How to Register a Boat, Explained

If you’ve never had to do it before, figuring out how to register a boat can quickly become a lot to deal with. It is, at the end of the day, a bureaucratic process that can take up too much of your time if you don’t know how to approach it or where to start. …

What is USCG and Other Pertinent Questions

Have you been researching online what you need for your vessel and found all these comments about the “USCG” but aren’t sure what is USCG? Do you feel like each of the rules for how vessels get documented are a bit hard to follow? Much of what we do at the Maritime Documentation Center is…

Consult the US Coast Guard Registry Via Lookups and Abstracts

If you own a vessel, you are probably aware of the US Coast Guard registry, which is the database where the titular agency stores all the relevant information about the registered vessels. This is not a classified archive, though, since it can be easily accessed and consulted with the right information. This is a public…

Is a USCG Certificate of Documentation Right for You and Your Vessel?

Have you been considering getting a USCG Certificate of Documentation for your vessel? Are you in the process of researching, but haven’t decided whether or not you’re going to do it yet? Not every vessel has to be documented. Some vessels must be documented, while others can be documented. We created our site for many…

Update the Hailing Port of Your Vessel with a Simple Form

The home dock for your vessel is officially known as its hailing port. This, like many different components of your boating registration, will have to be updated should things change. Let’s look into why that is and how it can be changed. The Vessel Hailing Port The vessel hailing port is, pretty self explanatorily, the…

US Coast Guard Documentation to Chart Your Own Course Your Way

Did you get US Coast Guard documentation for your vessel because you’re going to use it in a commercial endeavor? Are you “on the fence,” so to speak, about getting your vessel documented? There are any number of reasons to get your vessel documented. One of the most popular is because you’re going to use…