CONTINUOUSWAVE

In Florida the 1964 Nauset five digit stenciled hull ID number is not acceptable to the Florida department of motor vehicles as a registration number. The DMV will generate a HIN. I can get and display state hull registration numbers. Further, I am to install a metal plate on the transom with the new state-generated HIN identity.

The boat will then be categorized as a home-built hull and not a Boston Whaler boat.

Q1: will the home-built designation negatively affect the value of the boat?

Q2: is this a common occurrence with antique boats?

Q3: is re-issuing a new HIN generally accepted by those looking for an old classic Boston Whaler boat?


Advice is welcome.

Dave_a

It is not a concern.

Any boat built in the United States of America in 1964 would never have been given a federal hull identification number by the boat builder. The federal regulation requiring a boat builder to attach a hull identification number conforming to the federal numbering format did not come into affect until November 1972.

See the FAQ for more details at

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/FAQ/#Q2

There is little to no chance you are going to be able to change the policy of your state’s boat registration agency.

I doubt a buyer who was aware of Florida’s handling of this situation would have any legitimate reason to require you to reduce your selling price, if and when you decide to sell the boat.

If you are not going to use the boat, and just want to sell it, then sell it and let the buyer worry about registering the boat in his state.

There are vagaries in different state DMV registration procedures. In New York, their DMV retains the manufacturer's name. In Florida, a Boston Whaler gets the designation "homemade.” Both states generate a random identification number that has no direct relationship to the hull stencil number.

I could register in New York, but I would have to appear in person and with eights points of identification. I've beat the horse at both state DMV. I'm going to have to register in Florida. Good bye Whaler, hello home built.

Dave_a wrote:Both states generate a random identification number that has no direct relationship to the hull stencil number.

On a Boston Whaler boat the stencil number never has a correspondence to the federal hull identification number other than a chance coincidence. The two identities are created using entirely separate schemes.