Home Port Name?

[CV-23]

Home Port Name? Do I have three options here guys?

The town I live in: Cogan Station, PA (no power boatable water but a real
nice trout stream!)

The town I boat/work /people out of the area would recognize: Williamsport, PA

The Marina I'm at: South Williamsport, PA (where I grew up/graduated High School from!)

Does it really matter? Any acceptted rules on this? I'm open to input here and need to get my lettering done this month. New registration numbers also! Thanks, Mike.

 

[techmitch]

I don't think there are any rules on this nor do think you must display your home port. But if you choose to do so i would suggest your marinas location.

 

[fwebster]

Does your sign painter work by the letter or job?

The USCG Documentation office requires a mailing address to which they send your certificate and renewals. I haven't seen the forms in a while, but at one time, you could only enter one address. For you , it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference, but if you lived 500 miles from your boat, I would want the marina location to be the home port so anyone looking out for potential theft or break-in would at least think someone local owned the boat.

 

[jpk33]

You can really put whatever you want. I believe if the vessel is documented the USCG likes you to put your registered address (City/State) or the port the vessel spends the most time in.

 

[jpk33]

Damn, Frank beat me by two minutes!

 

[jason78]

If you are USCG Documented, According to the company that handled my USCG Documentation, you can use whatever US city and state you want. My hailing port is different than my mailing address. You do have to have it displayed in no less than 4 inch letters on the transom along with the name.

HOW DO I MARK MY VESSEL?

The official number assigned to documented vessels, preceded by the abbreviation "NO." must be marked in block-type Arabic numerals at least three inches high on some clearly visible interior structural part of the hull. The number must be permanently affixed so that alteration, removal, or replacement would be obvious and cause some scarring or damage to the surrounding hull area.
The name and hailing port of a recreational vessel must be marked together on some clearly visible exterior part of the hull. The vessel name of a commercial vessel must also be marked on the port and starboard bow and the vessel name and the hailing port must also be marked on the stern. All markings may be made by any means and materials that result in durable markings and must be at least four inches in height, made in clearly legible letters of the Latin alphabet or Arabic or Roman numerals. The "hailing port" must include both a place and a State, Territory, or possession of in the United States. The state may be abbreviated.


Of course if you are state registered, anything goes as far as naming. You mentioned "registration numbers" (applies to State Reg) but were asking about home port rules (applies to USCG) so I am not sure what route you are going; State or USCG.

 

[firecadet613]

I trailer so I have the town I live in. We frequent different lakes so it wouldn't make sense for me to have another town on there.

 

[Art]

According to my documentation agent the USCG will accept any location. We spend time in both Ca. & Fla. so we thought it would be fun to have a Ca. home port in Fla. waters. It worked we have met many nice people at the docks inquiring how we brought the boat around. Of course I did get a tax bill from Ca. Once I explained the situation there was no tax owed.

Boating is all about having fun... sometimes you can enjoy yourself without burning fuel.

Good luck, Art

 

[Alex F]

According to my documentation agent the USCG will accept any location. ...

I got the same answer when I contacted CG Documentation Department. As long as it's a valid US City and state you're good to go. If you're documenting your boat, the documentation should have the same HP as you'll place on the transom of the boat.

 

[CV-23]

Thanks guys....My current state registration numbers are from Ohio (where I bought the 270 last June) and I live in PA so I have to put on PA registration numbers this year. My wife thinks our home address "Cogan Station" is good. Williamsport is a larger town where we work and boat....only ten miles from CS. Some people do recognize it as the "Home of Little League Baseball".....not that it has anything to do with boating. Cogan Station reminds me of trains and stage coaches, Mike.

 

[tbirdvet]

I use the port that I sail from, not my home address.

 

[Moose]

If you're not documented, put where you live!

 

[tbirdvet]

If you're documented your hailing port has no bearing on where you live (or home address). These are two different entries on the documentation certificate.

 

[SCORPIO]

Did Ohio charge you sales tax on the purchase? If you paid any there, if it is less than PA 6% you will have to pay the difference when you title the boat in PA. Is Ohio a title state? I went thru this with PA when I purchased our boat in MD and took it to DE. PA wanted 6% of purchase price since I live in PA. I had to file a form stating the boat is kept, used and stored in DE and I had to provide documentation of my marina and winter storage contracts to back it up.
BTW I know where Cogan Sation is, have family living in the general area. My grandfather worked for Lycoming (aka "the motors") for thirty years in the experimental division.

 

[JimG]

I have a friend that put "Port of No Return" :smt038

I put the town where I live, not where I boat.

Frank's point is well taken... but we have 24/7 security at the marina.

 

[CV-23]

I did not pay the Ohio sales tax....PA was cheaper by 1%. Registering the trailer in PA was a pain....no titles in OH. I used the build title since it only had one owner and he signed it over to me notarized in OH. Some places would not accept it but the guy who did knew what he was doing to the T....it all worked out....Mike.

 

[SCORPIO]

Going from a non-title state to a title state can be a pain I know. Glad to know PA has one tax lower than its neighbors. Does PENNDOT issue titles or do they come from Fish and Boat?

 

[Jackie J V]

This doesn't apply to you Cv, but for interest and for anyone searching from Canada - the rules here require documented vessels (i.e., those registered by name versus registered by numbers) to include the name of the official port of registry. Logical choices in my area included Toronto or Midland, ON and I chose the latter.

Paul

 

[CV-23]

PENNDOT for the trailer registration & title & PA Boat & Fish Commission for the boat registration & title Scorpio. My temp registration ran out on the boat before I got the 2 year registration but the perm marker wore off so you couldn't read it anyway. I never got hassled having OH numbers on her.....I always wave to the Wave Police when I see them, Mike.

 

[Progress]

I always laughed when the small trawler next to me in the Charleston City Marina was documented with Ketchum Idaho as the home port.

Also Ohio registration does not require a title for documented boats hence no sales tax and there is no property tax on boats. Registration fee is about $100 for a 3 year decal.