ChesapeakeGem
Senior Member
Thank you !
Newbie question
What is a USGC documented ship ?
I live on the Mississippi and we don't document.
Advantages and disadvantages ?
I'm trying to learn on this stuff
The letter I got was from uscgdocumentation.us. Thinking that these guys might be authorized agents, I took the letter to the local USCG office, who said it was a scam.
It may be worth paying a service for your original documentation. It's certainly not for renewal. They send you a letter, you sign it and send it back with the fee (now $26, it used to be free).
Newbie question
What is a USGC documented ship ?
I live on the Mississippi and we don't document.
Advantages and disadvantages ?
I'm trying to learn on this stuff
Mine is 24ft. 10in. and is in the process of being documented right now. To answer the question of why to get a boat documented, I did it so I wouldn't have to put up with all the different state laws on registion. We plan to use of boat in many different states, leave it stored between trips in some of these states, and don't want the state saying we have to register it there because it is there more than 90 days.
...I did it so I wouldn't have to put up with all the different state laws on registion...
Most states I've heard of still want their registration fee and/or excise tax revenue, even if you're federally documented.
The only federal requirement is that the state can't force you to put registration numbers on the forward half of the hull. In fact, you're prohibited from putting any numbers there if the boat is federally documented.
Also you must have a heavy boat..I thought 5 net Tons was the minimum for documentation but I'm not sure it's enforced.
https://www.uscgboating.org/images/420.PDF
I just realized after reading this thread that I've never gotten a renewal for my documentation. I know (or thought) the boat was documented because the lender required it.
Interesting...