Never ending to-do list

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by knockabout

in queensland we don't have to register our tender but it has to stay within 2 kilometres of the boat

It also must be marked "tender to ........"
Plus it can't be fished from and you can't use crab pots from it

[Jim Cate]

Re to-do lists:

They get long on the bottom faster than they get short from the top.

Jim

PS I remember reading an article by Webb Chiles in which he was cruising in his (IIRC) Rival 36. One night, awake in his bunk he realized that his to do list was complete... a novel experience for him (and most others)

The next day the boat, for no apparent reason, sank.

BEWARE!

[Captain Bill]

Now that we've established you're in FL, did you register the big boat with the state? Fl requires that federally documented boats be registered with the state. You will not get numbers to put on the hull but you will get a nice little sticker which must be affixed to the port side. Also, the USCG allows states to determine if dinghy's need to be registered on Documented boats. Sorry but you lose, Fl requires the dinghy to be registered and titled.

I almost forgot...did you pay your FL sales tax on both boats? If not it will be collected when you register them.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

... I remember reading an article by Webb Chiles in which he was cruising in his (IIRC) Rival 36. One night, awake in his bunk he realized that his to do list was complete... a novel experience for him (and most others)

The next day the boat, for no apparent reason, sank.

BEWARE!

I am both perversly amused, and deeply disturbed.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I am both perversly amused, and deeply disturbed.

Mike, I'd be disturbed too, were it not for the fact that I am in no danger of the list being finished!

Jim

[senormechanico]

An experienced lady cruiser friend of mine once uttered a very sagacious statement:

"A yacht is not a yacht unless there are at least three things wrong with it."

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

Now that we've established you're in FL, did you register the big boat with the state? Fl requires that federally documented boats be registered with the state. You will not get numbers to put on the hull but you will get a nice little sticker which must be affixed to the port side. Also, the USCG allows states to determine if dinghy's need to be registered on Documented boats. Sorry but you lose, Fl requires the dinghy to be registered and titled.

I almost forgot...did you pay your FL sales tax on both boats? If not it will be collected when you register them.

It's been long enough since the start that I don't recall if this is a new purchase or an import.

Either way, there are legal ways to avoid paying state tax, if your use fits. And, as well, as a documented boat, never (ostensibly, at least; the reality is the majority of the time in FL) in one place very long, we have no state registration for either the BAB (big assed boat) or dink, and have never been boarded or challenged, on either subject, despite having anchored many times right out front of the USCG station in Ft. Pierce, including times that they were pulling over boats on two different days that we observed firsthand. That we are LBO folks MAY have something to do with it, but the new reporting system may make that of less use for avoidance

For ourselves, the boat remained in FL for nearly 3 years after our purchase before we headed out and promptly wrecked it, put it into another yard for emergency/make-do repairs, and sailed her back to the original yard where we finished rehabbing (and, as always, adding stuff to the project list). We then left FL for well over the required 6 months, but have been back many times, and spend the majority of our non-cruising time in the state.

As a generality, if you buy the boat in FL, you can get a temporary cruising permit of 90 days, after which you need to leave the state for at least 6 months before returning, to escape the sales tax. If you bought it elsewhere, and have cruised it for at least 6 months outside the state, you can bring it in without being taxed. And, as was our case, if you're not going cruising right away, you can put it in a "registered repair facility" after doing the requisite (not much, nor difficult) paperwork, and keep it there until you die, if you like. When you're finished with whatever it was that you wanted done to it (we took almost 3 years), you do the same as with the temporary cruising permit; you leave the state (in this case within 20 days of leaving the RRF), and provide proof to the tax guys that you have done so (a copy of an out-of-state fuel receipt, e.g.), and you're done with FL revenue folks. They have the same deal for airplanes and RVs; they want you to stay and spend money (all raising tax revenues, of course, and otherwise contributing to the economy) until you're ready to leave.

I had the good fortune to be in direct, telephone and email, contact with both the enforcement guy and the consumer advocate; the latter had been a boater, but has since died, and the former has since retired. But I found the state easy to work with and pragmatic. I'm sorry that I don't have direct references to send you to in the event that your situation could take advantage of avoiding (vs evading!!) state taxes. But as to registration, it's also possible you'll not have to do that...

L8R

Skip

[Seas The Moment]

One of the technical ways of not registering your dinghy: if your dinghy is your cruiser's lifeboat, it is part of the CG registration.

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by CarlF

To stay with the spirit of your post, just the dinghy is an endless to-do list.

Yes, if it has an outboard you should register it. Water cops will look for the number on the bow and ask to see the registration if they stop you. At least everywhere on the East Coast.

But once you have your nifty new registration number, you will come to the real problem - how to put the registration numbers on your inflatable dinghy.

A quick search of this forum will show that this is a much bigger controversy than you would have guessed. Perhaps not as big as which anchor to use - but right up there.

Welcome!

Dinghy management and the art of anchoring are the two hardest things to really learn for new sailing cruisers.
They are also most important

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I am both perversly amused, and deeply disturbed.

I thought Webb Chiles- in one of his books-said he jumped overboard to kill himself off Ft Lauderdale- then changed his mind and floated and swam up to St Augustine where he was rescued by a fishing boat. LOL

[Captain Randy]

you have to register a dinghy on the west coast also if it has a motor.

[stormalong]

Originally Posted by Captain Randy

you have to register a dinghy on the west coast also if it has a motor.

Not so in Washington state. I don't recall the exact wording, if you do not visit national parks land on your motorized dink you do not need registration.

[buzzstar]

Come on. Is it not apparent that in the US alone there are over 51 possibilities. That is 50 states +1 federal government, without even adding Washington, D.C. and various territories such as Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. Should I mention the Northern Marianas before starting on the 200+ countries of the world and their additional territories and subdivisions. What is the law where the big boat is registered? Is it safe to believe that authorities in other places will be cool if you are in compliance with the laws of that place, and assume the dink is also in compliance? Probably not, but the other choice seems to be to register the dinghy too and cross your fingers.

[Dapper Dan]

Originally Posted by stormalong

Not so in Washington state. I don't recall the exact wording, if you do not visit national parks land on your motorized dink you do not need registration.

This is correct if your dinghy/motor are below the size limits for Washington State.

Exempt vessels

Vessels less than 16 feet long with a motor of 10 horsepower or less, if used on non-federal waters only.

Tenders 10 HP or less used for direct transportation between a registered vessel and the shore and for no other purpose. The tender must display the number of the registered vessel followed by the suffix "1".



The full list of exempt vessels for Washington State can be found at the link below.

WA State Licensing (DOL) Official Site: Register a boat in Washington state