Renewing US certificate of documentation while cruising

[Miguelso]

My boat is USCG documented and this thing has to be renewed annually. How do you get the COD when you are half way around the world? What happens if you try to enter a country with an expired certificate? We are going to be cruising for only 10 months so I'll do an early renewal, but I was wondering how most cruisers deal with this issue. Thanks

[model 10]

One way is to have the new doc sent to a friend and then they can fedx it to you. I would not hesitate to change the date on an old one to save finding out what somebody would do.
Remember there is a process for getting a new one in a hurry if you get in a jamb.

[darylat8750]

I think you can renew on line. Then print off your receipt and I believe that should be sufficient in U.S. but i'm not a lawyer.

[pesarsten]

I just renewed on line. Paid on line by cc. Had my new COD in less than two weeks. That was with no changes to it. What address does the CG have, send it there and then get it sent to you.

[belizesailor]

NVDC will also email/FAX a certified copy to you. Handy while waiting for the physical copy to catch up with you.

[Paul L]

I've used scanned copies many times. If you show up with a B&W copy that the officials can keep, they are usually happy.

[Moontide]

Saw something saying that the CG is going to a 5 year renewal for documentation, aws long as nothing has changed. Change of address or other will require a new document at that time.

Have had two friends literally chained to a dock in Costa Rica because all they had was a scanned copy of the new document. They had to have the original FedEx'd to them before they got released.

I have used copies of the document everywhere else in every country in Central Ameirca over the last 2 years with no problem. Renewed early when in the states before going to Costa Rica because of this problem.

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by Miguelso

My boat is USCG documented and this thing has to be renewed annually. How do you get the COD when you are half way around the world? What happens if you try to enter a country with an expired certificate? We are going to be cruising for only 10 months so I'll do an early renewal, but I was wondering how most cruisers deal with this issue. Thanks

Another method some cruisers use is a service provided by SBI Mail Handling Service. They will renew your USCG documentation ahead of time as your authorized agent, and sent it wherever you specify as part of their Cruiser's Home Port Service.

We use SBI for all our snail mail, but so far have handled the USCG documentation ourselves.

Somewhat off topic, but also somewhat related is another service SBI offers to cruisers: SBI discount marine supply service. If you specify exact part numbers, they will source, procure, aggregate and ship to you anywhere in the world, and their pricing is competitive...

In case this is of interest.

Wishing you the best on your cruise.

Cheers!

Bill

[zeehag]

receive a pdf and have it copied onto paper for sailing and entering.
when you arrive in ports send the pdf to each required location, ie, harbormaster, port captain, yada yada.... same with insurance.

[model 10]

I had some ******* printshop person refuse to color copy my doc. Went somewhere else and did it myself and you cannot tell the difference between the original and the color copy. Even the orange dot on top came out fine.

[chuckr]

we have used SBI for a number of years. they take care of it and when they ship us our mail they send it to us. No big deal.

as for the comment on send it via email to port authorities -- we really got a great chuckle out of that one -- thanks for the laugh.

[SV Sailfish]

Do it yourself, it is easy. Here is the link to the USCG documentation...

USCG National Vessel Documentation Center, Home Page

Half way down on the left side, you will see "order products online". Click on this link, and then click on the next page to get to the form. At the bottom of the form are your choices. Renewal is $26. The Coast Guard will also email you a copy if you request it.

I have renewed CG documentation while sailing in 3 different countries. It is easy. You do not need a service to do it for you. Unless you just like having your hand held and less $$ in your wallet.

[DMCantor]

We used a service out of Newport for several years, the same folks that helped us with the original documentation. But the new on-line system mentioned above works very easily and saves the fee. Printing a copy of the .pdf that the coast guard will e-mail to you should work for 99% of customs officers.

We did encounter one yahoo (I forget which Caribbean island) who really, really wanted an original document, but that's extremely rare and almost certainly random.