CG Documented Hailing Port Question

[DMCantor]

When we documented our US-flagged boat we were actually living in Europe. So we felt free to be a little creative in choosing a hailing port. We wanted something that might be a conversation-starter with other cruisers. We ended up selecting Isle Royale, Michigan. That is a mostly-uninhabited island in the middle of Lake Superior. It has led to numerous people stopping by to ask about it. The Coast Guard accepted it without comment.

[Montanan]

The Code of Federal Regulations as it pertains to Hailing Port Designations.

46 CFR § 67.119 - Hailing port designation.

§ 67.119 Hailing port designation.
(a) Upon application for any Certificate of Documentation in accordance with subpart K of this part, the owner of a vessel must designate a hailing port to be marked upon the vessel.

(b) The hailing port must be a place in the United States included in the U.S. Department of Commerce's Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 55DC.

The last time I researched Publication 55DC I believe it was 1,600 pages in length. There likely be tens of thousands of places, and yes since the entire country has been mapped out as to be within a zip code, as well as the territories and the District of Columbia, every place can be correlated to a zip code, but be assured the postal service may not deliver to many of the places as they could be remote. What has been challenging is actually finding that publication, it supposedly can be purchased from the Department of Commerce but good luck trying to find anyone that knows anything about such Publication 55DC, and might be found at one of the national repository libraries and presumably could be found at the National Vessel Documentation Center of the United State Coast Guard, located in West Virginia, yep go figure why the Coasties are located in West Virginia.
USCG/National Vessel Documentation Center
792 T J Jackson Drive
Falling Waters, WV 25419

(c) The hailing port must include the State, territory, or possession in which it is located.

(d) The Director, National Vessel Documentation Center has final authority to settle disputes as to the propriety of the hailing port designated.

(e) Until such time as the vessel owner elects to designate a new hailing port, the provisions of paragraph (c) of this section do not apply to vessels which were issued a Certificate of Documentation before July 1, 1982.

[CGD 89-007, CGD 89-007a, 58 FR 60266, Nov. 15, 1993, as amended by CGD 95-014, 60 FR 31604, June 15, 1995; USCG-1998-4442, 63 FR 52191, Sept. 30, 1998]



Such "place" is of your choosing, it does not have to have any affiliation with you or your boat, nor be a place which one could even float a boat, or have a port. It merely needs to be a place listed in that Publication.

States that have property taxation on personal property such as boats often obtain a list of boats with hailing ports designations that are within their State and will send out a tax billing with the presumption being that the boat actually may be located at that designated place and thus tax appraisable.

If the boat is located elsewhere than its designated hailing port then one has to respond to the taxation authority and explain that is it not in their tax jurisdiction and they will likely desire that you provide proof that it is in fact elsewhere, example, an invoice from a marina, registration in another State, etc. and they will then remove the vessel from their taxation registers and void the taxation billing. It is a necessary task to get their records corrected but typically not a major challenge. You call them, discuss, send documentation and generally it is once and done.

I have an inquiry into the National Vessel Documentation Center requesting a weblink to access the Publication 55DC. I will share it if they respond with such. One can search the web for trying to find the document or where one can purchase one but it will be frustrating. I did find it once but misplaced the weblink and have never been able to locate it yet again. I have requested the National Vessel Documentation Center to include it on their website, and also in their FAQ Answers, or to just place a weblink on the application form itself so as to ease every yachties researching.

[Donald Bryden]

As I understand it, a purpose for the home port is to identify a specific vessel from others of the same name. In other words, there can be thousands of boats named "Happy Times" and as long as the home port is different, there is no confusion. I used the home port of Green Bay, WI as I'm a Cheesehead and a Packer fan. I never heard a word from the state regarding taxes. Also, I register my tender there as they have a three year registration period. The USCG documentation headquarters is in Falling Waters, WV. I once thought of using it as it has a nice sound to it. I don't think changing a home port is much of a problem, but is unnecessary. You might want to consider using a place you are familiar with. A friend used Anchorage AK. He had never been to Alaska in his life. People were always coming by asking about Alaska. That always made me laugh.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by Donald Bryden

As I understand it, a purpose for the home port is to identify a specific vessel from others of the same name. In other words, there can be thousands of boats named "Happy Times" and as long as the home port is different, there is no confusion. I used the home port of Green Bay, WI as I'm a Cheesehead and a Packer fan. I never heard a word from the state regarding taxes. Also, I register my tender there as they have a three year registration period. The USCG documentation headquarters is in Falling Waters, WV. I once thought of using it as it has a nice sound to it. I don't think changing a home port is much of a problem, but is unnecessary. You might want to consider using a place you are familiar with. A friend used Anchorage AK. He had never been to Alaska in his life. People were always coming by asking about Alaska. That always made me laugh.

Per the Frequently Asked Questions and Answer of the National Vessel Documentation Center:

WHAT ARE THE VESSEL NAME AND HAILING PORT MARKING REQUIREMENTS?

Documented vessels do not display their official numbers on the outside of the hull, but are identified by the name and hailing port. The application for documentation must include a name for the vessel composed of letters of the Latin alphabet or Arabic or Roman numerals and may not exceed 33 characters. The name may not be identical, actually or phonetically, to any word or words used to solicit assistance at sea; may not contain or be phonetically identical to obscene, indecent, or profane language, or to racial or ethnic epithets. Once established, a vessel's name may not be changed without application, fees, and the consent of the Director, National Vessel Documentation Center. There is no rule against duplication of names for documented vessels, so hailing ports are helpful in identifying vessels.


