Thoughts on a "fun" hailing port for a non-documented sailboat?

[Sailshabby]

There’s an Inverness, FL, if memory serves. (We’re ‘Roswell, NM” - my birth place.)

[Sailshabby]

There’s an Inverness, FL, if memory serves. (We’re ‘Roswell, NM” - my birth place.)

[canyonbat]

When we bought our boat, we hadn’t decided where she would be kept. We had a friend who kept a boat in Blaine, WA so we listed Blaine as the hailing port. We then found Anacortes and that is where she landed. As far as I know, the boat has never been to Blaine but we get people from Blaine stopping by all the time to chat. It makes for a fun conversation starter.

If you list a whimsical port, you might make a few new whimsical friends!

[Smokeys Kitchen]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Funny. My home is in Havana, FL, which is high and dry and many miles from any navigable waterway. My hailing port is Montara, CA, which doesn't have a harbor but it does have a lighthouse. I thought a hailing port had to at least have navigable water nearby?

Don't think so as far as I know.

That would make a lot of those folks with big - really big - motoryachts that reside in the PNW, but hail from Colorado, Oklahoma, Iowa, and (you get the picture) have to either change their hailing port or dig a really big canal!

[CMO Tashina]

"The "hailing port" does not need to be a navigable place or even a place with water and it definitely does not need to be a place the boat has ever been or ever will be. The hailing port must include the place and a state, territory, or possession of the United States.[/QUOTE]"


My boat Tashina, Coast Guard registered, has Santa Fe, NM, as its hailing port. Of course, not a speck of water nearby, but since you can use any town that has a zip code in the US, and I've lived in NM for decades, that is what I picked. I'm sure folks will scratch their heads when they see that.

[DMCantor]

We were living outside the US when we bought our US-documented boat, so we could pick pretty much anywhere for the hailing port. We chose Isle Royale, which is a mostly-uninhabited island in the middle of Lake Superior. The Coast Guard never blinked. We thought it might be a conversation starter, and it certainly has worked out that way.

[Scorpius]

You may have thousands of hailing ports in the US, but not so in other countries. In Canada, Newfoundland, PEI (both MAJOR marine provinces), Manitoba (landlocked except for a bit of Hudson's Bay), Saskatchewan, Alberta (both totally landlocked) and Nunavut have only one official port of registry each. Surprisingly, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories have two each. Ontario has many (fresh water only), Quebec and BC several. In total there are less than 100 official ports of registry in the entire country.


Ports of Registry originated, I believe, before the era of computers and fast, easy communications, to differentiate vessels with identical names. For example the original and well-known Queen Mary was registered in Southampton, UK. But there is nothing stopping anyone from naming their boat Queen Mary and registering it at another official port of registry. In Canada, if your application for registry specifies a port, town, or wherever that is not on the official list, it will be rejected - despite the fact the database of registered vessels now resides only in Ottawa.

[Scorpius]

Here in the Pacific Northwest we see lots of large boats with land-locked ports of registry. Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada seem popular with Americans while Edmonton, Alberta is popular with Canadians. Having spoken with some of the owners, it turns out they live in Alberta (not necessarily Edmonton) and register their boats there to avoid sales tax (Alberta has none). Perhaps Las Vegas is popular for the same reason.

[bradfordharley]

Loveland, CO is always a good one, and real.

[Montanan]

Link to 68 Clever And Funny Boat Names That Made The Whole Harbor Laugh Out Loud

https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-boa...mpaign=organic

[boatman1]

Since you're registered in the state of Georgia, perhaps you might consider a hailing port of Isle of Hope, a beautiful spot with a salubrious history.

[misfits]

Originally Posted by bradfordharley

Loveland, CO is always a good one, and real.

Having lived in Denver for three years, yea that would be a good one!

I use to go down to North Carolina several times a year to go jeepng in the Nantahala National Forest. We'd stage in a area outside Murphy called Hanging Dog.

Hanging Dog, N.C. as a hailing port, could end up on my boat. What can I say, I'm twisted

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

You may have thousands of hailing ports in the US, but not so in other countries. In Canada, Newfoundland, PEI (both MAJOR marine provinces), Manitoba (landlocked except for a bit of Hudson's Bay), Saskatchewan, Alberta (both totally landlocked) and Nunavut have only one official port of registry each. Surprisingly, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories have two each. Ontario has many (fresh water only), Quebec and BC several. In total there are less than 100 official ports of registry in the entire country.

FWIW, Australia has about 40 allowed "Home Port" (which is synonymous with "Port of Registry" in Aus according to AMSA). Queensland has nearly half of them.

[CaptainJohn49]

I have a funny but expensive story to tell. I purchased my first boat, an Islander 36 in Alameda, CA in 2014. I paid $25k and kept it in a marina there. I registered the boat with the USCG as a documented vessel. I put the hailing port as Alameda, CA because that’s where the boat was. I did not register the boat in California (state registration) since I thought the USCG documentation was good wherever I went. I live in Montana and there are no oceans here so I thought I was set.

After 60 days I received my completed USCG documentation papers. About thirty days after that I received a notice for the California taxation authorities that I owed them $23,000 in state sales tax. They claimed that the 1973 Islander had an appraised value of $250,000. Now I didn’t pay the sales tax at the time of purchase because Montana has no sales tax and I was exempt from collection in California. Later did I learn that if you keep you boat in California for longer than 6 months you have to pay sales tax on the purchase price. Now I didn’t have to pay the $23,000 but I did have to show them the sales transaction was $25,000 and they reduced the tax to about $2,300 with interest and penalties.

I have a suspicion that a copy of the USCG decimation request was sent to the state of California because I listed my hailing port as Alameda, CA. I’ve also heard stories that the marinas send a list of boats with owner, boat name and hailing port to the state for cross-reference.

Now I register my boat in my state and list the hailing port as Missoula, Montana.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to cheat the system but had I known about the tax situation I would have moved the boat out of CA and taken it to Friday Harbor, WA as originally planned. I’m certain Washington would have hit me with a whole new set of taxes and regulations but that’s the way it goes.

Bottom line the Hailing Port may cause some unintended problems, it did for me.

CaptainJohn49 .

[wtmf]

i saw a boat named, "pog ma hone" which is Irish for "kiss my ass", I wonder if the owner knew this? "ta gra a gum dit" is Irish for I love you. if you want different why not Alantis or Bermuda Triangle, far side of the sun, Mohave Desert, Cairo, ANY mythical place, or Heaven. if you are going to be different go BIG.