Boat name and hailing Port question

[mjgill1]

I was reading the Coast Guard requirements for naming and hailing Port letters. Do I understand correctly that you do not have to have the hailing port and the letters together? From what I understand you may have the boat name on the side and the hailing port on the rear and no smaller than 4 inch letters. Apparently the font can be anything you wish but must be legible

[Painted Skies]

On a US-documented boat the name can indeed be on the sides (both) while the hailing port is on the stern. We used this placement because our stern is partially obscured by the swim ladder.

However, while cruising the Intracoastal Waterway we found this to be problematic when boats wished to hail us on the VHF in order to pass - and could not see the boat name. We solved this issue by putting the boat name on the horseshoe throw ring (mounted on the stern).

Cheers, Katherine

[JPA Cate]

The State where the boat is will have rules, too. The letters and numbers can usually be larger, but not smaller than the 4". You can have the hailing port under the boat name on the quarter, on have the hailing port only on the stern. On boats fitted with wind steering vanes, the vane obscures the hailing port, so for them, probably better on the quarters, and I guess you could make the same argument for canoe sterns. On our 36 footer, we had it on the quarters, in grey; the vessel name was larger size, and red. On this boat, it is on the transom.

Ann

[CaptTom]

Wait, I assumed we were talking about US documented vessels. In that case, the state regulations do not come into play. They may require a "tax sticker" that indicates you paid state excise tax, but CAN NOT require any other markings in federally navigable waterways.

[Dave Lochner]

If the boat is documented, you may not display the state registration numbers, but you may be required to display a registration sticker. I am not aware of any state that has a name and hailing port requirement.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

The State where the boat is will have rules, too. The letters and numbers can usually be larger, but not smaller than the 4". You can have the hailing port under the boat name on the quarter, on have the hailing port only on the stern. On boats fitted with wind steering vanes, the vane obscures the hailing port, so for them, probably better on the quarters, and I guess you could make the same argument for canoe sterns. On our 36 footer, we had it on the quarters, in grey; the vessel name was larger size, and red. On this boat, it is on the transom.

Ann

States must not require name and port just the state no.s. I've had several unnamed boats also never displaying a port and obviously a name.

[JPA Cate]

Good point about documented, or not. We've never had CG documentation.

Ann

[Cool Hand Luke]

Here's a website that helped me a lot with the lettering:

https://www.boatus.com/boatgraphics/...quirements.asp

[mjgill1]

Originally Posted by Cool Hand Luke

Here's a website that helped me a lot with the lettering:

https://www.boatus.com/boatgraphics/...quirements.asp

This is the resource we ended up using for guidance.