brian, painting a Rolls-Royce symbol on a Yugo may be okay in Slovinia, but it
ain't nowhere elsein.

the discussion was about a non-citizen buying a US documented boat in the US
and sailing it in the US and waters around and back to Europe. he can't do
that. He can fake, maybe (as your Dalmatians do for Dalmatian reasons), but he
will get his boat siezed if caught by the USCG and/or seriously fine by most
countried if he tries to enter on faked or forged papers.

How long, brian, do *you* think *you* would last driving a Yugo with fake
Dalmatian license plates around the US? What would happen when some cop Idaho
stopped you and asked you for your Dalmatian driver's license, for only
Dalamatians are allowed to use Dalmatian docoumented cars (if a Yugo can be
called a car).

What would I expect? You ask, an international incident, probably. Even if
you are right it, seems to me that it would be a disproportionate action
that would bring the US government into further international opprobium. A
bully-boy action on a small country for something that should, certaily
could, be settled by diplomacy.

I am only reporting what I saw and heard - that many, many Slovenians are
sailing their boats south in the Adriatic to Croatia (their own coastline is
only around 50nm) where I was cruising at the time, and flying the US flag,
sometimes with a number purporting to be a registration number beginning
with "DL". That a Slovenian skipper/owner (not a Dalmation, that's a dog and
an adjective for a Croatian archipeligo) admitted to me that he paid for US
registration to circumvent his country's swingeing (according to him) tax
laws on imported boats.

My post was neither condoning nor condemning, merely commenting on a
relevant thread. They may be contravening a US law in US waters -
internationally, hmmm, I dunno; maybe you're right.

BrianH.


JAXAshby wrote:

brian,

a.) anyone can register a boat in any state. registering is different
from documenting, and

b.) anyone can hoist any flag they choose on their boat. however,
any boat with a US flag can legally be boarded by the USCG, at gun
point if necessary, anywhere in the world. boats claiming to be US
flagged but aren't can, and likely would be, siezed. that the USCG
has few cutters in the area Dalmatia does not change that.

c.) if the German speaking Dalmatian meant that someone formed a US
corp in Delaware and then documented his boat with that corp as the
owner, yes this can be done. However, the vessel still MUST be
operated by aUS citizen in command. If it isn't and the USCG stops
the boat the boat will be siezed and at the least the documentation
will be revoked.

what would you expect, dood?

Jax, I spoke (in German, after he failed to understand my English)
to one of the owners while waiting for the village post office to
open on one of the small Dalmatian islands last summer, we were
neighbours in the anchorage there; he said he had registered his
yacht in Delaware for $100. It seems there are companies, sometimes
a single lawyer, who facilitate this service.

This must be a thriving business from the number of US ensigns I saw
- it
was clear who were genuine US boats and who were Slovenian from the
size of the ensign - the latter were using smaller, courtesy flags,
presumably the only type available locally.

Best,

BrianH


JAXAshby wrote:
Brian, they may be registered in say South Carlolina but they are
not, can not, be US documented and operated by non-citizens.

That some countries allow their citizens to register some boat with
some state
-- and then ignores the international conventions -- in no way means
that some county -- say Brazil or Italy or Singapore -- will accept
it as the same as US federal documentation.

close, but a couple of points

boats can be "registered" with a state (New York, Alabama,
California, Guam, etc), and usually have to be to kept in use in
that
state for some period of time. you do not need to be a US citizen
to register or use a boat in any state. mostly, you just have to
pay
your fees. state registration is usually not recognized by
national governments of the world.


There are many US registered yachts in the Adriatic - owned and
sailed by Slovenian nationals; everywhere down the Croatian coast
there are Ol' Glory ensigns flying on ships with no one speaking
English on board.

Slovenia, now a EU member state, has high import tarifs for
recreational
boats (to protect their own industry, Elan in particular) and many
Slovenians register their new imported craft in Delaware - it's a
cottage industry there.

Imagine, the USA, a flag of convenience country.

BrianH.