A question about pleasure craft identification?

[Old Ironmaker]

A quick question. We were having a meeting this afternoon in the conference room, actually a table in the Quonset hut on buddy's farm. The question, is it a legal requirement to have a name and port of call on the transom of a pleasure craft of a certain length ? I believe I did read something about it a while back, so since I have a PC I was sent of to do more homework for the crew and settle a " discussion". I have searched the Transport Canada site and can't come up with anything other than the registration I.D. on both sides of the bow above the water line. Little Johnny the owner of the farm we were at remembers that all the farm trucks actually needed the farms name on the trucks way back when. The more brown pops we had the louder the discussion became, designated driver stood by of course.

 

Can you help please?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

JD

[Reel Man]

"Registration is optional for all pleasure craft, regardless of tonnage and length, as per the Canada Shipping Act, 2001." As per Transport Canada.

 

Pleasure craft must be licensed, commercial craft must be registered. You can register your pleasure craft if you want to (i.e. if you want to use it as collateral for mortgage)

 

Hope that helps!

[davew3]

Good morning JD. No name and port are not required. Just reg. id on the sides.

 

Regards

[Old Ironmaker]

Thanks guys. Maybe it was a US thing I heard down there.

[aplumma]

You can register a boat as an international watercraft by surrendering your title and having a permanently affixed ID number. You then have a register port of call and the back of the boat must be named and registered. If the craft is over ?45?ft it must be named on the bow both sides as well. This allows you to not have to register it in the state and have bow numbers displayed. You will avoid state taxes and specific state regulations that differ from The Coast Guards rules. You also can move from one States water to another for over 90 days without having to register it in the State you are visiting. Think wintering over in Florida. I have a 28ft boat with international registration because the Potomac River is adjudicated by 3 separate States within 10 miles of the waters I run in.

 

 

Art

[Old Ironmaker]

And how did I know you knew that Art? Thank you, thank you. I knew I had a conversation about it somewhere and it was in Charlotte Harbor FLA! Thanks for the memory jog. Yes I imagine regulations can get very complicated taking a vessel from the Erie Barge Canal through the intercostal all the way to where ever your heart desires. Just fishing in US waters here on the Great Lakes isn't as simple as getting a fishing licence.