Home Port

Hubz

New Member
Jan 21, 2021
3
Boat Info
390 Sundancer 2005
Engines
370 MerCruiser
Hi all, new here and in the process of buying our first boat that is big enough to name. We have had the name picked out for a few years but due to work we have moved around a lot so we are unsure of what to put as our city. Where we grew up or where we live now? We have only lived in our current home for 6 mos so feel strange staking claim to that town. Wife has the idea of putting all our cities (5) on the transom door as a way to meet people who may have familiarity with any of our stomping grounds. Thoughts?
 
If you are going to document your boat you can only use one home port city. If you are going to run registration numbers on her from the state u live in now u can put any number on city's on the boat I assume.
 
If you are documenting the boat through the USCG Documentation Center, there are specific requirements to both character size and content. The (only 1) home port needs to be a legitimate USPS delivery location, but may be wherever you want. For example, New York, NY is ok. Big Apple, NY is not. Likewise Cape Cod, MA, or Long Island, NY wouldn’t qualify either. The choice of location is up to you. Although the convention for commercial vessels is to use the capital city of the country of flagging, recreational vessels can be anything you want as long as it’s a valid USPS location.

If the boat is not Documented, you can do whatever you want, although I personally would limit it to one city as the name and port do form part of your ID even if unofficially.
 
No city name, I don't ...people will figure out where you are from...
 
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If you are documenting the boat through the USCG Documentation Center, there are specific requirements to both character size and content. The (only 1) home port needs to be a legitimate USPS delivery location, but may be wherever you want. For example, New York, NY is ok. Big Apple, NY is not. Likewise Cape Cod, MA, or Long Island, NY wouldn’t qualify either.

Oddly there are many, many documented boats here that have a home port of "Long Island, NY"
 
Oddly there are many, many documented boats here that have a home port of "Long Island, NY"

Yup, I’m sure there are. We have a couple up our way showing Merrimack River and Essex River Estuary. But that is contrary to the USCG regulations. Lots of people also drive 85 mph on a regular basis, but I don’t think that would be very successful as a defense in traffic court against a speeding ticket.
 
Yup, I’m sure there are. We have a couple up our way showing Merrimack River and Essex River Estuary. But that is contrary to the USCG regulations. Lots of people also drive 85 mph on a regular basis, but I don’t think that would be very successful as a defense in traffic court against a speeding ticket.

Hear ya, but not exactly the same thing.
These people submitted a document to the USCG and it was accepted by them.
Didn't mean to hijack a thread. Apologies to OP.
 
If you are documenting the boat through the USCG Documentation Center, there are specific requirements to both character size and content. The (only 1) home port needs to be a legitimate USPS delivery location, but may be wherever you want. For example, New York, NY is ok. Big Apple, NY is not. Likewise Cape Cod, MA, or Long Island, NY wouldn’t qualify either. The choice of location is up to you. Although the convention for commercial vessels is to use the capital city of the country of flagging, recreational vessels can be anything you want as long as it’s a valid USPS location.

If the boat is not Documented, you can do whatever you want, although I personally would limit it to one city as the name and port do form part of your ID even if unofficially.


Thank you, didn't realize there were requirements, glad I asked. Guess we will have to pick one and then maybe represent our other cities in another way.
 
Yup, I’m sure there are. We have a couple up our way showing Merrimack River and Essex River Estuary. But that is contrary to the USCG regulations. Lots of people also drive 85 mph on a regular basis, but I don’t think that would be very successful as a defense in traffic court against a speeding ticket.

There are indeed regulations, but IMO, they aren't enforced. Only 1 vessel on my pier has proper name and hp applied on his boat, and of course he's one of those guys who never leaves the dock.

I have been pulled-over by USCG and "talked to" about a missing STATE registration sticker on the dinghy, yet I have never, ever heard a coastie even use the term "documented". In more encounters than I'd rather admit, they have been consistently uninterested in documentation.
 
