Going Through Boat Registration

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 forget to register their boats and find themselves faced with stiff fines when are caught boating without registration paperwork. Unfortunately, many people aren’t aware of this and end up paying stiff fines when they take their boat out and get caught boating without valid registration.


The DMV places boats into one of two categories: non-powered boats and powered boats. Any and all powered boats, even boats that are non-powered but have auxiliary power units, must be registered if they are going to be used on any water of the state. “Water of the state” – as in, water the state has claim to – is defined as all rivers, lakes, and streams no matter how big or small and all salt water that’s within 3 miles of land. In other words, if you plan to use your boat anywhere, it has to be registered with the DMV of that state or your home state by law.


The fees that you pay for going through the boat registration process are not large at all, especially when compared to how much it costs to register some other vehicles. For all powered boats, regardless of size, the fee for boat registration is only $24.00. For non-powered boats, the fee is only $10; however, non-powered boats have not been legally required to be registered since June of 2004, so the choice is up to the boat’s owner. However, always remember that if you choose to remove your boat’s power source, you cannot obtain a refund for your registration fee; and if you add a power source to a boat, you must immediately register the change and pay the DMV’s $24.00 registration fee if you intend to use it.


To complete a boat registration, there are some steps you must go through. First, you need to complete the boat registration application that can be obtained either from the DMV office or printed from most DMV websites. Then, you must make sure you have your boat’s bill or sale or its invoice as well as the registration fee ready. Then, you simply go to the DMV office, turn in the paperwork and fee and the boat is legally registered.