USCG to Implement Fee to Renew Documented Vessels

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

Having just moved from California to Washington State, I've had an opportunity to compare the two taxation systems. VALIS is a federally documented boat.

Paul! I wasn't aware you'd left Sausalito. The yacht harbor won't be the same without you.

[Andy73]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Pretty modest fee actually, but the one issue I see is it will add a layer of difficulty for those out cruising in some part of the world without good communications. Even better would be automatic renewals each year charging your credit card or PayPal account.

Give permission to the Government to regularly & routinely charge my bank account a reoccurring fee.... ummm no thanks

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by Bash

Paul! I wasn't aware you'd left Sausalito. The yacht harbor won't be the same without you.

Yes, after last year's Pacific Cup. We sailed to Friday Harbor via Oahu. We've got a great house on San Juan Island. We've moved from one spectacular location to another. The sailing conditions aren't as good as the S.F. bay, but there are a lifetime's worth of great cruising destinations up here.

Sausalito was s special place, and we still visit friends and family back in the Bay area. I hope to get there to see some of the Americas Cup racing.

[gts1544]

Folks, While it may not technically be an online renewal, I did scan and e-mail my USCG form in this year as an e-mail attachment and received my documentation back in short order. George

[riggear]

Greetings,...I have a question regarding documentation.
I bought my boat in 2006 (3rd owner) she was already Documented, so I had everything transferred into my name and also changed name of vessel.(LOA = 34ft, 12 GRT)

I then brought the boat to Florida where I live and will be "dirt dwelling" for a few more years, so I had to Register it with the State of Florida and also pay sales taxes :-(
Last Year I re-Registered the old girl as an Antique Vessel, so now my State Registration Fees are only about $8.00/year

So, my question is, why do i even need to have it Documented anyways? What are the benefits???

Thanks for any input

[Boatguy30]

No doubt others will disagree, but there is no need. I have heard of some having issues on some Caribbean Islands with the FL rego. I personally have has no issue with state rego, but the RI one looks very official. The FL one not so much.

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by riggear

So, my question is, why do i even need to have it Documented anyways? What are the benefits???

Thanks for any input

You probably do not "need" to document it. There are some who point to arcane case law regarding federal rights having precedence over state or local rights. Some people think that a federally documented boat is more difficult to seize based on a mechanics lien. I am not a lawyer and do not play one on TV so I don't know if this line of thinking is right or not.

Probably the only time you "need" to document a boat is if a lender requires a lien to secure the loan. They will demand the USCG documentation so they can record the lien with the USCG.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by riggear

So, my question is, why do i even need to have it Documented anyways? What are the benefits???

Thanks for any input

none, unless you are going to go cruising out of the country or a bank requires it.

but currently it still is FREE!

[DeborahLee]

How about eliminating any state taxes and fees and go with the documentation. I wouldn't mind paying one tax but not two for the same thing. Does Florida collect a user tax if an RV is in their state over 90 days? What about a car?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by gts1544

Folks, While it may not technically be an online renewal, I did scan and e-mail my USCG form in this year as an e-mail attachment and received my documentation back in short order. George

Me too, easy.

Always found NVDC to be helpful and prompt.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by DeborahLee

How about eliminating any state taxes and fees and go with the documentation. I wouldn't mind paying one tax but not two for the same thing. Does Florida collect a user tax if an RV is in their state over 90 days? What about a car?

Used to be this way in some States, if the boat was Documented then it did not have be be State Registered ....then the States figured out they were missing out on revenue.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

No doubt others will disagree, but there is no need. I have heard of some having issues on some Caribbean Islands with the FL rego. I personally have has no issue with state rego, but the RI one looks very official. The FL one not so much.

I think this is why some have trouble w State registrations internartionally... Ive seen some State registrations that look like a cash register receipts...no surprise that officials might be skeptical of these. Also officials in cruising destinations recognize a USCG Documentation form...a State form maybe not.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Most (all?) countries will require a foreign boat to have some form of Boat Registration. It may well be that some foreign officialdom doesn't understand the difference between a State and a USCG (national) registration, and may well not care if the document looks "official".....not unless they discover a reason to care / are looking for a good reason to create a problem - in that case you may have given them a slam dunk on a plate.

The only country I have visited with no boat documentation is France - folks can "get away with" stuff, just not something that can be relied upon 100%. Each must decide own risk level and be prepared to suck up the consequences, ideally without whining!

[Me-and-Boo]

For those with a rebellious spirit, run for Congress (and win of course). The House sets the budget, not the White House, not the Senate, not DHS and especially the USCG. The CG is allocated so much money each year to do it's job. So much for training, so much for new cutters, so much for heating and cooling and (ta da) so much for maintaining the documented boat data base. If the congress is determined to not pay for what it wants accomplished, then somebody, like the users, will.

About those paper forms. I hate them. I even get them with the carbon paper (for you youngsters, carbon paper is a thin sheet of paper with a black substance on it to make images on the clean page behind it) still attached. With the advent of the modern laser or ink jet printer the stuff is being phased out. It is easy to write up a violation on a vessel and hand the master a copy out of the multi-page than to go ashore, print and then return.

Changing out computer systems is the hell of the IT world. It is not easy, there are many expensive failures to look at and cry over. You have to have some transfer from the old to the new, and it is not often possible. So old systems stay around. Congress authorizes computer system changes, and the current Congress would not authorize a new bed pan for their grandmother.

I do enjoy reading the anti-tax/fee/cost writings though.

[Sailormantx]

The term is " double dipping" , charging twice for the same service. Give them taxes, then give them fees. Uscg could save a considerable amount eliminating useless paperwork. There really is no reason for this annual paper chase, it should be valid until something changes, requiring a new document to be issued. I agree with what other people have said, having to get a new copy every year is the bigger issue than the cost.