Federal Requirements and Safety Tips for Recreational Boats

Display of Numbers

Numbers must be painted or permanently attached to each side of the forward half of the vessel. The validation stickers must be affixed within six inches of the registration number. With the exception of the vessel fee decal, no other letters or numbers may be displayed nearby.

Lettering must be in plain, vertical block characters of not less than 3 inches in height. Spaces or hyphens between letter and number groupings must be equal to the width of a letter other than "I" or a number other than "1".

Notification of Changes to a Numbered Vessel

The owner of a vessel must notify the agency which issued the certificate of number within 15 days if:

• The vessel is transferred, destroyed, abandoned, lost, stolen or recovered.
• The certificate of number is lost, destroyed or the owner's address changes.

If the certificate of number becomes invalid for any reason, it must be surrendered in the manner prescribed to the issuing authority within 15 days.

A documented vessel must have the name of the vessel and hailing port plainly marked on the exterior part of the hull in clearly legible letters not less than 4 inches in height. In addition, the documented vessel must have the "Official Number" permanently affixed in block type, Arabic numerals not less than 3 inches on some clearly visible interior structural part of the boat.