Cost to Document a sailboat (using a documentation agent)

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by SV Bacchus

Yep, agree with you and would say it is high but that is where they are padding (my guess anyway) for their fees.

Heck, everyone knows a business doesn't stay in business working for free. Why don't they just say "CG fee is $XXX dollars and our fees for providing service are $XXX dollars"?

[ur2slo]

FYI...

Did mine 3 yr's ago with title agent & boat in US........$375.00

Did COD changes this year, $65.00 if I remember right and mailed in in after filling in myself via snail mail.

It did take a while, 4 months, & 2 phone calls just to satisfy my apprehension!

All worked fine..............

[SoundWave]

We got a doc agent in Florida for a purchase last summer. $775

Glad we did, as the transaction involved a Russian seller, living in Canada, selling a boat in the US. Peace of mind as far as title/ownership chain. USCG documentation was smooth.

[smj]

For a simple sale of a documented vessel in the US the forms are simple and the CG fees may run a hair over $100 if you do an abstract of title. For anything else use your best judgement.

[jrau18]

Originally Posted by mrybas

This agent is based in the US. Do you know if it possible for me to do the documentation myself while I'm in Panama?

If you are registering it in the US, the documentation process is outlined on the uscg website. You do not need to have the boat physically in the United States to do this.

You do need a mailing address for them to send the documentation to when completed.

The process is very easy, but there is a very long waiting period, they're constantly months or even nearly a year behind on paperwork.

[Suijin]

The cost direct through the USCG to document a new (never before documented) vessel is $133, plus some nominal amounts for any associated paper you need.

Here are the instructions:

https://www.uscg.mil/nvdc/instr/inst%20initial.pdf

And here is the USCG Documentation site:

https://www.uscg.mil/nvdc/default.asp

It's possible but unlikely that an agent can expedite it.

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by mrybas

I'm buying a catamaran that is located in Panama that is BVI flagged/registered. We are using the same the same documentation agent that the seller used when he bout the boat two years ago. The price I was quoted for the agents service:

'I anticipate buyer expenses to be $175.00 lien search, $610.00 documentation with USCG and $125.00 courier fees (plus $150.000 escrow).'

Is this typical or am I getting ripped off?

RRRRRIPPP!

[jmschmidt]

Abstract of title for a US documented boat is available online for $75, up from $25 a few years ago. Interesting that a US annual renewal was free until last year, now it’s $25 dollars. The National Maritime Center used to answer phones with a very helpful live body within three rings. Now they don’t answer at all, they just direct you to their website which doesn’t help much, especially with documentation. What do you supposed they do with all that money that they didn’t have before last year?
If you can get an accurate and prompt lien search out of the BVI government for $175 that sound reasonable.
As for documentation costs I doing a simple one now on a US flagged boat…total fees $92. Sounds like you have a deflag/reflag situation. I did one a few years ago, very messy since seller gave incomplete docs. We went through a doc agent…about $400 then.
Defelsent is probably right about an apostille.
If you are paying the US agent $610 to round up all the BVI or other foreign docs that price sounds reasonable. If they only handle the USCG end, like I said, the USCG fee only should be less than $100 plus the agents charge.
Vessel Registration at the USCG is very slow now. I submitted one which they received on Sep. 11th and they haven’t even started to process it as of yesterday. I have noticed that Preferred Ship Mortgages that were filled nearly a year ago have not started processing yet. This makes me wonder if this slow service effects the boat financing industry. They probably pay for expedited service.

[JeanneP]

I think you're missing the fact that the boat is presently documented in the BVIs. It's not a simple US to US transfer of documentation. So, first the boat has to be released from the BVI registration before it can be documented in the US. Who is doing that? Then, of course, as has been pointed out, the documentation service doesn't work for free.

We used to renew our documentation ourselves, but both our boats were initially documented through an agent. You might want to do that to be sure that it's a clean title and that the service is bonded should there be any mistakes in the titling.
Murphy's Law always rears its head whenever you think everything is going smoothly.

Fair winds
J

[smj]

Finding a company that's bonded may be a good idea, and I've also heard it's possible to get a title policy on a boat. A clear CG abstract of title doesn't guarantee a clear title, that I know for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[zeehag]

dona jenkins charged me 270 usd complete. both the boats i had. she does good work and internationally reputable.
they also do online services--try them. good luck

http://www.donajenkins.com/main.html

[jmschmidt]

Dear JeanneP,

I received the following response from you which also directly followed in the message string in which my initial response to mrybas appeared. You said....

“Dear jmschmidt,

JeanneP has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to……

"I think you're missing the fact that the boat is presently documented in the BVIs. It's not a simple US to US transfer of documentation. So, first the boat has to be released from the BVI registration before it can be documented in the US. Who is doing that? Then, of course, as has been pointed out, the documentation service doesn't work for free".

I trust that you did not intend to insult me with your catty response since I clearly stated in my response to mrybas, (the initiator of the string) that that I fully understood he was interested in a foreign (BVI) vessel.

This forum is flawed or improperly used in that people who just respond to a previous or last message in a string don’t realize or don’t care that their response goes directly to the person who posted that previous message. JeanneP was most likely trying to insult someone else but it was emailed directly to me (and maybe others) who were fully aware that mrybas’ inquiry was regarding a foreign documented or registered vessel.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

Dear JeanneP,

I received the following response from you which also directly followed in the message string in which my initial response to mrybas appeared. You said....

“Dear jmschmidt,

JeanneP has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to……

"I think you're missing the fact that the boat is presently documented in the BVIs. It's not a simple US to US transfer of documentation. So, first the boat has to be released from the BVI registration before it can be documented in the US. Who is doing that? Then, of course, as has been pointed out, the documentation service doesn't work for free".

I trust that you did not intend to insult me with your catty response since I clearly stated in my response to mrybas, (the initiator of the string) that that I fully understood he was interested in a foreign (BVI) vessel.

This forum is flawed or improperly used in that people who just respond to a previous or last message in a string don’t realize or don’t care that their response goes directly to the person who posted that previous message. JeanneP was most likely trying to insult someone else but it was emailed directly to me (and maybe others) who were fully aware that mrybas’ inquiry was regarding a foreign documented or registered vessel.

Just turn email notification of thread responses off in settings.

[AZUS]

I'd recommend Jan Painter at All Yacht Registries, boat registration, vessel register USA. She did my cat quickly, efficiently and inexpensively. Knows all of the ins and outs. Well worth the (minimal) costs, since she also acted as escrow agent.

[sailing 531]

In Australia they charge $au 1550. That's a lot more.