Registration sticker

[KEVMAR]

Here in nc even though my boat is documented we also have to register with the state and get numbers and a sticker ... My question is do I have to display the numbers on the bow and the date sticker ?? Or can I just display the date sticker lets say on the two front side windows , on my 1983 36 albin thanks
Kevin g
New bern nc

 

[kthoennes]

Here in SD I have to display the state reg stickers on each side of the bow, which in most states are square stickers about the size of a playing card that show the year, but no numbers. In fact, that's one of the reasons I still federally document the boat, I really don't like the look of state reg numbers on the bow. Silly reason I know. The fact that I don't have to display big state registration numbers is included in the federal doc regulations, not state, so it should be nationwide.

 

[psneeld]

Forward and be abke to be seen. Numbers not required.

Bow is common but not usually absolute.

On an Albin with that much bow flare, definitely windows....that's where mine are.

 

[jleonard]

In Ct I only have to display the "date" sticker and I have it on the hull just aft of the flare.

 

[kartracer]

In Louisiana anywhere on the front half of the boat. I have mine on the side of fly bridge

 

[rwidman]

MY suggestion is to contact your state's DNR or whoever you go to to register the boat and ask them. That way you will know that you got an accurate answer for your situation.

 

[denverd0n]

If the vessel is USCG documented then you specifically must NOT display state numbers, though you can (and in many states must) display the registration decal.

https://www.boatus.com/boatgraphics/uscg-requirements.asp

 

[caltexflanc]

In NC, no numbers, just sticker per the instructions with the registration.

 

[sbu22]

A few years ago (2011-2012) I went through the exercise of having detailed discussions with both Louisiana Fish & Wildlife and the local Marine Safety Office on this subject. The instructions I got were as follows: Due to a change in state law, I now needed to register the boat with the state; but, due to a conflict between the state requirement to display the registration and the USCG prohibition against same, I could not meet the state display reqs - the bureaucratic answer was to state register the boat, then hide the state registration decal/# from exterior view. So, my state registration decal resides in the binder that contains the USCG cert, insurance papers, etc.

I suggested, in a conference call with both parties, that LDNR and COTP New Orleans and/or the District dog issue a letter/instruction that would memorialize that understanding and assist boater compliance. They suggested I could hang up now.

 

[KEVMAR]

thanks for all the suggestions I think I am going to attached the decals to each side of the forward side windows.

 

[kthoennes]

MY suggestion is to contact your state's DNR or whoever you go to to register the boat and ask them. That way you will know that you got an accurate answer for your situation.

Normally I'd agree with that advice, but depending on what state you're in, local officers may have no idea how federal doc regulations work. Last season I had to explain what federal boat documentation is and give him a printout on it. NC shouldn't be an issue with that though, borders the ocean and all.

 

[CaptTom]

...the bureaucratic answer was to state register the boat, then hide the state registration decal/# from exterior view.

That's only partly correct.

They CAN require you to "register" with the state. That's a pretty generic term that typically is interpreted to mean "pay".

They CAN require you to plainly display a sticker which proves you paid (er, "registered".)

They can NOT require you to display registration numbers if your boat is federally documented. In fact, registration numbers are prohibited by federal law.

Smart move asking for this to be put in writing. Hopefully someone with a little more knowledge will get involved.

 

[Marlinmike]

In NY you are required to register for state registration, they use your documentation number as your registration numbers, but you only need to place the sticker on the vessel that is easily visible near bow.

 

[BandB]

North Carolina

U.S. Coast Guard Documented Vessels must display the decals on the forward half of the starboard and port side bow.

This information is available on the web site of every state's registration department. Also, comes with the registration number. It's not a question for public opinion but simply to follow the state rules.

So, no, attaching to the forward windows is not acceptable in NC. They are to be located in the general area in which the numbers would be if required. Forward half of the bow. There are drawings on the NC site.

http://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Boating/documents/AffixVesselNumbersDecal.pdf

 

[psneeld]

Better a visible place somewhere near the bow than obscured due to bow flair.

In all my time around the water and maritime law enforcdment.....as long as the stickers are permanently attached in a clearly visible place....I have never heard of someone being hasseled.

 

[sbu22]

"This information is available on the web site of every state's registration department."

Actually, it isn't. Maybe true in NC.

 

[BandB]

"This information is available on the web site of every state's registration department."

Actually, it isn't. Maybe true in NC.

This information is available on the web site of most states' registration departments.

I forgot about Louisiana...lol. No, I'm sure there are other exceptions.

 

[caltexflanc]

Personally, I can only speak to North Carolina, where I went through this with my boat. They make it pretty clear.

 

[Steve]

Louisiana,
On Gumbo, documented, the small state "date sticker" is affixed to the fwd side window, each side.
Per Code Napoleon!

 

[kthoennes]

"This information is available on the web site of every state's registration department."

Actually, it isn't. Maybe true in NC.

It's not true in South Dakota either, even though the Missouri River is a lot more than a trickle. On the other hand, North Dakota waives state registration entirely for fed documented boats so that's nice of them to be so enlightened and reasonable (and less money-hungry). I'll bet unless salt water, a Great Lake, or maybe some part of the Mississippi touches your state, you may not find a clear or easy reference to state registration requirements for federally documented boats.

Often takes some homework anyway. I preferred to do the homework when we bought Xanadu because I'm a gov't bureaucrat anyway, it was documented when we bought it, I don't like state reg numbers cluttering my bow, and my boat may be the only federally documented vessel in the entire 400-slip marina. In other words, if you're walking the docks in Yankton, SD and you sniff the air, my boat smells the most nautical of them all. Maritime cache'. It spent most of its life in the waters of the Atlantic and to the Atlantic someday it shall return, from its current exile in a benign, pretty, but sedate freshwater bathtub. Someday it will shake off the slow, big-lipped river carp, I'll change the zincs back from magnesium to zinc and sail through a cloud of whale-fluke spray again, pounding through the waves off Pt. Judith and I'll blast the horn coming into Newport again.

Signed,

Thurston Howell III