Lane: I have my sailboat documented because I had always heard that many other countries did not accept State documentation as proof of ownership and I wanted to travel internationally on my own boat. The problem of foreign recognition of state registered boats, in my opinion, has been complicated by the fact that some states (or many) do not use the documentation process as part of a Title process. For instance Florida titles boats.
Alabama does not title boats and
Alaska does not title boats. (FWIW, there was a time when not all states titled autos either, even though you had to get the tags and license) This can frequently become a problem with
financing and
insurance when one looks outside a non-title state for
marine insurance or yacht
financing. So I must believe that the other countries are trying to make sure that they do not become havens for stolen vessels.
Kai Nui: Regarding having a documented boat or one that is state registered and likelihood of boarding by the Coast Guard. I don't think it makes any difference whether you are registered, documented or both whether they decide to board you. What follows is my experience. My sailboat is documented and homeported in
Alaska. In Alaska, a federally documented vessel is not required to have State of Alaska registration. However, my boat is not in Alaska now. Most states in the lower 48 seem to require state registration if the boat is going to be in their waters more than 90 days. So my boat is registered in
Alabama. If I go to Florida to
cruise for 3 months in the
winter then I also must get registered in FL. In AL I do not have to display a state number on my boat since it is Federally documented but I have to display the annual revenue sticker on both sides forward near the bow. My federal documented number is on the inside of my port lazerette where it is not visable except by
inspection of that locker. I have been boarded more than once while on the
water by the Coast Guard. They ask to see either my documentation (Federal) or registration (state). I usually show them my documentation. But so far they have never asked to see where on the boat I have put the federal number. They also demand that I show them some ID. (This ID thing is another subject that would be easy to digress to but I will not). I don't think they know before they board the boat whether it is documented or not. I also have a non documented
motor boat that is State registered. The Coast Guard has boarded me on that boat a few times as well. They ask to see my registration not because they care or need to know from a Federal perspective but the States and the USCG have agreements that allow them to enforce each others laws. The Coast Guard has boarded me outside the three-mile state
water as well as inside on State waters. Now for my rant. If it was only the Coast Guard that we had to deal with when the authorities go about enforcing water
safety or other laws it would not be so bad. But in some
parts of our country (Florida especially) there are a great number of agencies that can stop you while on the water and come aboard for a look. There is the State
marine police in AL (but not FL), the State
game and
fish agency, city marine police, county sheriff marine police, the US
Fish and Wildlife
Service, US
Customs, US Drug Control Admin., and on rare occassions the Bureau of A, T, & F. As an aside: Also, if sailing around the
Caribbean an American flagged boat can be boarded by the US
Navy or the US Coast Guard on international waters. This is part of the "War on Drugs" where the
Navy has an active role in drug interdictions. I have seen all these guys zooming around the water or hanging out at
marinas. At least the coast guard gives you a copy of their
inspection report that you can present to other coast guard folks that may want to board and they will usually honor that for a certain length of time. A boarding on anything but a
small boat usually takes at least 20 minutes while they check and see if you have all the required
safety equipment, whether all the little stickers are posted (oil spill, plastic, etc.), and they also seem to get close enough to see if they can sniff you for alcohol on your breath. The closer you are to south FL the more likely you will be boarded by a multitude of agencies each looking for their own little item of interest but all apparently empowered to enforce the others regs. However, I must admit that when I am out in my
fishing boat, the Coast Guard has not asked to inspect my catch. Only ask in a friendly way about how the
fishing has been. But the State fish cops always are looking at my safety
gear as well as measuring and counting my fish. And as I continue to rant. No similarity at all between what the PTB (Powers That Be) can do to you on the water as compared to a vehicle on the land where in most places there are not random road blocks and checks of you or your vehicle without probable cause. (although I have seen that in
California a time or two but doesn't seem to happen in most other states where I travel.) Yeah, I believe that boaters are picked on but I also don't think that is likely to change.
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