South Carolina registration?

Romulus

New Member
Hello all,

I'm new to Sunfish boats and sailing in general. I am trying desperately to find a decent Sunfish, but not having much luck. All of the boats I've found locally are without titles, which are required to register the boats in SC.

Everyone I have talked to (selling their Sunfish) claims that these boats don't have titles. However, our state website specifically says Sunfish boats are required to register, which to do that requires a title.

Does anyone here have experience with sailing in SC and know if you will get hassled by the department of natural resources if they see you without numbers on your boat? I'm kind of caught because I've concluded I won't find a cheap Sunfish that also has a title.. from what I gather, most people (out of state) aren't required to register them and throw the title away, or don't care enough about the law and sail anyways.

Thoughts?
 
I'm in North Carolina.. and have gone thru similiar stuff here. In NC the state will accept a bill of sale, notarized, and issue a title. It normally takes a phone call to the folks at the wildlife office, in SC that'st the SCDNR. (803) 734-3857 will get you the folks you need to talk to.

In NC, title and registration are two separate items. This state titles boats to show ownership, and allows easy transfer with reduced possibility of fraud. Then we register them, and apply the registration numbers on the bow of the vessle. This creates two distinctly different venues that we can cheerfully give our state government more money :rolleyes:.. As it turns out, if our boats are under 14 feet then we can dispense with the registration/numbers. We still may title the boat, however.

We worthless North Carolinians invade your state on a regular basis to sail places like Wylie and Murray. Sometimes we sail at the beach too. We are not held to any repressive laws that require numbers, so you won't find them on our Lasers :p As it is across the country, we are bound by the laws of our state when visiting 'abroad'.

However, I doubt your SCDNR is interested in letting you skate on any violations that you might incur, since they wont even let us North Carolina folks fish in *our* water on Wylie, even though we processed it thoroughly in our nuclear facilities before shipping it on to y'all. We have to buy a SC fishing license if there is a hint that we might be on the boarder (which runs right down the middle of the lake, for those not local). They prosecute without mercy, so you need to find out what the law says then go get you a boat.

Good luck.
 

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