Canadian buying US boat

[Salty Dawg]

Canadian buying a boat in the USA and returning via water over a 6-12 month period. Boat will have to be de-listed from it's current USCG Documentation status upon sale. Going forward and until the boat enters Canada where/how should the boat be registered/licensed during the transfer period? Anyone been in this situation? Any other issues one should be aware of?

[kcchampion]

first the Mexicans where taken our jobs and now you Canadians coming down here taking our boats .... LOL

[St. Elsewhere]

I think that it may depend on where the boat will be in between. In the US each state has varying laws regarding registration, taxation, and enforcement policies.

[Syrah]

We just went through this process of being in "limbo" though only for a few weeks... not 6 months! During the sale the boat was de-listed from the US then, a couple of weeks later, we sailed from Seattle to Victoria and cleared Customs. We then paid the Duty and Taxes (choke), then a week later we sailed home to Nanaimo.

After deciding to Register our boat (instead of licensing) we went to Transport Canada in Nanaimo and had to provide them with a tonnage measurement form (available from Transport Canada), the Bill of Sale, and Duty & Taxes receipt before we could complete the paperwork.

No problems were encountered while being in "limbo" except that we found it odd (no offense) as Canadians owning our boat and sailing from Victoria to Nanaimo with the US flag flying! One final note... just make sure you have insurance from the day the sale is completed!!!

[Olorin]

You can get it registered immediately in the Canadian Ship Registry. It doesn't have to be in Canada it just has to be measured by a person qualified in the Canadian measurement process.

We bought a USCG registered boat in the Bahamas. We had a sister ship in Ft. Lauderdale measured and that information was used, with approval, for our registration.

[olepedersen]

There is now a simple do it yourself formula for tonnage measuring available from transport Canada ,that is what we used did not cost a penny
Ole

[GordMay]

Standard for the Tonnage Measurement of Vessels - TP 13430 E
➥ Standard for the Tonnage Measurement of Vessels - TP 13430 E - Transport Canada

including

Tonnage Measurement of Vessels Less than 24 Metres in Length
➥ Part 3 - Tonnage Measurement of Vessels Less than 24 Metres in Length - Transport Canada

[bobofthenorth]

We just finished up exactly this process within the last week, coincidently coming from Seattle to Sidney as well. The only substantive advice I can add to what has been said already is to get your ROC (personal radio license) ahead of time. We didn't and we didn't get caught but we should have attended to that detail ahead of time. You can't get a station license for the boat until you get it registered so we couldn't do anything about that but we could have been licensed to operate the radio before we picked up the boat.

We used the simplified tonnage measurement - I had the form completed when I handed it to the woman at Ship's Registry in Victoria and I doubt anyone has looked at it again past the cursory examination she gave it. Most of that process is steeped in tradition and lacking in usefulness. We got our station license last week - that is clearly just a tax grab - they have the process streamlined to the point that you print your license online and pay for the renewals online so it just becomes a revenue stream for Industry Canada.

We didn't have an original copy of the certificate of deletion from the US Registry when we showed up at Ship's Registry but we should have had it. The girls at Ship's Registry ultimately obtained a certified copy from the transfer agent in Anacortes but it would have been simpler if we had the original certificate with us.