[RhythmDoctor]

Originally Posted by SVCarolena

Why would you want to delete the USCG documentation? As the Dog noted, it is prefered by banks. It is also good if you ever plan to take the boat out of US waters, and will make possilble resale down the road that much easier. Several people at my marina have said that they wish they documented at the time of sale rather than going with state registration. Just curious.

Guys,

I appreciate all your advice, but these decisions have basically already been made. Nothing ever seems to escape debate up here - not even boat fenders. Without getting into more detail than I want to, here are a few basic points:

• It is a big no-no (and illegal in many states) to have a boat both titled and documented. It facilitates fraud, because the boat can have a clear title but liens against the documentation (or vice-versa).
• The decision to delete the documentation was basically made by the current owner when he decided to title the boat. He was required by law to delete that documentation at that point, and he told me he had done it. But when I called USCG I discovered that he did not do it. So now I am making him do it under the "clear and unencumbered title" provision of my purchase agreement.
• There is a clear, simple procedure to delete documentation (as long as there are no liens). It is much more difficult to delete a state title once it exists. So changing directions on the current owner's decision would be very difficult.
• I am paying cash for this boat. It costs <$15,000. I don't care what banks think. Plus, as I already said, this decision was basically already made - although poorly executed - by the current owner.
• This is a friggin' Catalina 250. The only way it will get to another country's waters is on a trailer or on a freighter. It is questionable whether it actually should have qualified for USCG documentation in the first place - but that was the fault of the prior prior owner.
• As a purely aesthetic matter, the transom lacks sufficient space to display the hailing port. it has a walk-through section to port, an outboard motor starboard, and a transom-mounted rudder in the middle. There's about enough room left for 18 point Helvetica. I do not want to clutter up the sides of the boat by putting a hailing port on both sides.

Ulladh and Allanbc: You win the door prize for the correct answer to my original question. Thanks!