
 
The biggest advantage to having your boat documented is lets say my boat is stolen. I live in FL and of course FL law enforcement will get involved and try to find the boat. In all due respect, they will probably not find it as they have limited resources. Since my boat is documented, the USCG will be informed and will look for the boat as well. The best part about this is if the boat is taken to anothr country (which for us in FL is very possible) the USCG will try and find the boat and if found, will go get it and bring it back to the US. The state of FL law enforcement do not have the authority and resources to do that so if taken to antoher country, they will be of very little use in recovery. I also think due to that fact, it is slightly easier to get insurance on certain types of boats and especially if you take trips to the Bahamas. But, don't have any proof of such just what I have observed from dock friends getting quotes etc.
 
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Woody said:
My boat isn't documented but I thought of it. My understanding of the hailing port is that it could be anywhere...not necessarily where the boat is used.
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That is true
 
sbw1 said:
I did it because I don't like the looks of registration numbers on the side of a beautiful white hull. My boat has the little ugly colored registration decal mounted on the side windows in kind of an out of the way place where it can be easily removed every three years to make way for the new ugly decal.
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This is why I documented ours also.
 
Hailing port needs only to be a legitimate us post office address, e.g. New York, New York is ok, Big Apple is not.

Documentation renewal is free, state registration is not.

The documentation process provides the same ownership protection as a title, with the exception of being uniform across all fifty states, and international through reciprocity of various treaties.

If the vessel is large enough to document, undocumenting may make selling in the future harder as financing entities like the protection documenting provides.

Henry

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
Wherever the boat is documented has no effect on whether or not you pay sales tax and have to register the boat in Illinois. If you keep the boat in a Chicago harbor for the summer it needs to be registered in Illinois.

Stick the doc numbers to a stringer, definitely not on a removable engine hatch and then epoxy over them to prevent removal. You will then need to display a small Illinois registration sticker on each side of the boat preferably on the port and starboard forward quarters of the boat.

My question is, did you buy from a dealer who collects sales tax when you bought it or did you go through a broker that lets you pay your sales tax where you register the boat? If not, you're in for a surprise cost especially in Illinois!
 
Xplicitlnck said:
What is the purpose of documenting with uscg. Are there any perks or advantages? Ive herd of registering with them but never understood why.
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Certain sizes of boats in certain states the lender (bank writing the loan) will require that the boat is documented. Some lenders do, some don't.
 
Ok I just checked in with VA Games and Fish. A few posts back you were thinking that if you were documented in VA you must also register the boat as well with the state. Once documented you no longer need to deal with the state (in VA).

I also agree.....I didn't buy 30' of classic SeaRay to put ugly numbers on her hull
 
So I had mine documented as the bank requested to have it documented. The lender did all the paperwork which made it very easy for me. In speaking with the USCG this past weekend at the Chicago Boat Show (pretty much the highlight of my visit as the Chicago Boat show was a disappointment again) they confirmed I would need to pay the $75 to IL for the sticker to be placed on the stern.

The "grey" area was the hailing port is in IL, but I keep the boat at a marina in WI. Because both WI and IL have the "60 day consecutive" rule about when you need the state sticker and I boat on Lake Michigan and cross the state lines every weekend, they said I was fine with going with the IL sticker.

Documentation is renewed for free each year, and the "great" state of IL will get the $75 every three years. Good thing when I purchased the boat, the sales tax was paid to IL so no surprises for me.

I appreciate everyone's comments and 100% agree about not having the state registration numbers on the boat will make the boat have a clean look to it.
 
Well after all this I do hope you have enough water to run the boat in....good luck and have a great upcoming season
 
dwna1a said:
Ok I just checked in with VA Games and Fish. A few posts back you were thinking that if you were documented in VA you must also register the boat as well with the state. Once documented you no longer need to deal with the state (in VA).

I also agree.....I didn't buy 30' of classic SeaRay to put ugly numbers on her hull
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That is correct for VA. None of the documented boats in my marina have VA state registrations. Also, I checked with the CG and the hailing port on the transom does indeed have to exactly match the hailing port on the documentation. Regarding state registration numbers on my hull - they don't bother me (of course, style is not my strong point).
 
Carver370 said:
Certain sizes of boats in certain states the lender (bank writing the loan) will require that the boat is documented. Some lenders do, some don't.
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Alaska does not issue titles for boats or motors. We are required to register them ($21 for 3 years). The bank in Washington State told me that a loan could not be taken on my boat as there was no title, thus it was just about impossile to repo the boat, unless it was documented. This is one reason banks like to have thier boat loans on documented boats.
 
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