HELP! Canadians with US registered boats

[shabbychic]

Hi, We were reading some infor last night on your website last night. We read something that disturbs us. We are Canadians and our sailboat is a US "State Registered" vessel. We read that first, Canadians cannot document their boat in the US and second, that most countries require that your boat be "federally documented" and not "state registered". I all of the articles, books,etc.etc., I have never come across this. Does any one have any experience in this area. Thanks, Faith

[TXS-ALAMO]

Your most unbiased source of info is the U.S Coast Guard Documention Center to be found on the internet. They give a telephone number and are most gracious about answering your questions. Also, there was an article in DIY BOATS some time back about doing documentation on your own. Hope this helps.

[camaraderie]

Shabby...
You can own a boat as Canadians provided you register it in the state you keep it.
You cannot obtain federal documentation. Not available for foreigners.
Most countries (bahamas excepted) require a boat to be documented in its' home country.
If you wish travel widely in your boat you will need to register it and pay duty to Canada and change the flag.

[zpogany]

I Am A Canadian from Montreal with a Vermont registered Pearson 26. When we sailed to the Bahamas (Bimini) 4 years ago, They wanted to refuse us for two reasons: 1 the boat was not Federally documented and 2 the citizenship of the owner captain and the registration where not the same.
It took a lot of negociations ........$ to finally be granted entry to the Bahamas for a rduced number of months (3 months agains the usual 12 months). We now have imported the boat to Canada and documented it Here.
If the boat is more than 10 years old, the cost for importing is minimal.

A boat to have access to international ports has to have a (Blue Book) and a registered Name and not a provincial registration Number.

Originally Posted by shabbychic

Hi, We were reading some infor last night on your website last night. We read something that disturbs us. We are Canadians and our sailboat is a US "State Registered" vessel. We read that first, Canadians cannot document their boat in the US and second, that most countries require that your boat be "federally documented" and not "state registered". I all of the articles, books,etc.etc., I have never come across this. Does any one have any experience in this area. Thanks, Faith

[ebs001]

You can register your boat in Canada and as long as you do not bring it into Canada there is no tax nor duty. If you bring it into Canada after registering it only GST applies - no PST. If you licence it in a province PST will apply. There is no duty on boats manufactured in North America. The registration fee is around $300 a onetime payment.

[dawndreamer]

We have owned Canadian Registered boats in both France and Washington that were not duty or tax paid. You do not have to pay duty or taxes, as long as you keep the vessel outside of Canada. However, on your first entry into Canada, any duties and taxes are payable within 48 hours of landing.

[hellosailor]

Dawndreamer-
Don't you have another problem in that case? If the boat is Canadian registered (provincial or national) and being kept in US waters, don't you need a cruising permit to keep it in US waters? With a limited time duration, etc. on that? (I have a vague memory that alien vessels were only being issued a one-year cruising permit, at least once upon a time ago.)

[ebs001]

Hellosailor is right you need a cruising permit and it's good for one year. It can be renewed by going out of US waters for 14 days and it's free.

[tigerregis]

Check this "cruising permit" advice very carefully. On one trip we were advised that non- commercial boats under five net tons did NOT need a permit. The officer then said "since NONE of my fellow customs officers know this, I will give you one to protect you from their ignorance. Name, time, and place indelibly marked, oh yah, Pre 9/11.

[hellosailor]

"Cruising licenses exempt pleasure boats of certain countries from having to undergo formal entry and clearance procedures, such as filing manifests and obtaining permits, to proceed as well as from the payment of tonnage tax and entry and clearance fees at all but the first port of entry. These licenses can be obtained from the US Customs port director at the first port of arrival in the US. Normally valid for one year, a cruising license has no bearing on the dutiability of a pleasure boat. Under Customs policy, when a foreign‑flag vessel's cruising license expires, that vessel may not be issued another license until the following three conditions have been met: (1) the vessel leaves the US for a foreign port or place, and (2) it returns from that foreign port or place, and (3) at least 15 days have elapsed since the previous license expired. (Customs Directive 3100-06, November 7, 1988.)"

http://www.boatmiami.com/US_Customs_...te%20Boats.htm

Could be wrong or just out of date but several references on private sites seem to say the same thing.

the real answer should be someplace on http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/