That being said I have infrequently seen documented boats with the same name and hailing ports even in the same marinas. It can be a tad awkward and confusing if one hails another boat by name and there are two or more in radio contact and you start a conversation and then find out it is not the boat you intended to hail.

Many countries do require there to be unique names and/or combinations of name and hailing ports but that is not a requirement specifically proscribed in the US Code of Federal Regulations, but as the answer stated it would be helpful in identifying vessels.

I have been told recently, but not authoritatively that the list the USCG is using is the list of Geonames prepared by the US Geological Survey which includes feature types sorted by including: airports, schools, churches, hospitals, mines, oilfields, rapids, streams, areas, gut [slough, bayou] summits, trails, tunnels, swamps, streams, ridges, glaciers, bridges, cemeteries, arroyos, cliffs, capes, canals, falls, buildings [halls, museums, fire departments, gynasiums, libraries, court house, sherrif's office, etc.] forests, populated place [unicorporated], parks/refuges, wells, slopes, gaps, harbors, bays, military base [current or historical] ,etc. etc. of which there are 2,295,605 features in the GNISs, By way of example: There are 693 cemeteries, 1373 buildings, 24 areas [example, The Badlands], 1789 churches, more than 2,000 schools [current and historical], and more than 2,000 populated places [unicorporated] in just Montana listed.

Reference Link: https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=138:1:0:::::

An odd name for a listed place that I spotted was: "Place Where the White Horse Went Down Historical Marker." That is more than 33 letters long so I guess not a valid name choice. Would make for an engaging hailing port as certainly would invoke queries.

[CaptTom]

You can search the US Geological Survey "GNIS" (Gographical Name Information System) at this link:

https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq

[jmschmidt]

The Hailing Port has no implication whatsoever, you can use any city in the United States or any US possessions or territories in the world. My USCG documented boat is owned by a Washington State LLC, has Honolulu HI as it hailing port (don't forget the state or territory), has been legally imported into the US (duty paid), but has never been within 10,000 miles of Hawaii.

[Capt Gary]

RI is a tax free boating state. I live in Florida, but keep my boat in RI (Wickford). I bought the boat in NY, but since I am documenting it and registering it in RI, I didn't pay sales tax and don't pay property tax. The boat has never been to FL. I do intend to do "The Loop" eventually, but will maintain a RI registration and Doc.

[gonesail]

I made mine up because it was the neighborhood I Iived in. but it just so happens it is a city name as well

[StoneCrab]

I don't think Nevada has a boat tax and there are many wonderful mail forwarding services there.

Recreational boats can now obtain a five year USCG Documentation instead of paying each year.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by StoneCrab

Recreational boats can now obtain a five year USCG Documentation instead of paying each year.

Just to be clear, you pay up front for each of up to five years. In other words, renewing for five years costs five times as much as renewing for one. The advantage is convenience, not saving money.

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

You can make it anywhere you want to, but I wouldn’t one a State that is aggressive about coming after taxes, like California for instance.
Some even will use Earth Tx.

I have only bought one documented vessel. But this was in CA. It makes no difference what your official documentation port is, or the fact that it is documented with the CG and not registered with the state. If you bought it from a broker in CA, the sale is reported to the state and you must pay tax for the purchase of a used or new boat at the going local sales tax rate times the purchase price. Sales tax is high, nearly 10% in the Bay Area. I suppose they have some way of tracking when a boat changes hands privately, even though not registered with DMV. Could be just honor system backed by penalty with interest for non-compliance.

Then the county will find you each year (used to be done each March) and tax you for a "possessory interest" in the mud under your boat.

[garychurch]

A hailing port for USCG documentation purposes is ANY location within the United States, territories or possessions. Has nothing to do with your “homeport” or where you keep your boat. For example, boat’s hailing port is Pago Pago, American Samoa. I wanted Palau but it is a US protectorate so it doesn’t qualify.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by waterman46

If you bought it from a broker in CA, the sale is reported to the state and you must pay tax for the purchase of a used or new boat at the going local sales tax rate times the purchase price...I suppose they have some way of tracking when a boat changes hands privately, even though not registered with DMV. Could be just honor system backed by penalty with interest for non-compliance.

Then the county will find you each year (used to be done each March) and tax you for a "possessory interest" in the mud under your boat.

Another clarification: Some states, CA is reportedly among them, will scan the USCG documentation database for newly documented vessels with hailing ports in their state, then send off a tax bill. With tax bills, you are guilty until proven innocent. It is up to you to prove that the boat was not physically in their state. Do not ignore the bill, tax collectors have lots of options normal creditors don't, even across state lines.

[MVDarlin]

Whatever you do, don't alert a tax aggressive state like MA to your purchase. Be sure to check the sales tax requirements of your registration state. And bear in mind some states like WA have a reach back provision that allows them to apply "escaped" sales tax against current fair market value If you don't have proof you already paid the sales tax someplace else.

[dan104]

Hailing port is only required for Documented boats, I bought and keep my boat on Maryland and have registered it there. Minor yearly fee, plus I paid sales tax on it when I bought it.


My hailing port on the boat is listed as "port of Indecision", no one has ever quested me on it (the state knows how to find me) but the water is my destination.


Dan
Fullsail.done=-that.com