Should you get your vessel registered, or should you get a license? Is your vessel a pleasure craft or something else? It’s absolutely understandable if you don’t know the answers to these questions. So many of these words sound very similar to each other, which can make it all that much more difficult to parse. We built our site to be a place that people can get the documentation they need, yes, but we also designed it to educate, too. You can find all of the necessary registration and Pleasure Craft License information at the National Vessel Registry Center Corp.
Fundamental Pleasure Craft License Information
A “Pleasure Craft License,” as you might imagine from the name, is a document that gives your vessel number. This is a unique, one-of-a-kind number that’s only for your particular pleasure craft. Should an emergency arise, search and rescue workers can use this number to get the information that they need. Beyond all that, it serves as a kind of identification for the vessel, too.
What Vessels Can Get This License?
Firstly, only pleasure craft can get this license. On top of that, every craft must get this license, with some exceptions. That leads to the next question: “what is a pleasure craft?” Defined loosely, a pleasure craft is one that’s used for recreation, daily living, just having a good time, that kind of thing. A pleasure craft isn’t used for commercial purposes, to transport cargo, goods, people, and so forth. While, as you might imagine, there is some “grey area” here, for the most part, people don’t use pleasure craft to make money. Your friend giving you gas money for a boat ride doesn’t count.
What Vessels Have to Get this License?
Every pleasure craft has to get this license. However, there are exceptions. For example, if a vessel utilizes an engine that has less than 7.5kW (which roughly translates to ten horsepower) then it doesn’t have to get this license. Should you decide to get vessel registration for your pleasure craft instead, then you would be exempt from getting a license. Also, this is important to keep in mind especially during the summer, you have a 90-day “grace period” on this licensing. If you got your pleasure craft in the last 90 days, then you don’t have to get that license immediately. You do, however, have to carry documentation that has your name, address, and the purchase date of the pleasure craft.
Where Can You Get this License and Registration?
As with every other form of Canadian vessel documentation that you might need, you can get it all at our site. Here, we have everything you’ll need for every stage of your vessel ownership, no matter the vessel: registration, Pleasure Craft license, small vessel registry, bareboat charters, and so much more. If you have any questions about vessel documentation, you can talk to our pros at (800) 419-9569.
