So here's an update on my quest to secure a title and registration. You can check out post #187834 for a little background but basically, The 1981 H16 I purchased recently, had no title or registration.

I found this out only after the boat was all loaded up and ready to go. I wasn't to concerned about the boat, as I was pretty sure a non motorized sail boat didn't need it, but the trailer was a bit of a concern. Even though the guy told me that small boat trailers no longer needed to be registered, I new that was not correct.

Since it still had the tag from the owner previous to the guy I bought it from, I figured I could contact him or do the homemade trailer deal. Well that took a little work but was fairly easy to accomplish. The boat on the other hand was a totally different story.

While I'm inquiring about the procedure for getting the trailer registered, the girl at the tag office also says that yes the boat (as of just recently) did have to be registered if it was 16' or over.

I had to have a wildlife officer come do an inspection on the boat and apply for a title. The guy felt it wouldn't be an issue and had me get an affidavit from the previous two owners stating that the boat had never been registered. The owner previous to that was from Georgia and the officer couldn't find where it had ever been registered in his name either.

He didn't think I had any cause for concern and he would recommend that a title be issued, but that if it was denied, it would be much more complicated. He also stated that selling the boat without the title was illegal and that the guy who sold it to me could get in some trouble if somebody wanted to press the issue.

Well yesterday (six weeks later) I get a 15 page document from Florida Fish and Wildlife stating that they can not issue a title and I must submit form TL-07 which is an application for certificate of title with alternate proof of ownership and securing a court order awarding ownership.

Can you believe this? What the heck do I do now?

Man, I got this for a stress reliever and so far it has been anything but that.

Five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Various states have different rules, during different years in the past too! If there is any logic behind all this it is to keep people from selling "hot" boats. If you keep that is mind, it helps you hold on through the process.

An appraisal of the boat might help. Just to show that its value is low and that you are in fact "re-habbing" it. Might cause common sense to kick in...

It will work it out!

Wow, this is exactly what happened to me when I went to register my Capricorn six months back in Cali. I had no pink slip as the boat was bought from a guy who lived in Canada but raced in the USA w/ no domestic title.
I had a bill of sale and the importers Statement of Origin but DMV would not accept this as acceptable proof of ownership. I ended up having to go to the US customs office in Los Angeles and have a secretary comb through a dozen files before she came across the original customs form for the cargo container the cat was shipped in (three years prior). I also had to call the Capricorn dealer who placed the original order with AHPC and have a faxed copy of their invoice attached with the form. 90 days later I finally received Cali tags.
By the way did I mention they had no problem taking my $500 registration fee prior to any of my searching. I'll never understand the government thought process.

Best of luck...

Wow, I will be keeping an eye on this thread. I am pretty much in the same exact position. I just bought a old 1979 Hobie 16 with trailer and found out after getting the boat ready to go that he didnt have a title for the trailer or boat. Let us know what happens.

And we both live in Florida....lets figure this out!

I'm no expert but how about you export it to a friend in Mexico or some Caribbean island and buy it back again?
Dennis

you should be able to title a trailer as a "custom" home made one if needed in fl. You may need to buy some "parts" to prove it is custom. I had no problem doing this 10 years ago, and a friend did recently as well.. but don't look like a punk at the tax office or they may deny you.

I have yet to see anyone get a ticket or even a warning ing fl for no tags on any cat... but... as you said... it is now the law...

See Karl's post "tenn sailors" and see his recent issues... you may end up in his boat (willing to get a few tickets before it equals the trouble/cash" of registration.

I expect to be in the same boat with my canadian mystere that has changed hands many times...

I bought an unregistered boat with untitled trailer in VA. To register the boat in NC I had to have a notarized bill of sale, I also did the same thing for the trailer. The trailer was more complicated but basically just involved filling out lots of forms and taking out an indemnity bond for 1.5x the value of the trailer (of course the smallest indemnity bond an insurance company will sell is $10K but it only costs $50). The biggest hassle was that each person at DMV I talked to (I went there 4 different times) would tell me a different thing and make me fill the forms out again and even go to a different DMV location, which was not simple since the insurance agent had to sign everything again too.

You might try contacting your state congressman, seantors and enlist their help. They gave us this problem. Explain the problems your having in trying to comply with the law.

In the mean time go sailing. No one here has had a problem yet.

Believe it or not you might have better luck trying different tag offices. I bought a used motorcycle trailer once and had problems getting a tag in Pinellas. I went to Pasco and had no problems.

Fla. did this with dirt bikes a few years back and all they wanted to see was the vin# to see if it was stolen.

Unless the law has changed boats under 20 feet without power do not need to be registered. Perhaps they have you confused with a powerboat. Most of the people just assume powerboat rules.

The law has changed.. in aug (supposedly). the law used to read (non powered) boats 16' and up need to be titled and over 20' registered. it is now 16 and above need both. H16's are technically 16and change.

So far in my 10 years sailing cats.. and owning 3 i have met 1 person who actually has a title... and i have seen only 1 cat with FL reg numbers on it

Looks like they will need to grandfather a whole bunch of us in!

So from reading this I guess in the future my first question when buying a used boat is; do you have the title in you hands and is it in your name?

Interesting thread. In Oregon a boat must be registered. Even our old decrepit Sunfish has numbers. I do not know what the minimum length is for registration. I have been stopped on a lake twice in the last 10 years while sailing. Once on my P-16 and once on my P-15. Both times I had a temporary renewal while waiting for my new stickers. I carry my registration in a waterproof plastic container, about the size of a 35mm film canister. I almost got dinged many years ago with the Sunfish sitting on the beach with out of date stickers.

Fortunately the previous Prindle owner had the title when I purchased it. I have seen people without titles try to register a car or trailer, and it was a real hastle. I assume doing a boat would be just as bad.

dan

Actually the trailer was pretty easy. I just had to have the guy (previous to the guy I bought it from) send me a bill of sale for the trailer since he had previously registered it. He was very cooperative.

The boat on the other hand will now apparently require a court order of ownership for issuance of a certificate of title. Even though it appears that this boat has never been registered since 1981 and has been through at least three previous owners.

I understand the whole issue of stolen boats, but this is clearly not even a question in this case.

Even the Game Warden said it was pretty cut and dry, and that he couldn't see me having any trouble considering his background check on the previous ownership and his recommendation that it should be approved.

What a pain in the A**! Wonder what this is going to cost?

Can your class association or sailing authority help? This is the sort of thing your sailing authorities should be lobbying government about.

One way around this puzzle would be to buy a dead boat of the same model that IS registered, then blend the parts together as a hybrid boat, under the registered boat's papers. You may have to re-etch the hull I.D. -That might be considered a type of forgery, but it is probably not provable if you don't blab about what you did. Or you could just resin it over as part of a re-hab and plead dumb, if asked. The only REAL problem is, this kind of stuff works with stolen boats, too. If low-lifers wouldn't steal things, the world would be a lot less complicated.

There is no "clause for grandfathering in", at least not publicly in the Fl boat reg/title websites..
http://www.flhsmv.gov/dmv/faqboat.html#8

I think some of us will end up in Karl's boat soon .. (Karl, bring extra drinks)

Agreed, as noted above it is actually illegal to sell (or buy) a boat without a title in fl

I am willing to bet they care more about balancing the state budget than their worries about stolen sailboats... in these deficits they are looking to squeeze any penny they can...

YES BIG PITA.. but i was shocked that there was no reg/title requirements to begin with