Page 1 of 1

Registration - MA sailor in NH

PostPosted: Mon May 04, 2015 3:46 pm
by diffusion
I live in MA, and as such, do not have to register my DS because it has no motor. So does this mean I can't go over the border and sail on a lake in NH, which apparently requires registration for any sailboat over 12'? I'd rather not bother registering it.

Re: Registration - MA sailor in NH

PostPosted: Mon May 04, 2015 4:03 pm
by K.C. Walker
It is the live free or die state not sail for free state.… I have to register my Sunfish! Not long ago Connecticut was considering making people register their kayaks! … What's next, registering surfboards?

Re: Registration - MA sailor in NH

PostPosted: Mon May 04, 2015 5:53 pm
by GreenLake
You appear out of luck, because, had you registered your boat in MA, it would have been exempt from NH registration if used there for less than 30 days (consecutively). The way their regulation is written, it seems to not cover the case of visiting boats from states with different registration requirements. ...

Re: Registration - MA sailor in NH

PostPosted: Mon May 04, 2015 7:19 pm
by diffusion
Oh well, I pretty much figured that was the case.

I can't believe I actually found an area where Massachusetts demonstrates LESS government control and intrusion than another state! :lol:

Re: Registration - MA sailor in NH

PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2015 12:34 pm
by GreenLake
It's the interaction of rules; there's an attempt in the NH case to accept out-of-state registrations for visitors, but they were sloppy in drafting the rule and forgot to cover the case where the boat is from out of state but not require to be registered there.

I checked around, and there are states that have much more detailed rules, but some have much longer grace periods, or base them on non-residency in the state.