Now that Elizabeth Lynn is pretty much ready for the water and comfortably resting on her trailer at our home in Virginia, I had to make her “official.” Not that she wasn’t official, or that she hadn’t been brought into existence by Samantha and me, but in this day and age, nothing is official until it exists on paper (or electronically, in some database or archive somewhere!).
Where to begin? How do I make my new boat a legal entity?
Where to Begin
A quick Google search of “who regulates boating in Virginia” revealed that the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) regulates boating in my state (among other things like fishing, hunting, and other outdoor recreational activities). Learning this, I decided to take a look at their website to figure out what to do next. If you happen to be building a boat in Virginia and need to register it, please visit DGIF’s website at: https://www.dgif.virginia.gov.
Source Documents
I navigated to the DGIF website and found that it was relatively straightforward to find how to register and title a boat that was already titled and/or registered in Virginia. It was a little more difficult to figure out how to process an application for a home built boat.
Luckily, the DGIF website has a pretty good section on how to register and title a boat, as well as an informative Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, and after a few minutes snooping around, I figured out what I was supposed to do. Here is the link to the DGIF webpage concerning registering and titling your boat in Virginia: https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/boating/registration/procedure/. If you follow the link, the section on “Required Supporting Documents” points you to what documentation is required for a new vessel. From the website:
“If watercraft was homemade by you, an affidavit must be provided stating this fact in lieu of a Manufacturer’s or Importer’s Certificate of Origin. Copies of receipts from building materials must be submitted with the Application. (Your watercraft may be subject to inspection by a law enforcement officer.)”
Basically, since my boat was home built by me, I had to complete a form that informed the DGIF that I built the boat. The form is actually titled “Statement for Registering and Titling a Motorboat Not Previously Registered and/or Titled.” That sounds exactly like my situation, so I printed out the form and checked it out. I was a little unnerved about having my boat inspected by a law enforcement officer, but I’ll deal with that eventuality if it comes!
I am obviously the original owner of the boat, so the left-hand column of the form applied to my situation. I examined it closer and saw that there was a spot to check off that applied to me. You can see on the form above that #3 applies to me: “This vessel was homebuilt by me. I have attached copies of receipts for building materials if available.”
Finally, the application also required pictures of the boat from all sides. This got me thinking, a boat only has two sides, but this says “all sides.” I defaulted to taking four pictures to send in with my application: two of the port and starboard sides and two of the bow and stern of the boat. Hopefully whomever processes my application enjoys these pictures of my new little dory.
One Problem
I had the right form, and I had the pictures I needed, but I was missing some key information. Receipts? I scratched my head. I built this boat over the course of the past three years, here and there, a little bit at a time, until it eventually got to this point. Did I keep the receipts? Nope.
I did have some of them available online, since I had ordered several of the building materials online via Amazon.com (epoxy, fiberglass, paint, etc.). But I did not have receipts for the lumber and fasteners and I was unable to find them archived online through my various accounts. What was I supposed to do now?
Moving Forward
I decided that I would make an honest attempt to inform DGIF how much it cost for me to build Elizabeth Lynn. I used the receipts I had via Amazon.com and coupled them with an estimate of the rest of the building materials I had purchased over the years. I figured this was the best figure I was going to get, so I compiled my expenses, both from receipts and from estimates, into an estimated building cost for my boat.
This was an amusing process, since I hadn’t kept track of how much the boat cost in the end. This endeavor was all about learning and eventually having a small boat that I could get out on the water with, not about being frugal and building a boat on the cheap. So how much did it end up costing me?
The boat cost about $750.00 in materials. I know I probably spent more than that in mistakes, new tools, and expendable items (like sandpaper, saw blades, etc.), but a solid estimate from the materials list on the plans provided by Jeff Spira at www.spirainternational.com resulted in about $750.00. Now that figure doesn’t account for the time I spent building the boat, but the fun I had building it far outweighed any relative monetary equivalency for my time.
I ultimately determined that DGIF uses this figure to impose a 2% tax on the cost to build the boat. For me, that equated to $15.00. I’m sure there are ways to prove that I paid sales tax on all these building materials in an effort not to pay the 2% tax, but I’m a supporter of organizations like DGIF, so I didn’t mind paying the small tax in the end. This tax is added to all the other fees I encountered during the application for Title and Registration. I’ll highlight the overall expenses below.
Application for Title and Registration
Having completed the form that documents my vessel as homebuilt, I moved on to the next form, which was the application for Title and Registration. This form was straightforward and I filled out the applicable information. Note the back page – where the taxes and fees get imposed!
What did it Cost?
As you can see in the last page of the form, the taxes and fees are summed. I measured my boat at just over 16 feet, so I assumed a registration fee of $36.00. I also added in the $10.00 titling fee for a new title. Finally, I added in the $15.00 watercraft sales tax. I was a little fuzzy on whether this applied to my situation or not, but for a nominal tax, I just paid it in hopes that my application gets approved (and hopefully without a law enforcement officer showing up at my house!). So in total, the boat cost me $61.00 to register and title, assuming the DGIF approves my application.
So I completed all the forms, compiled my pictures of Elizabeth Lynn, my building materials receipts and estimates, and the final check, and I mailed all of it to the DGIF headquarters in Henrico, Virginia. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the application is approved in short order and I can get the appropriate numbers to apply to the boat. From there, she’ll officially be a boat and ready to hit the water for the first time!