Do you have an interest in purchasing a recreational boat like a yacht for personal pleasure, or do you need a commercial vessel for your business? Buying a boat brand new off the showroom floor or right from the manufacturer is something that few people can afford to do when they get their first boat. Instead, looking at the aftermarket for a used boat may be the better decision for you. There are many owners looking to sell the boats they own now, and just as many brokers offering boats on behalf of owners or as used sales on their lots. If looking at the used market suits your needs, you may want to arm yourself with more data before you decide on buying anything you see and like. Accessing a list of documented vessels can help provide you with data that can play a role in your decision making.
What a Documented List Contains
The Coast Guard maintains a listing of all documented vessels past and present. If the boat you have an interest in was ever documented at any point, there would be a record of it with the Coast Guard. This record can give you the data like when the boat was constructed, what type of engine it has, who the last recorded owner of the vessel is, the status of the documentation (whether it has expired or not), and more. All these facts can influence whether or not this boat is ideal for your purposes.
Accessing the List
Naturally, you will want to know where you can access this list of documented vessels. It may almost seem like a highly guarded secret when you first start to search for it since the Coast Guard does not provide you access to the list that they maintain. Instead, you can use one of the outside websites that provide search capability of the site. Once you find a site you can use, you will need either the documentation number of the boat or the name of the boat to do your search. You can type in the information you have and get the results so that you can find the important data you want.
Once You Have Used the List of Documented Vessels
Once you have accessed the list of documented vessels and learned what you want to, you may move ahead with purchasing the boat you saw. After you make your purchase, make sure to come to us at the Maritime Documentation Center so that we can help you with documenting the vessel and its new ownership. You will see that we have all the Coast Guard forms you may need on our site so you can enter information online instead of using a paper form you have to mail. We make accomplishing tasks with the Coast Guard faster and easier for you so that you experience fewer problems and can get the paperwork you need to be done finished. Our help lets you spend more time enjoying and using your new boat instead of worrying about forms and paperwork.