How many have documented vessels

Haha I do loath bumper stickers. Never had one.

But I hardly have any problem w official boat stickers.

Gotta say the “we are documented” is incorrect. It’s the boat that documented.
As in “our boat is documented”. Maybe that’s connected to the home port on some peoples boats being their place of residence. Just a thought.

markpierce said:

Certainly, a boat not US-documented but rather a state-registered boat, does not qualify as a yacht.

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Mark that would be more likely a qualification for commercial rather than yacht.

I was amazed when I documented my boat it came back as 7 Net Tons. It is a 24' 10 trailer boat. yes it does have a nice cabin and a fair amount of free-board.

Steve Jackson said:

I was amazed when I documented my boat it came back as 7 Net Tons. It is a 24' 10 trailer boat. yes it does have a nice cabin and a fair amount of free-board.

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Registered Tonnage v actual tonnage is a Whole Other Issue.
In the old days, when the Registry system was being thought through, finding out how many tons of coal a vessel would carry was important. A system of measurement was devised that did only that. It had no relevance to actual tonnage then, and (at least in Canada) has never changed. So my boat that has been accurately weighed on a Travellift at 22 tons, is Registered at 19 Tons. A difference will almost always exist, often far greater than the difference on my own boat.

Yes, my single cqr anchor is documented

Donna said:

Documented. I’m not surprised at the poll results.

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Then I should have consulted you before I gave my estimate of expectations as I'm definitely surprised at how overwhelming it is.

I thought that since most here don't have mortgages and don't travel internationally, we'd have far more just registered in the state.

But that's why I did the poll, to learn, and it's been very informative.

Nomad Willy said:

I was wondering who would post this. I wanted to but was criticized for repeating myself. Re that that’s about all we do here and most of the time repeating is egged on by the previous post.

This is a good point here and much like who has all chain rode. Here it may have produced different results if the poll had asked “how many here have state registered boats”? But in any case there are probably more doc boats than I had thought. I did notice that a lot of members not only voted but proudly proclaimed that they were documented. Could have just voted. Some to many certainly did. But Sabre’s point that this poll isn’t very accurate is valid however I’m going to accept as fact that there are a lot of documented boats here. But as Sabre points out the majority are probably state registered. Too bad we didn’t have to claim what kind of reg we had joining TF and then perhaps it would be in our profile and a simple tally could be performed.

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We all have state registered boats. That's not an issue. Some have our documented boats also registered. Some have non documented boats state registered. And nearly everyone here has a dinghy or smaller boat of some sort that can't be documented. We have 8 or so state registered, non documented boats. Most built out of Hypalon. Could toss in some kayaks too and perhaps even paddleboards. The majority of primary trawler type boats owned by members here though are clearly documented. A surprise but not now an arguable fact.

BandB said:

We all have state registered boats. That's not an issue. Some have our documented boats also registered. Some have non documented boats state registered. And nearly everyone here has a dinghy or smaller boat of some sort that can't be documented. We have 8 or so state registered, non documented boats. Most built out of Hypalon. Could toss in some kayaks too and perhaps even paddleboards. The majority of primary trawler type boats owned by members here though are clearly documented. A surprise but not now an arguable fact.

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A boat that you designate as the "lifeboat" to your Registered Vessel has an exemption (Canada again), as do all of your engineless Kayaks, SUPs, rowboats, etc. So those smaller vessels simply don't count unless they carry 10 hp or more.

Many Registered Vessels carry one or more "lifeboats" that are Provincially Licensed, though that is not required. If used as a lifeboat, it is proper to wear the designation "Tender to" and the Registered name.

Yes, documented.

BandB said:

Then I should have consulted you before I gave my estimate of expectations as I'm definitely surprised at how overwhelming it is.

I thought that since most here don't have mortgages and don't travel internationally, we'd have far more just registered in the state.

But that's why I did the poll, to learn, and it's been very informative.

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My boat was documented from the original owner and second owner. I kept it documented as I do like to travel internationally. It’s only 26.00 a year to keep it documented. I see no reason to do it any other way. I keep with the rules, have no mortgage on it, and for some reason, gives me peace of mind.

ASD is documented. As such, the State of Alaska does not require me to register it.

As I said earlier my boat is currently documented but I am not sure why. So far the facts seem to be $26/yr vs no numbers on the bow. Neither are a big deal to me. Do we have any other real facts to why or why not?

If you were to look at all boats in the United States with 10hp or more you will find that the vast majority live on trailers and are not documented but what does that mean.

No stickers on my boat, none on my cars (except the harbor parking pass inside the windshield). I do enjoy not having to replace my State registration sticker every other year, I don't believe there is any cost difference between registration and documentation. I kind of think the state probably gets the money for it anyway...

It was part of the purchasing process for my vessel, as it had never been registered anywhere in any way since it was built (boatyard stored). The Certificate of Origin was lost, which created real issues for getting documentation. The good news was that Willard was still in business and was able to certify the vessel was built by them and when.

tiltrider1 said:

If you were to look at all boats in the United States with 10hp or more you will find that the vast majority live on trailers and are not documented but what does that mean.

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It means they're under 5 tons displacement and not eligible for documentation anyway.

Nomad Willy said:

Gotta say the “we are documented” is incorrect. It’s the boat that documented.

