Is Hawaii a title state

[phorvati]

Should CG documented boat with hailing port from HI have a title?

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[Gudgeon]

No Hawaii is not a title state.

[Celestialsailor]

I lived there for 7 years, I would say it is an entitled state.

[roverhi]

Give it time, it will grow on you especially if you are one of the entitled. No, Hawaii registers boats but doesn't title them or keep track of ownership. Keep your bill of sale.

[denverd0n]

As already stated, Hawaii does not title boats. On the other hand, you asked about a boat with a hailing port of Hawaii. Hailing port is essentially meaningless. It doesn't tell you anything about where the boat has been, where it has been registered, or where it may have been titled. It's just a place. It can be completely random. I've never been to Speed, Kansas, but I can use that as my hailing port if I want to, and the Coast Guard won't bat an eye. Don't assume that the hailing port tells you anything meaningful.

[Hud3]

Note that if the boat is documented with the US Coast Guard, it cannot be titled, no matter what state it's in. The USCG documentation is legal proof of ownership.

Some states require a boat to be registered, even if it is USCG documented. This amounts to filling out paperwork, paying a modest fee, and applying a decal, typically on the mast (but no registration numbers).

[phorvati]

Thanks, I was begging to arrive at that conclusion. So I payed the 25$ and received an abstract of title document from the coast guard. Im researching the boat I'm interested in buying. No claims of liens. There is an instrument type bill of sail with curret owner on it. There is also an instrument type preferd mortgage at the end, the $ amount is a small fraction of asking price. Does that mean the boat has a mortgage? Mortgagee appears to be a person not a bank. Listed under Mortgagor is the owner/seller. I assume this mortgage needs to be discharged and mortgagee compensated. Seller does not have a broker. So at this point I'm looking at how risky is just to proceed without brokers.

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[pcmm]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

As already stated, Hawaii does not title boats. On the other hand, you asked about a boat with a hailing port of Hawaii. Hailing port is essentially meaningless. It doesn't tell you anything about where the boat has been, where it has been registered, or where it may have been titled. It's just a place. It can be completely random. I've never been to Speed, Kansas, but I can use that as my hailing port if I want to, and the Coast Guard won't bat an eye. Don't assume that the hailing port tells you anything meaningful.

Actually that is not completely true...Outside of the US the hailing port IS their port of registration generally speaking. When I federally documented my boat ( Canadian) I couldn't just pick whatever port randomly suited me, but had to Select from a list of ports of registry. IE I keep my boat in Whitby Ontario but my hailing port on my transom is Toronto as that is the port of registry.

Big ships Register a lot in Panama as their port of registry and show it on their transom. they of course do that for a lot of tax purposes. but Panama on the Transom means that is where the ship is registered.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by pcmm

Actually that is not completely true...Outside of the US...

I'm sure that the rules are different outside of the U.S. This thread, however, is about a boat with a hailing port in Hawaii and--last time I checked--Hawaii is INSIDE the U.S.

The hailing port displayed on USCG documented pleasure boats tells you absolutely nothing about where the boat has been, where it is kept, where the owner lives, or anything else meaningful.

[F10]

Got a question on boats in Hawaii. So I bought a boat that was originally built and used in New Zealand. I bought it from a United States owner, who had bought the boat to Hawaii. When I bought the boat it had a Hawaii registration. Went to the boating registration office with the bill of sale and they registered the boat in my name. Since there is no title, and the boat is not documented, how can I be sure the boat was not just stolen out of Zealand and the show a fake bill of sale once the boat got to Hawaii to get it registered? How can I check to see if there are liens or other potential owners out there somewhere. Seeing there is no title and vessel is not documented, seems difficult.