The Procedures of Boat Registration

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Many people don't realize at first that, just like with a car or truck or motorcycle, you have to get a boat registered at the DMV. The government wants to keep track of how many cars, trucks and motorcycle are on its roads and it also wants to ensure that everyone driving has car insurance; this is their way of ensuring that. Many people are shocked to learn that the same rules apply to boats – before they can be used, they have to be registered with the DMV, just like any other vehicle. In fact, so many people are unaware of this that it's not uncommon for people to get fined because they are piloting a boat that is not registered!

When it comes to boats, there are two types, non-powered and powered; only one of these types has to be registered by law. Powered-boats are defined as any boat that has a power source; it can be a large power system or even a small auxiliary source of power, it doesn't matter, they're all considered powered boats. The law states that any powered boat that's used in water of the state must first be registered with the DMV; "water of the state" is any stream, lake or pond regardless of size and all of the salt water up until three miles out. Those types of boats are the types that must go through the boat registration process with the DMV by law; not doing so can result in stiff penalties.

And in fact, boat registration is not very difficult or expensive, especially when you consider what goes into registering some other types of vehicles like motorcycle or large trucks. For all powered boats, regardless of size, the fee for boat registration is only $24.00. For non-powered boats, which haven't been required to be registered since June of 2004, the fee is only $10 and is entirely voluntary. Bear in mind that if you remove the boat's power source at any time, there will be no refunds of this fee; if you add a power source, however, you must submit paperwork to the DMV notifying them of the change and pay the $24 boat registration fee.

The boat registration process is actually very simple to complete. First, you must complete the DMV's boat application paperwork, which can be either picked up at the DMV or printed out from most DMV websites. Then, you'll need to obtain a copy of the boat's bill of sale or its invoice and have the application fee ready to be handed in. Then you simply take all the paperwork down to the DMV and register the boat.