USCG Annual Documentation Delayed

[Freedom123]

A boat brokerage can request an expedited documentation on your behalf for "extenuating circumstances." A friend of mine requested this for our boat and I had my papers in 3 days.

[jeremiason]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

I've heard vicious rumors of people photoshopping the 2013 to 2014 and printing double sided color.

There is a word for that... Counterfeiting.

When I was cruising several countries made a stink about cruisers carrying photocopies of their documentation instead of the original. Why people do that I have no idea, but it seemed to be a common practice with a number of cruisers for various reasons.

I knew of two sailboats that were forced to remain in port while they waited for the originals of their Documentation to be forwarded to them before the Customs people would clear them. That means renting a slip and remaining in the marina until the mess is cleared up. The occurred in Costa Rica and El Salvador. Costa Rica slips went from $2.25 to $5 per foot per night.

These were lawfully registered vessels....

Now imagine what would happen if you presented a forged document in any country, you could be arrested and the boat confiscated.

Good luck with that

[zeehag]

i travel with only a cyber copy of my doc. so far, marinas do not mind that.
my brother holds my original.

[goboatingnow]

I think the experiences can vary, I find that where checkin is confined to marinas officials, like in teh Med, the main interest is insurance, and photocopied documents are fine. IN official ports or commercial ports or where check in is down by "officials" they want to see originals

PS as an aside, I once had an irish registered yacht, with full Part 1 registration documents, it opened out into a completely non standard 1'6" to 2'6" document, that caused great amusement watching them trying to photocopy it .

Dave

[wsmurdoch]

Since this year I have both USCG documentation and North Carolina registration, can I just show the North Carolina registration (which is good for three years) rather than the USCG documentation when I clear in to the Bahamas?

The USCG documentation normally re-ups in December. We are again leaving for the Bahamas in January, and after reading this thread, I have my doubts we will have the USCG papers when we leave.

[BobnCamie]

They were over 4 months behind schedule last oct. We are documenting our boat and I just called w.va. last week for a check to see how it was proceeding along. The lady(very nice) gave me the link on their web site to keep up to date. As of last week, they were processing late august apps. Our temp permit should arrive in a month or so. The gov't shut-down had nothing to do with this delay, as wait time is still the 4 month area.

[ksanders]

Originally Posted by Freedom123

A boat brokerage can request an expedited documentation on your behalf for "extenuating circumstances." A friend of mine requested this for our boat and I had my papers in 3 days.

I bought my boat in August 2011

In march 2013, I called and told the nice lady that I had an international voyage coming up and needed my documentation.

She had me fill out a form indicating the reason for my urgancy and I think pay another small fee.

I got a call the next daydiscussed it with a case worker and had my document in less than a week.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by jeremiason

FYI to people renewing or initiating USCG Documentation.

I faxed my normal renewal in to NVDC on 1/12/2014 and got my new document in the mail 1/16/2014. Four days, including the post office, is pretty good.

[twistedtree]

Renewals are completely different and have always been fast. It's newly documented boats, and boats being re-documented when they change hands that has been consistently backed up. For at least the past 3 years the backlog has been 4-6 months.

[Reach]

Originally Posted by twistedtree

Renewals are completely different and have always been fast. It's newly documented boats, and boats being re-documented when they change hands that has been consistently backed up. For at least the past 3 years the backlog has been 4-6 months.

This is an important clarification to the thread title, since I took it to mean annual renewals were delayed.

I put our request in early just in case (via fax 11/21/13) and our new documentation was received in the mail in ~3 days.

[Benalexander]

Does anyone know how long it is taking to receive the Temporary Certificate of Documentation?

We applied for an Exchange near the end of November 2013. Haven't received anything yet...

[Thumbs Up]

You just need to send an E-mail requesting expedited service and state why (you plan on leaving the country), they will fix you right up.

The problem is getting the original. It costs $80. to FedEx to Roatan. Does anyone know if there is a way to switch our renewal time from the Spring to the Fall. If you are documenting a boat consider where you will be at renewal time each year. It makes sense to apply for the documentation at the time of year you are back in the States, otherwise you have to get it somehow. The problem with photocopying is that there is a security feature that when you scan it the word "void" shows up all over the document. We have done it though and not had a problem, it is better than an expired certificate.

[BobnCamie]

That reminds me,too, we never got our temp. registration form. We got our official registration this past Tuesday in the mail. Right at the 4 month time frame we were first told, but no temp.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by BobnCamie

That reminds me,too, we never got our temp. registration form. We got our official registration this past Tuesday in the mail. Right at the 4 month time frame we were first told, but no temp.

They are no longer issuing temporary documentation.