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Actually Eric I think we may also be documented since we both have NEXUS cards and are assigned BR numbers from CBP.

No lien holders, and we don't travel internationally with the boat.

I'll elaborate on one often overlooked advantage of documentation.

Every state handles boats differently. Some Title, some don't. Some are easy to register in and some difficult. Boat theft rates are rather high in some areas, especially those near state lines it seems, just as car thefts are. Chattanooga was long known as the chop shop capital of the country. Why? Four states right there and at that time Alabama was the easiest state around to register and title a car. The shops were located primarily right at the border with Alabama.

When I was very young, I think NC didn't title boats and SC didn't title boat trailers or something like that. Regardless, Charlotte and Lake Norman were high volume areas for sales of stolen boats. There were constantly deals that were too good to be true. Stolen boats. Even now, easy in most states to register and title a stolen boat. Just need a bill of sale and if you're willing to steal a boat, certainly you have no hesitancy toward falsifying a bill of sale and claiming lost title. In our area, you registered and titled boats at Food Lion grocery store. Only recently have states even begun sharing information to be able to check hull id's. Basically, I can create some documents, go to the grocery store, and get a title and registration.

A vessel documentation is just far more trustworthy than a state registration. We have 50 states, all with different rules and many without good controls. On a documented vessel it traces all the way through, starting with a Certificate of Origin and original Bill of Sale.

Bob Cofer said:

Actually Eric I think we may also be documented since we both have NEXUS cards and are assigned BR numbers from CBP.

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Well then there matey deal me in.
We are almost certain to do that very soon.
Plan on spending quite a bit of time north of the border in 2018.

Seeadler is.

BandB,
Never had a trailer or a boat stolen. Count me lucky probably.
But your point about security is well made.

Nomad Willy said:

BandB,
Never had a trailer or a boat stolen. Count me lucky probably.
But your point about security is well made.

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Haven't either, but sure was a lot of activity in them in our area in NC when I was young. Also, a rash of boats stolen from dealers and a couple out of yards. You think of a trailered boat how easy it is just to hook up and drive off with it. Do so at 9:00 at night from a business and you can have it two states away by the time it's detected. Do it at 9:00 AM from a home and you have it two states away by the time they get back home.

Craigslist has made it easier to sell them to.

Excellent points BandB,
And I have thought of it before this thread.

We bought a small motor home and plan to pull several boats here and there including Vancouver Is. We will surely want to drop the boat and trailer at times and that may include considerable time left unattended.
I want to stay in the “never happened to me catergory”.

Nomad Willy said:

Excellent points BandB,
And I have thought of it before this thread.

We bought a small motor home and plan to pull several boats here and there including Vancouver Is. We will surely want to drop the boat and trailer at times and that may include considerable time left unattended.
I want to stay in the “never happened to me catergory”.

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I'd definitely get coupler locks for the trailers. Things like this seem to run in streaks. Had three dealerships all have boats stolen on the lake in less than a week's time. Then had a rash of thefts from homes. They also found any areas on the lake where homes were used only seasonally with no full time residents and wiped them out. Emptied them like they were a moving company. Homeowners would go to the police and when asked when they were robbed, "Sometime between November 1 and April 1". Not much success in catching when it's a 4 or 5 month old robbery. Just like at marinas, having a nosy neighbor who lives there full time can be a big plus. I was always amazed that more boats in the water weren't stolen. I guess because there were no thieves with trailers.

All of my larger boats have been documented. Helps with financing and insurance and no need for registration numbers on the bow. Even without a loan, I’d still have it documented.

National registration here is quite prescriptive about the boat's markings. It includes boat name on each side of the bow, with plain block font of minimum size. The 'official number' is marked internally only.

The mandatory State registration is a letter/number combination. For planing vessels it must be at least 6" lettering on both sides of the hull. For non-planing boats it is a minimum of 3" high, and can be on both sides of the hull or stern only. The distinction between planing and non-planing boats is fairly recent, and initially I had 6" lettering on the bow. It annoyed me, but mostly because it was a DIY lettering job using individual letters, and one side in particular was poorly done. So I cleaned them off, and had a shop make up the smaller lettering for the stern. At about the same time the national names came off the bow as well. If anyone complains, or if I leave he country, then I'll replace them!

Sabre602 said:

Now, I really don't want to offend you, but this is utterly ridiculous. Perhaps you had your tongue firmly in cheek. Let's hope so.

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What happened to your sense of humor/jest?

Mine is documented. I kept it documented. Hope to go foreign one day. I believe it needs to be to go to some countries.

makobuilders said:

Are your grandkids all over 18 years old or are they minors - and if so did that factor into things?

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Minors. Under five. I was appointed manager of the LLC which title goes to my daughter upon my demise. There is a strange law for US permanent residents that upon their death half of their estate is taken by the IRS. So I have disposed of all and any of my wealth and live like a pauper on the company boat.

McGillicuddy said:

There is a strange law for US permanent residents that upon their death half of their estate is taken by the IRS. .

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So you were advised you'd be considered a non-US domiciliary for estate tax purposes and only get the $60k exemption vs the roughly $5.5 million exemption? Yes, tax rate is 40%.

Great Laker is documented and registered in MI. No need for state numbers on the hull. Dinghy is registered in MI with numbers.

Documentation is a common recommendation for boaters doing the Great Loop and going to the Bahamas or Canada.