United States Coast Guard documentation is just for yachts and commercial vessels, right? Well, although it’s true that most documented vessels are large and/or commercial boats, there’s nothing that prevents documenting smaller recreational boats. In fact, Coast Guard documentation has a number of benefits, and increasing numbers of recreational boat owners are documenting their vessels.
Contents
- 1. Net Tonnage Requirement for Documentation
- 1.1 Example
- 1.2 U.S. Ownership Requirement
- 2. How Coast Guard Documentation Differs from State Registration and Titling
- 3. Benefits of Coast Guard Documentation
- 4. Documenting Your Vessel
- 5. Requirements with Coast Guard Documentation
- 5.1 Additional Documentation Requirements
- 6. How to Document Your Vessel
Net Tonnage Requirement for Documentation
That being said, you can’t document your jon boat or bow rider. The minimum size for Coast Guard documentation is 5 net tons. Tonnage, in this case, doesn’t mean actual weight though.
Rather, it’s a calculation of usable volume based on a boat’s overall length, beam, depth from deck to keel, bottom shape and type of propulsion. For large vessels, net tonnage is actually measured, but on smaller boats — generally those under 79 feet — a simplified formula can be used.
Let’s be clear here: it’s not simple, just simpler than actually measuring and calculating. Instructions for calculating net tonnage can be found starting on p. 7 of the USCG’s handy publication Simplified Measurement Tonnage Guide 1.
Honestly, for typical open monohull powerboats, it’s not all that hard to figure out. Multiply your overall beam times your overall length times your overall depth (the vertical distance from your rubrail to your keel amidships) times 0.67. Then divide by 100 to get your gross tonnage.
For outboard-powered boats, gross tonnage is the same as net tonnage. For inboard-powered boats, multiply gross tonnage by 0.8 to get net tonnage.
Example
Here’s a quick example for a 35’ by 11’ inboard cruiser that measures 8’ from rub rail to keel amidships:
(LOA x beam x depth x 0.67)/100 = gross tonnage
(35 x 11 x 8 x 0.67)/100 = gross tonnage
2,063.6/100 = gross tonnage
20.6 = gross tonnage
Since this is an inboard, multiply gross tonnage by 0.8 to get net tonnage:
30.8 gross tons x 0.8 = 16.5 net tons
As a very general rule, outboard-powered monohulls down to about 25’ in overall length meet the 5 net ton minimum requirement for documentation, although that of course depends on beam and depth too.
U.S. Ownership Requirement
In addition to measuring at least 5 net tons, vessels to be documented must be owned entirely by a U.S. citizen or citizens. If a boat is owned by a corporation, the corporation must be at least 75% owned by U.S. citizens.
How Coast Guard Documentation Differs from State Registration and Titling
U.S. Coast Guard documentation is an alternative to state titling — and sometimes state registration. Instead of titling and registering your boat with a state government, you are essentially titling and registering it with the federal government.
A documented vessel is never titled by a state, although many states require that you still register your documented vessel.
Florida, for example, requires that documented recreational vessels used in Florida waters for more than 90 days must be registered in Florida and display a registration sticker.
Many states require that documented vessels still be registered with the state. Florida, for example, that any documented vessel used in state waters for more than 90 days must have a Florida registration sticker.
Documentation also differs from state registration in that the documentation number is tied to the boat, not the owner, and stays with the boat indefinitely. When you sell the boat, the documentation number goes with it. State registration numbers, on the other hand, although they often remain the same when boats change hands, are more like license plates and can be changed.
Benefits of Coast Guard Documentation
Documenting your boat with the Coast Guard through the National Vessel Documentation Center has several distinct advantages over titling and registering with your state.
Coast Guard documentation is internationally recognized, making it easier to travel to foreign waters.
Some countries — notably the Bahamas, Canada and Mexico — require only state registration papers for entry by water, but U.S. documentation still eases the process. Coast Guard documentation can also open up additional financing possibilities through something called a First Preferred Ship’s Mortgage.
In simple terms, for lenders, a loan against a documented vessel is more secure than against an undocumented vessel, since the U.S. Coast Guard acts as the recording agency for details of the vessel, including the chain of ownership and all recorded liens and mortgages.
Documenting Your Vessel
Although the initial process of documenting a vessel is more complicated than most state registration and titling processes, documentation can actually be less of a hassle in the long run, since you can choose to renew your documentation for up to five years at a time, rather than annually like most state registrations.
Finally, a documented vessel is officially a Vessel of the United States or U.S. Flag Vessel, which not only sounds cool but also means you enjoy “the protection of the laws of the United States” wherever you go.
Requirements with Coast Guard Documentation
Each state has requirements for the display of registration numbers and validation stickers. The Coast Guard has similar requirements.
First, your vessel’s documentation number must be displayed inside the boat. Specifically, the documentation number (preceded by “NO.) has to be “permanently affixed” in block letters at least 3” tall on some clearly visible interior structural part of the boat, such as a bulkhead. Typically, a sign or board of some kind is used, like these Coast Guard Documentation Boards.
Instead of displaying state registration numbers on the hull, owners of documented vessels must “permanently affix” their documentation number to an interior structural part of the boat.
“Permanently affixed” means that if someone removed or attempted to remove the documentation number, it would leave some damage to the entire area around where the sign was attached. Riveting is considered much harder to remove than through bolting or screws.
Additional Documentation Requirements
Additionally, documented vessels must have their vessel name and homeport clearly visible somewhere on the exterior of the hull.
For recreational vessels, this is often the stern, but there is no specific requirement. The name can be no more than 33 characters, and the homeport must include both the city and state,
e.g., “San Diego, California.”
Documented vessels are required to have their name and homeport clearly visible somewhere on the hull. Most recreational boat owners choose the transom.
How to Document Your Vessel
Instructions for applying for documentation for a new vessel or for a vessel that has previously been registered and titled at the state level can be found at the National Vessel Documentation Center website. A document called “Initial Vessel Documentation” provides are fairly succinct outline of the process.
Applying for documentation of a recreational vessel isn’t as complicated as it looks at first glance, but if you don’t want to tackle it yourself, you can also engage one of numerous vessel documentation services. These companies act as your agent, handling the process for you in exchange for a fee. A quick Google search will return numerous options.