US Citizen buying Canadian Registered Boat in Florida from a Canadian

[brajgreg]

I am a US citizen living in Texas. I am in talks with a private seller in Florida to buy his boat. He is from Canada and his boat is registered in Canada. He paid duty to import it into the US in 1998.

I want to buy the boat, sail it back to the Houston/Galveston area, and register it in Texas.

What are the steps here? I have seen no less than 100 different pieces of conflicting information on the internet. I've talked to people in Texas that do boat documentation. They got confused and referred me to some people in Florida that do boat documentation. Those people weren't super useful, either. I've talked to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the registering agency in Texas. Two different people told me two different things and a third directed us to call headquarters, and I did that... waiting on a call back from them.

Just wondering if anyone has ever done anything similar and can shed some light here on what the heck we need to do to buy this boat and not run into trouble.

Thanks!

[sailingunity]

I did the same as you are considering. In my case, it was previously federally documented in the US. When he bought it, he registered it in Canada. We I bought it from him, he just needed to "release" from the Canadian registration, he got a form confirming this, and then I was able to take that form and register it with the coast guard in the US.

https://tc.canada.ca/en/marine-trans...close-registry

[brajgreg]

Originally Posted by sailingunity

I did the same as you are considering. In my case, it was previously federally documented in the US. When he bought it, he registered it in Canada. We I bought it from him, he just needed to "release" from the Canadian registration, he got a form confirming this, and then I was able to take that form and register it with the coast guard in the US.

https://tc.canada.ca/en/marine-trans...close-registry

Thanks for the reply!

I'm a little concerned because this boat has been in the US for years, and I think his cruising license has expired. So I'm thinking he owes Florida some money. And if he doesn't pay it, and I buy it... do I owe Florida some money?

Did you buy your boat in the United States, or was it in Canada? And was it on a cruising permit in the US if it was in the US?

[sailingunity]

My boat was on the hard in Maryland for 2 years before I bought it. He also paid import duty when he brought it in.

To my knowledge he didn't have a cruising permit on the boat, and it's a coast guard thing, not a Florida thing. More than likely Florida isn't even aware it's here.

[brajgreg]

Yeah, part of me says just do the deal with the guy, get his import documentation, bill of sale, canadian registration, and then sail it to texas and register it there. But in the back of my head, there's this chance that the USCG stops us along the way and asks to see registration and ownership information, and I show the Canadian registration and my US information, and they write me a fat ticket or worse... Maybe I should USCG document, and that'll be fine.

I just don't want to get saddled with some additional taxes or penalties because the previous owner has been here illegally.

[sailingunity]

We were waiting on our USCG documentation when we started cruising south from Annapolis. By the time we got to Norfolk, the border patrol paid us a visit while we were at the dock. That was a little scary, but we showed them our bill of sale and a copy of the USCG paperwork we had filed and they let us continue on.

You'd probably be fine, but there is the chance that you'll be hassled at some point.

[cram]

Seems like a no brainer. Duties were paid when it was brought to the US, owner will have to de-register it in Canada, you will then be able to register it in your port of choosing....

What's the boat ???

[nightowle]

Why don't you work with a marine escrow company? Pacific Maritime Title is probably the most frequently used here in the Seattle area. They know everything. And considering we're close to the Canadian border, we're always moving boats back and forth. But, I'm sure you'd find a marine title/escrow company in Florida that will do all the work for you so you won't make any blunders and it won't cost much at all. Sometimes DIY is a PIYA.