On Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:50:41 -0400, "mmc" wrote:
I won't cast aspersions on their characters but I will say that I'd rather
skip paying a brokers commision and I can find a surveyor wherever the boat
happens to be. I'd rather tour a boat with the owner than someone else (like
me) that knows nothing about it. With the cheapy TomTom in my truck, finding
a boat in an unfamiliar town isn't much of a challenge anymore either.
As for the documentation, it was recommended to me by a friend to hire a
specialist" (whatever these people are called) to do mine for a mere $400. I
downloaded and printed the form and did it myself. Saved my $400 and IIRC it
took all of about 15 minutes to prepare. I sent the forms and check to the
CG and they sent back the documentation so I must not have made too many
mistakes!

I don't remember what you call them either. My guy was a retired Coast
Guard fellow that handled the CG end of the paper work for 30 years or
so. He used to make a pretty good retirement income here doing nothing
but Documented Vessel transfers. But it wasn't very expensive. I'm
thinkin' $50 or maybe $75. Maybe they've streamlined the process
since then (25-30 years ago). But it was a pile of paper to get
through, make 2 copies of this, three copies of that, get it
notarized, mail it off, wait a week, get more paperwork back, mail it
off, etc like that. I just didn't have time for it.
Rick

wrote in message
...
On Sun, 11 Apr 2010 17:50:41 -0400, "mmc" wrote:
I won't cast aspersions on their characters but I will say that I'd rather
skip paying a brokers commision and I can find a surveyor wherever the
boat
happens to be. I'd rather tour a boat with the owner than someone else
(like
me) that knows nothing about it. With the cheapy TomTom in my truck,
finding
a boat in an unfamiliar town isn't much of a challenge anymore either.
As for the documentation, it was recommended to me by a friend to hire a
specialist" (whatever these people are called) to do mine for a mere $400.
I
downloaded and printed the form and did it myself. Saved my $400 and IIRC
it
took all of about 15 minutes to prepare. I sent the forms and check to the
CG and they sent back the documentation so I must not have made too many
mistakes!

I don't remember what you call them either. My guy was a retired Coast
Guard fellow that handled the CG end of the paper work for 30 years or
so. He used to make a pretty good retirement income here doing nothing
but Documented Vessel transfers. But it wasn't very expensive. I'm
thinkin' $50 or maybe $75. Maybe they've streamlined the process
since then (25-30 years ago). But it was a pile of paper to get
through, make 2 copies of this, three copies of that, get it
notarized, mail it off, wait a week, get more paperwork back, mail it
off, etc like that. I just didn't have time for it.
Rick

Sounds like it's been made simpler Rick. Not that much of a hassle these
days. $50- $75 wouldn't be bad but after paying for the boat a $400 (+ CG
fees) tab for something of questionable value is a hard pill to swallow. The
real value to me of documentation or rather re-documentation is in ensuring
there were no liens against the boat.