Best Place to License a Boat

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by Midwesterner

I hope to be in the market to purchase a boat within the next year and a half. I will continue to live landlocked in the Midwest until full retirement but my upcoming partial retirement will allow me to have summers free and I hope to spend much of that time on my boat.

I have the flexibility to look at basing the boat just about anywhere. I'm curious to know the cheapest parts of the country on any coasts, Atlantic, Pacific or Gulf, and States that have the cheapest licensing and registration costs.

Thanks

Midwesterner,

If I were in your shoes [and I have been in the past...] I would be thinking more along the lines of where I want to go boating- especially since you will have summers free...

I'm a bit partial to Alaska myself, and southeast Alaska [think Ketchikan, Wrangell, Juneau, etc.] is very boat friendly. [No state sales tax, no property tax on boats in Wrangell, and I believe in any southeast communities I am aware of- but do check if other communities are of interest...]

The commute via commercial jet is cheap and easy- especially if you are making one round-trip each year...

We keep a permanent 50ft slip in Wrangell and pay less than $2k/yr including caretaker fees when we are gone. [Electricity is cheap too...]

And the boating? Well, it's horrible... In truth, boating year-round in the southern part of SE Alaska is pretty wonderful, and the summers are amazing...

Just another perspective I don't often hear mentioned- likely for good reason! It certainly isn't for everyone... thankfully...

And with regards to licensing: I suspect you may be getting a boat that can be or already has been Federally Documented-which in many states [Alaska included, but not all...] exempts you from local licensing... Alaska will want you to register a motorized dinghy... a real budget breaker... Any boat requiring Alaskan registration costs $24 every 3 years...

I hope this perspective is enlightening and that you enjoy your journey.

Cheers!

-Bill

[tdoster]

Originally Posted by Midwesterner

I hope to be in the market to purchase a boat within the next year and a half. I will continue to live landlocked in the Midwest until full retirement but my upcoming partial retirement will allow me to have summers free and I hope to spend much of that time on my boat.

I have the flexibility to look at basing the boat just about anywhere. I'm curious to know the cheapest parts of the country on any coasts, Atlantic, Pacific or Gulf, and States that have the cheapest licensing and registration costs.

Thanks

Some of the places that have no sales tax are utterly expensive to keep a boat in a marina. If you are going to look at the costs, you really need to weigh them all as the difference between $16 per foot and $6 per month dock fees will quickly eat into any savings you may have had on finding a place to avoid sales tax and registration fees.

Also, look at the cost of living from one place to the next. Gulf States will have a lower cost of living with food and gas, but may charge sales tax on the boat. Insurance can differ vastly from one place to the next as well. Then there is the quality of life and other expenses.

Corpus Christie, TX is a good place to start. You do have sales tax, but that can be made up in a short time with low cost of living, great sailing weather, good floating available inexpensive docks, fewer hurricanes historically, public transportation and the airport is close to town.

Weigh where you want to be against how much you want to spend, how long you plan to be there and where you plan to go from there.

[jackheape]

I suggest you berth the boat in NC and document it with the USCG. In NC, the registration rate for a CG documented boat is $55 per year, or $155 for 3 years. You have to register it if you are going to leave it there for more than 90 consecutive days. You also have to pay property tax if the boat is there after 1/31 each year, meaning if you did not have the boat there on 1/31/2016 you would owe taxes on it until 1/31/2017. The tax rates are pretty low, I would say averaging around $.40 per hundred of value.
The other reasons I suggest NC are; 1. Slips are cheap. You can get a nice slip with amenities for less than $200 a month, 2. In NC you can be berthed right on good sailing waters, the sounds or rivers, and in 2 days you can go either north or south and be on the ocean if you want (Norfolk or Morehead City), and 3. NC is easily reached via air. You fly into Raleigh-Durham and catch the shuttle to wherever you are. For instance Washington, NC which is on the Pamlico River is about a 2 hour shuttle ride.
South Carolina is probably a little cheaper in regards to sales and property taxes, but slip fees are much higher.
Check out State Boating Information Home - Government Affairs - BoatUS which has info on every state.

[Hud3]

Be careful of advice on taxes and fees. Some of what I've read here is misleading and over-simplified. For example, there is no state personal property tax on boats in Virginia. It's the individual municipalities and counties that levy personal property taxes on boats, and the rates vary from essentially zero (in the City of Hampton and Lancaster County, for example) to a little over 1%.

To be sure you're getting valid information to make your decisions, you need to go to the source. A good start is the BoatUS database of state sales/use tax and registration requirements noted in the above post, but ultimately you'll need to check the state and local websites for their latest info.

[mcdermitt]

Can a boat be registered in a state yet not be in that state's. I think that many full time rv people buy and register in oregan to avoid sales tan and cheap fees,

[jmschmidt]

Document it with Honolulu, HI as the hailing port. Neither your boat nor you have to set foot in Hawaii if you don't want to. No state registration fees for a documented vessel. No personal property tax. No sales tax if you ever bring to Hawaii unless its a new purchase. You may have to slip-hop around the various states where the greedy governments charge you even if you are from out of state.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by mcdermitt

Can a boat be registered in a state yet not be in that state's.

Probably can be, but it won't accomplish anything. As already mentioned, most states require you to register the boat with them if you are in their state for more than some set amount of time (usually 30-90 days). So, for example, register it in Oregon if you want, but come to Florida and stay for more than 90 days and the law requires you to register it here.

[Midwesterner]

So, I wonder how many retired live -aboard folks register in a no tax state and then move around every 60 days?

In my semi-retirement, I could envision myself sailing and moving around most of June, July, and August and most of the month of December. I would probably only need a more permanent base during the months of September, October, and November and during the months of January, February, March, April and May. Even during those spring months I would envision having weeks when I would choose to be on the boat and moving around.

[lifeofreilly57]

Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay is an OK area, good sailing, plenty of support facilities, no property tax on boats.
Registration fees are reasonable, I pay $140.00 a year on a 47' boat. My insurance is reasonable.
Slip fees and storage vary widely depending on which end of the bay and what area you keep your boat in, I keep mine on my own mooring, which costs $140.00 a year for the town mooring permit.
THere's plenty of sailing opportunities in the bay and along the NE coast.
It depends on what your looking for.
I now live in MASS. but continue to keep my boat in RI because the cost of keeping it in MASS is sooo much more and the marinas are a lot less friendly.
Like anything, it depends on what you want out of it.