Folks,
I had a hard time finding information about this process so I wanted to post what I learned so that it might help the next sailor that want's to change the name on a documented vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard part... not the ceremony part, there is plenty of info to suit your taste out there on that!
My boat was currently documented under a different name I wished to change and there was also a First Preferred Ship's Mortgage that the lender filed with the Coast Guard.
The first of two forms (available for download from the National Vessel Documentation Center's website) is the CG-4593 "APPLICATION, CONSENT, AND APPROVAL FOR WITHDRAWAL OF APPLICATION FOR DOCUMENTATION OR EXCHANGE OF CERTIFICATE OF DOCUMENTATION".
This was the most difficult form for me to complete just trying to fax it to someone at the bank who was willing to put their name and title in the box that consents to the name change. Seems there aren't many people who want to put their name on anything these days and it took about 10 days to find the right guy who took care of it for me in about an hour.
The next form, and the easy one, was the CG-1258 " APPLICATION FOR INITIAL ISSUE, EXCHANGE, OR REPLACEMENT OF CERTIFICATE OF DOCUMENTATION; REDOCUMENTATION".
This form was fairly self explanatory.
The cost was $24.00 for the CG-4593 and $84.00 for the CG-1258 for a total of $108.00 One check included for the total for both forms and you're all set.
The National Vessel Documentation Center's website also has a page to tell you what date of application they are currently working on. As of June 8, 2011 they indicate that they are clearing April 15, 2011 Recreational Vessel documentation cases, so about a two month back log.
For marking your vessel the instructions state "For recreational vessels the name and hailing port must be marked together on some clearly visible exterior part of the hull." "All markings may be made by the use of any means and materials that result in durable markings. All must be at least 4 inches in height, made in clearly legible letters of the Latin alphabet or Arabic or Roman numerals."
All that being said about markings, I walked around a few marinas and saw many, many boats not marked in this way, usually hailing port letters smaller than 4 inches or the name and hailing port not marked "together". Doesn't look like this is a big enforcement item from the Coast Guard from what I could see.
Hope this helps save some time for the other name changers out there!
DanM.
I had a hard time finding information about this process so I wanted to post what I learned so that it might help the next sailor that want's to change the name on a documented vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard part... not the ceremony part, there is plenty of info to suit your taste out there on that!
My boat was currently documented under a different name I wished to change and there was also a First Preferred Ship's Mortgage that the lender filed with the Coast Guard.
The first of two forms (available for download from the National Vessel Documentation Center's website) is the CG-4593 "APPLICATION, CONSENT, AND APPROVAL FOR WITHDRAWAL OF APPLICATION FOR DOCUMENTATION OR EXCHANGE OF CERTIFICATE OF DOCUMENTATION".
This was the most difficult form for me to complete just trying to fax it to someone at the bank who was willing to put their name and title in the box that consents to the name change. Seems there aren't many people who want to put their name on anything these days and it took about 10 days to find the right guy who took care of it for me in about an hour.
The next form, and the easy one, was the CG-1258 " APPLICATION FOR INITIAL ISSUE, EXCHANGE, OR REPLACEMENT OF CERTIFICATE OF DOCUMENTATION; REDOCUMENTATION".
This form was fairly self explanatory.
The cost was $24.00 for the CG-4593 and $84.00 for the CG-1258 for a total of $108.00 One check included for the total for both forms and you're all set.
The National Vessel Documentation Center's website also has a page to tell you what date of application they are currently working on. As of June 8, 2011 they indicate that they are clearing April 15, 2011 Recreational Vessel documentation cases, so about a two month back log.
For marking your vessel the instructions state "For recreational vessels the name and hailing port must be marked together on some clearly visible exterior part of the hull." "All markings may be made by the use of any means and materials that result in durable markings. All must be at least 4 inches in height, made in clearly legible letters of the Latin alphabet or Arabic or Roman numerals."
All that being said about markings, I walked around a few marinas and saw many, many boats not marked in this way, usually hailing port letters smaller than 4 inches or the name and hailing port not marked "together". Doesn't look like this is a big enforcement item from the Coast Guard from what I could see.
Hope this helps save some time for the other name changers out there!
DanM.
