Owning a boat is a true privilege, and it is one that everyone should be able to enjoy if they so wish. When you have your own vessel, you have the freedom to venture out on the lake or river whenever you would like, affording you the opportunity to make lasting memories with your family, friends, and loved ones. Of course, over the duration of your life, your needs may change and evolve. This is also true for the functionality that you are looking to get out of your boat. Maybe your kids have gone away for college and you no longer need such a large vessel? Perhaps you have new grandkids coming into the fold and you are looking to upgrade to something with more seating? Regardless of the circumstances that have you looking to offload your boat, chances are you will be able to get a fair price on the secondary market. If you have found yourself in such a situation, it may be wise to learn how to write a bill of sale for a boat. By understanding how you can satisfy your paperwork requirements as a seller, you can ensure a more smooth and more timely transaction for the sale of your boat.
As you likely know, boating can be an expensive hobby. There are docking fees, maintenance costs, and Transport Canada licensing expenses that you need to consider. Not to mention, the sticker price on brand-new boats can be exorbitant. For this reason, Canada is home to a sizable used boat market. This allows new boaters on a budget to get a great deal while allowing boat owners to sell their vessels at a fair price. If you are thinking about selling your boat, you will want to take some measures to market it. Whether you are listing it on Craigslist, or a trade publication, you will want to provide clear photographs of your boat along with engaging marketing copy that boasts of its selling points. Once you have a buyer, and you have agreed on a price, you will then want to learn how to write a bill of sale for a boat. Read on to discover how you can complete this process online using our simplified forms.
How to Write a Bill of Sale for a Boat: Registered Vessels
At this juncture, you may be asking yourself, “What exactly is a bill of sale?” Well, you can think of a bill of sale as essentially a receipt for your boat. Just as you would receive a receipt for buying groceries or clothing, a similar process plays out for transactions involving vessels. A bill of sale for a boat will typically be a bit more involved than just a standard receipt, however. The exact type of bill of sale you will require for your transaction will largely come down to how your boat is currently documented with Transport Canada.
In Canada, if your vessel is used for any kind of business activity, such as commercial fishing or tour charters, you will need to register it with Transport Canada. This is also the case if a vessel is financed with a marine mortgage, or if it will be travelling on international waters while flying the Canadian flag. To register a vessel, there are a few pieces of documentation that you will need to submit to Transport Canada. First, you will need to fill out Form 1 – Application for Vessel Registry. Then, you will need to complete Form 3 – Statement of Qualification for Vessel Registration. Finally, you will need to package together colour photographs of all four sides of your boat and provide a tonnage measurement to Transport Canada.
When a registered vessel is sold in Canada, you will need to complete what is called a Form 6 – Bill of Sale. This document will prompt you for the name, official number, and port of registry for the vessel in question. You will also need to fill in the names and addresses of the buyer and seller. Once both parties have signed this document, it can be submitted to Transport Canada for processing. You can complete this process in one of two ways. One option is to visit Transport Canada’s website, locate the appropriate PDF for a Form 6 – Bill of sale, download it, print it out, fill it in by hand, and mail it to Transport Canada’s offices in Ottawa for processing. There is also an easier way–you can work with us at the National Vessel Registry Center to fill out your Form 6 – Bill of Sale online.
We Have the Online Forms You Need
At the National Vessel Registry Center, we make it easy to process your Transport Canada documents online. Simply locate the web form you need from our navigation menu, and you can submit your documents via our SSL-encrypted web portal with just a few clicks. To learn more, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.
