Dinghy registration

[mlibkind]

My boat has Coast Guard registration. It is never any place in the US and much of the year it is in the Caribbean.

I recently purchased a new dinghy and was going to register it in Delaware where I had registered my previous one. But someone recently told me that if your boat is CG registered that your dinghy does not need to be state registered. Does anyone know if that is correct?

Here's one more piece of information. I live in CA but do not pay property tax here or in any other state at this time because I'm never in one place long enough.

[wayne.b]

Originally Posted by mlibkind

My boat has Coast Guard registration. It is never any place in the US and much of the year it is in the Caribbean.

I recently purchased a new dinghy and was going to register it in Delaware where I had registered my previous one. But someone recently told me that if your boat is CG registered that your dinghy does not need to be state registered. Does anyone know if that is correct?

Here's one more piece of information. I live in CA but do not pay property tax here or in any other state at this time because I'm never in one place long enough.

===

Given you circumstances, probably registering in Delaware is a good plan. No one seems to care very much in the Bahamas or Caribbean but many state law enforcement officers will come after you if there is no sticker on your dinghy.

[mlibkind]

Thanks for the words of wisdom. For those that don't know, it only costs $10 per year to register a boat in Delaware (at least a dinghy).

Originally Posted by wayne.b

===

Given you circumstances, probably registering in Delaware is a good plan. No one seems to care very much in the Bahamas or Caribbean but many state law enforcement officers will come after you if there is no sticker on your dinghy.

[Seymore]

Ask the Coast Guard registration people.

I'm Canadian, and I asked Transport Canada (the Canadian registration agency) what I should do about registering or licencing my 9 foot inflatable dinghy with an outboard motor. The boat's name is Sea Breeze, and they said paint 'T/T Sea Breeze' on the dinghy, and it should not be provincially registered.

I did, and when I brought the boat into the US, that has been OK with the authorities here, except they make a point of saying I should only use the dinghy for going back and forth to the boat.

[skipmac]

If you bring your boat and dinghy to the US then, if the dinghy has a motor then every state I know of will require registration and the water police will issue you a citation for not having one.

Even your boat will have to be state registered if you stay in one state long enough (and some one happens to notice ).

Outside the US, most places I know of in the Caribbean don't care IF it's the tender for a yacht but every country has its own laws and you should probably check the specifics on where you go.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by Seymore

Ask the Coast Guard registration people.

I'm Canadian, and I asked Transport Canada (the Canadian registration agency) what I should do about registering or licencing my 9 foot inflatable dinghy with an outboard motor. The boat's name is Sea Breeze, and they said paint 'T/T Sea Breeze' on the dinghy, and it should not be provincially registered.

I did, and when I brought the boat into the US, that has been OK with the authorities here, except they make a point of saying I should only use the dinghy for going back and forth to the boat.

That's the same response I got from them. I think I'll slap a Canadian flag sticker on my tender in addition to "t/t..."

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Outside the US, most places I know of in the Caribbean don't care IF it's the tender for a yacht but every country has its own laws and you should probably check the specifics on where you go.

It's the flag state regulations what matters, not where you happen to visit..

[sailorboy1]

My dinghy isn't registered. My boat is CG documented and is in MA that doesn't require a documented boat to be State registered. BUT I'm sure that my dinghy is suppose to be registered as all the other dinghies have numbers on them (but I don't know if that is part of their main boats' State registration). I think that I have been illegal the past 7 years but that the local Harbormaster doesn't care about this (I pay my excise tax and mooring permit fee).

I feel that you have to research this dinghy register for the State the boat is in.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by TeddyDiver

It's the flag state regulations what matters, not where you happen to visit..

Technically and strictly that is absolutely correct. However in practice if you're in a country that doesn't require a yacht tender to be registered they aren't going to notice or care about the rules back in your home country.

Conversely, if you are a foreign vessel in the US from a country that has the no tender registration rules I know for a fact that the state of Florida will harass you for not having some kind of registration on the dinghy.

Happened to MarkJ who is Australian with an Australian registered boat and a few other cruisers I've run into.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by pcmm

That's the same response I got from them. I think I'll slap a Canadian flag sticker on my tender in addition to "t/t..."

Might work down island but if you do come back to the states they will insist on a US registration on the dinghy if you're a US citizen with a USCG documented or US state registered yacht.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Might work down island but if you do come back to the states they will insist on a US registration on the dinghy if you're a US citizen with a USCG documented or US state registered yacht.

I'm Canadian with a Canadian Documented yacht!

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by TeddyDiver

It's the flag state regulations what matters, not where you happen to visit..

Actually, it is where you are for more than a few weeks (varies with the state). Like a car, legally you have to re-register if visiting for over a stated period. Documentation state is actually quite irrelevant (I don't think the OP meant CG registered). Many states will require the yacht to be registered as well, even if documented.

You can try to claim you are documented, but that ONLY works if you can convince them you are transient.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by pcmm

I'm Canadian with a Canadian Documented yacht!

I see. I was thinking about the OP who said his boat is USCG documented. However, water police in the US, especially state and local guys have about zero knowledge of regulations outside their own jurisdiction, forget about Canada. As far as some of the local guys are concerned, Canada is in a galaxy far, far away.

If you can stick something Canadian on the dink that looks kind of official then you will probably slide but don't try explaining that your home country considers the dinghy as a tender for the yacht that doesn't need any form of registration. At the very least it will turn into a long discussion which you may or may not win.

Not saying this is right, just giving you heads up on what you will likely encounter. Also beware of the potty police, especially in Florida. One local county on the FL east coast is well known for generating income from busting cruisers for toilet non compliance, US as well as others.