Coast Guard documentation: who qualifies and what it allows

Registration & documentation · Power & sail

Documentation is federal registration through the Coast Guard's National Vessel Documentation Center. It is optional for pleasure boats of at least 5 net tons wholly owned by US citizens. A recreational endorsement allows pleasure use only, and the original certificate must be aboard (46 CFR 67.5, 67.23, 67.313).

Who can document

• A boat of at least 5 net tons that is wholly owned by US citizens is eligible; boats under 5 net tons are excluded (46 CFR 67.5, 67.9(a); 46 U.S.C. 12103(a)).
• Net tonnage is a measured figure for the hull under federal measurement rules, not the boat's weight (46 U.S.C. 12103(a)(2); BoatUS Foundation).
• Individual owners must be US citizens. Partnerships, trusts, corporations and other entities have to meet extra citizenship tests (46 CFR 67.30, 67.33, 67.35, 67.36).
• For a pleasure boat documentation is the owner's choice; it is required only for boats of 5 net tons or more working in the fisheries or coastwise trade (46 CFR 67.5, 67.7).
• A boat can't be documented while it is documented under the laws of a foreign country (46 U.S.C. 12103(a)(3)).

What the recreational endorsement allows

• A recreational endorsement allows pleasure use only. Using the boat for anything else, such as carrying paying passengers or commercial fishing, violates the endorsement (46 CFR 67.23, 67.325; 46 U.S.C. 12114(b)).
• A boat documented only for recreation may be bareboat chartered only for recreational use; the Coast Guard advises getting private legal advice on what makes a valid bareboat charter (46 CFR 67.23).
• With a recreational endorsement you can travel between US and foreign ports without formally entering or clearing, but you must still report your arrival in the US, and everyone aboard is subject to customs rules (46 U.S.C. 12114(c)).
• A boat with only a recreational endorsement may be placed under the command of someone who is not a US citizen (46 U.S.C. 12131(b)(1)).
• Documentation serves as evidence of US nationality and allows the boat to be subject to a preferred ship's mortgage (46 CFR 67.1).

The certificate aboard

• The person in command must have the original Certificate of Documentation currently in effect on board; the rule calls for the original, not a copy (46 CFR 67.313(a)).
• Produce the original certificate when any person acting in an official public capacity asks for it (46 CFR 67.315).
• The exceptions are when the boat is in storage or out of the water, or when the certificate has been sent to the documentation center for certain exchanges, such as naming a new managing owner (46 CFR 67.313(b), 67.315(b)).
• Only a Coast Guard documentation officer may alter the certificate, so don't write corrections on it (46 CFR 67.311).

Documented boats and the state

• A documented boat is outside the federal state-numbering rules and must not show a state number; the owner removes the number and decal when the boat is documented (33 CFR 173.11(e), 173.33(a)).
• Your state may still require a documented boat to be registered, to pay state taxes and to display the state decal without the number. Washington is one state that does, so check your state's rules (BoatUS Foundation; WA Department of Licensing).

The rules: 46 CFR 67.1 · 46 CFR 67.5 · 46 CFR 67.7 · 46 CFR 67.9 · 46 CFR 67.23 · 46 CFR 67.30 · 46 CFR 67.33 · 46 CFR 67.35 · 46 CFR 67.36 · 46 CFR 67.311 · 46 CFR 67.313 · 46 CFR 67.315 · 46 CFR 67.325 · 46 U.S.C. 12103 · 46 U.S.C. 12114 · 46 U.S.C. 12131 · 33 CFR 173.11 · 33 CFR 173.33

A plain-language summary of federal rules for recreational boats, checked against the rules’ own text and a second source, and written in our own words. It isn’t legal advice. States add rules of their own, and rules change — the links above go to the current official text.