Linkzi wrote:
Being employed in search and rescue, when an unattended boat is found adrift, how do we contact the owner? Yes, the registration number on the hull will speed up the investigation process by calling the phone numbers on the registration or we send someone to their home address.
Well, if there was a very cheap - and preferably permanent or at least multi-year (i.e. I don't have to go to the tag agent every year) - registration option for craft otherwise not required to register, that'd be fine. (Though I still don't like putting the letters on the hull!)
Oklahoma is actually working toward that, a couple years ago they dropped registration for kayaks and canoes. Now there is an amendment in the legislature that would allow optional registration for a "convenience fee" - the bill proposed just a couple bucks or something, though with the tag agents' fee it'll probably be more like $8/yr by the time they're done. Not bad, if it passes.
I feel like the Islands are in a gray area, they (sorta) meet the definition of "canoe/kayak" in the statute - vessel that comes to a point on both ends, propelled by a paddle (yeah, I use a paddle about 0.05% of the time the TI is in the water...) and I've even had a lake ranger refer to it as a kayak, but I feel it's really more sailboat and here sailboats must be registered. If they pass this amendment I'll register the TI that way and feel a bit more "legit"...