Be sure to consider tax implications. If you document your boat, you most likely will need to pay sales or excise tax in the state where the documented hailing port is located. Some states have a flat cap on that tax, which may help depending on the sale price.
 
There are indeed regulations, but IMO, they aren't enforced. Only 1 vessel on my pier has proper name and hp applied on his boat, and of course he's one of those guys who never leaves the dock.

I have been pulled-over by USCG and "talked to" about a missing STATE registration sticker on the dinghy, yet I have never, ever heard a coastie even use the term "documented". In more encounters than I'd rather admit, they have been consistently uninterested in documentation.

It does amaze me how many documented boats I see with 2” high lettering for the hailing port.
 
Guys this post seems to have gone off the rails. It seems to me if somebody asks a question, especially a new comer, we owe it to them as well as ourselves, to answer as correctly and accurately as possible. Of all the boating forums I belong to, with the possible exception of BoatDiesel, CSR seems to be the only one where consistent accurate information is dispensed by the membership. I think if we start answering questions with, “the rules say this, but you can ignore it” that reputation will fade away.
 
I hear ya, but I'm willing to stand on this particular hill. Part of the value of a forum or group is first-hand and possibly extensive experience in the real world.

It's easier and faster to google "documentation requirements", but what can't be found on the official USCG site is the fact that those regulations are largely ignored by the folks in orange. Time and effort complying with them to the letter can result in ugly additions to one's boat with a fleeting and possibly non-existent benefit.

It can also lead to valuable discourse. It's entirely possible that after I state that in thousands of hours of boating in several states and areas, that someone else chimes-in and says, "wait! they're paying attention now - you'd better use ugly block lettering on your transom asap!"
 
Guys this post seems to have gone off the rails. It seems to me if somebody asks a question, especially a new comer, we owe it to them as well as ourselves, to answer as correctly and accurately as possible. Of all the boating forums I belong to, with the possible exception of BoatDiesel, CSR seems to be the only one where consistent accurate information is dispensed by the membership. I think if we start answering questions with, “the rules say this, but you can ignore it” that reputation will fade away.
The OP asked what city to put on his boat ...and you guys went crazy with documenting the boat... That wasnt his intent. So it was doomed from the start
 
The OP asked what city to put on his boat ...and you guys went crazy with documenting the boat... That wasnt his intent. So it was doomed from the start

Why don’t you re-read post #3

paragraph 1 if you are Documenting -> this applies

para 2 If not Documenting -> then this

How’s that going crazy?
 
Thank you, didn't realize there were requirements, glad I asked. Guess we will have to pick one and then maybe represent our other cities in another way.
CRAZY ...Because of this... now he thinks there are requirements
 
To the OP, we moved our 320 from Va to Wi and kept the hailing port as Hampton Va. It made for a LOT of fun conversation in Lake Michigan. Follow the advice of the guys above if Documenting or not.
 
Hubz...welcome to CSR!!

It might seem snarly at times, but it really isn't, and there is endless useful (and useless!) information from a lot of knowledgeable people.

I don't think I noticed an answer anywhere here to the question of whether you are planning to State Register (or license in Canada) or Federally Document the title of your boat (called Registering in Canada...just to confuse things!).

The hailing port requirements for state registration are optional or somewhat arbitrary (I believe) in the USA (as they are for licensing in Canada).

Are you asking about legal requirements, or tradition / convention?
 
Hi all, new here and in the process of buying our first boat that is big enough to name. We have had the name picked out for a few years but due to work we have moved around a lot so we are unsure of what to put as our city. Where we grew up or where we live now? We have only lived in our current home for 6 mos so feel strange staking claim to that town. Wife has the idea of putting all our cities (5) on the transom door as a way to meet people who may have familiarity with any of our stomping grounds. Thoughts?

We put Nassau, Bahamas as the port. Why? Because that is where pirates are from. Obviously. It gets a lot of attention.
Name_artwork.jpg
 

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