Here I don't think they understand CG regs. And I don't want to be hassled. Im not saying there is ever any Drinking going on but

I applied for mine in Nov, and just got it back last week. Mine had been Documented in the US then went to Canada, and now that it is back they still used the original doc numbers from when it was first documented here. The whole process went much better that I thought it would.

Should take about 4 months if it was like mine.

Exactly what I'm worried about. I HIGHLY doubt any of the water cops around me will even have heard of coast guard documentation let alone understand why I'm not displaying State of Michigan MC numbers

Believe it or not most of them get it.

I didn't want any ting on the bow at all. Ohio still makes you have a sticker but wI'll let you put it in a different place I have mine on the side. Here is a good pic of it[IMG][/IMG]

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You are correct. I bought my boat in May and didn't get documents until end of August. Was boating on Torch Lake and got pulled over for guess what..... no MC numbers and sticker. Explained my situation to the water cops and they looked at me like I was the man from Mars. I had the documentation from the previous owner and copies of my transfer request, but they still felt the need to give me the third degree. After a half hour of being hassled they let me go with a warning. Haven't been back to Torch since. Good luck.

Torch LK,

I live in southeast Michigan and ran into the same dilemma as yourself. I bought a boat from Minnesota (title state) and was transferring boat ownership to Michigan (title state). Since I took a loan out on boat purchase, I was required by my financial institution to register my boat with CG (ship mortgage) because boat was over 25 FT in length. Before starting the long and pain CG process, I went to Michigan Secretary Of States Office with previous owners Minnesota Title and original "Bill of Sale". I paid sales tax, titled and register the boat in my name (just like registering a car in Michigan). Michigan Secretary Of States Office also gave me my MC #'s and registration sticker on the spot. After receiving my Michigan Title in the mail 10 days later I then started the CG registration process. I refused to give the bank or CG my newly issued Michigan Title.(I sent coast CG copy of Michigan Title in my Name). The CG and states don't communicate when it comes to dual registering your boat (in my experience). Once I paid my boat load off (5 years later), bank sent me my release-of-lien letter. I took release-of-lien letter from bank and Michigan Title (I kept in hand) to Michigan Secretary Of State office and had them reissue title with Secured Party Interest removed from title (only cost $15.00). After that was done I let my CG registration lapse.I always just renew MC registration every three years with the state.

My experience is the same as most others have stated. For a normal lake-boat, It's just not worth it unless you plan to be squeaky clean EVERY time you operate due to the ongoing chance to be pulled over for lack of state # questioning. That's the bottom line. That means extinguishers, whistle, !DRIVER!, etc.. You CAN still go buy state registration numbers (at least I was able to in OK) but then what was the point of the CG Docs? The only positive to CG docs I could see is easier to finance. Some banks like it, some don't seem to care.. Banking membership history probably has a lot to do with that.

With regards to time to receive completed documentation, I had the same experience as others. Took about four months for the docs to come in going through LOZ Documentation. If you're boating during that time, a copy of the previous owner's docs are sufficient. If you go through a company such as LOZ, they supply a temporary usage cert until the docs come in.