Specifications

4 5
Otherequipmentrecommendedforyoursafetyandthesafetyofyour
passengersisnotedinthesectiononVesselSafetyChecksonpage
52andintheBoater’sPre-DepartureChecklistonpage70
drowningistheNumberOnecauseofboatingfatalities
andthemostpreventableTheUSCoastGuardrecommendsthat
youalwayswearalifejacketandrequireyourpassengerstodothe
same



TherearetwomethodsofregistrationforUSrecreationalvessels
• VesselRegistration:state-issuedCertificateofNumber
• VesselDocumentation:federallydocumentedwiththe
USCoastGuard
VesselRegistration:Allundocumentedvesselsequippedwithpropul-
sionmachinerymustberegisteredinthestateofprincipaluseA
CertificateofNumberwillbeissueduponregistrationandthenumber
mustbedisplayedonyourvesselTheowner/operatorofavesselmust
alsocarrythevalidCertificateofNumberwheneverthevesselisinuse 
Whenavesselismovedtoanewstateofprincipaluse,theCertificate
remainsvalidfor60daysCheckwithyourstateboatingauthorityfor
registrationrequirementsSomestatesrequireallvesselstoberegis-
tered,includingvesselsthataremanuallypropelledandthosethatare
Coast
Guarddocumented

Numbersmustbepaintedorpermanentlyattachedtoeachsideof
theforwardhalfofthevesselThenumbersmustbereadfromleftto
right,andofacolorthatiscontrastingwiththebackgroundcolor;for
example,blacknumbersonawhitehullThevalidationsticker(s)must
beaffixedwithinsixinchesoftheregistrationnumberNootherletters
ornumbersmaybedisplayednearby
Letteringmustbeinplain,verticalblockcharactersofnotlessthan3
inchesinheightSpacesorhyphensbetweenletterandnumbergroup-
ingsmustbeequaltothewidthofaletterotherthan“I”oranumber
otherthan“1”

500m
200m
120m
100m
80m
70m
60m
50m
40m
25m
10m

1640ft
656ft
394ft
328ft
263ft
230ft
197ft
164ft
131ft
82ft
33ft

164'1/2"
65'71/2"
39'41/2"
32'93/4"
26'3”
22'111/2"
19'81/4"
16'43/4"
13'11/2"
8'21/2"
3'31/3"
FL 1234 AB
3"
FL 1234 AB
FL 1234 AB
FL 1234 AB
FL 1234 AB

PlacebeforeORafterthenumbers,
accordingtoyourstaterequirements