Sailing a Florida Sunfish in New Jersey Waters

A

akaGreg

New Member
My Father purchased a Sunfish in NJ in 1977, after a few years of use it sat unused in his back yard in NJ before he moved to Florida. During the time it was in use in NJ there was no requirement to register the boat and so it was never registered. Currently Sunfish Sailboats are supposed to be registered in NJ.

If he were to trailer it back to NJ for a month or two of use in New Jersey's waters, would it have to be registered in NJ? His permanent residence is in FL where no registration is necessary to operate a Sunfish.

From my interpretation of the NJ DMV website, I do not think it would need to be registered. Like any other vehicle crossing state lines, as long as the boat does not stay in NJ permanently. As long as it is not used in NJ for longer than 180 days.


From NJ DMV: Boats and marine equipment that do not have to be registered
  • Those not based in New Jersey or operating for less than 180 consecutive days.


The problem is, this boat is not registered in FL because no registration is required. If challenged out on the water, how would I prove it is a Florida based boat and not a NJ boat, there are no registration numbers or decals?

Thank you for your thoughts.
-Greg
 
signal charlie said:
Just show Florida license?
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That'd be my answer.

Just in case the boat "got away", though, I'd engrave some kind of permanent identifying number on it, such as your Florida driver's license number. That would also "seal the deal" on NJ's generous 180-day exemption.
 
Thank you for the suggestions. Perhaps I'll keep a copy of my father's drivers license on hand for when I am using the boat just in case. The boat does have a permanant hull number stamped in the back.
 
L&VW said:
That'd be my answer.

Just in case the boat "got away", though, I'd engrave some kind of permanent identifying number on it, such as your Florida driver's license number. That would also "seal the deal" on NJ's generous 180-day exemption.
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What is the 180 day exemption and does it still exist....?? Haha
 
I am just learning, but I am NJ resident. I have recently joined a local yacht club and they have never bothered with registering their small boats and never had a problem on the bay.

That being said. If you try to take the boat to state or maybe some local parks to sail in a lake then the Sunfish is over 12' and you may be required to have it registered. At least that is from my possibly incorrect reading of the state laws/ rules.
 
shorefun said:
I am just learning, but I am NJ resident. I have recently joined a local yacht club and they have never bothered with registering their small boats and never had a problem on the bay.

That being said. If you try to take the boat to state or maybe some local parks to sail in a lake then the Sunfish is over 12' and you may be required to have it registered. At least that is from my possibly incorrect reading of the state laws/ rules.
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Interesting to know! I have been sailing at the Assunpink wildlife mgmt preserve and spoke with a NJ Wildlife Conservation Police officer told me all i needed was the boat ramp permit for $15.
 
I've sailed at Round Valley, Spruce Run and Swartswood lake in my unregistered Super porpoise, never any issues with John Q Law. As long as it's a small sail boat and your not causing any trouble for anyone else I can see it as a problem. YMMV. Assunpink is usually a 'you must be fishing' to use the water place, good to know you sailed there, i'll have to give it a try.
The 180 day rule is for when you have a boat that has to be reqistered and you are visiting or move here from another state. If you had, lets say, a 43 foot sailboat worth about a million smackers, the state would be a lot more interested in knowing if you boat is in NJ waters for more than 180 days. Your sunfish, not so much.
 
Amtorske said:
Do you know of any good places to launch for Barnegat Bay? Hoping to try it out this summer
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There are two ramps that I believe are both public on LBI. Ship Bottom's ramp is public, but I don't know if there is a fee or parking charges, and I assume it is mostly powerboats launching there - don't know if it is suited to Sunfish. There is also a public ramp (I think) right next to the Barnegat Light YC in Harvey Cedars that would be perfect for dolly launching. I know there is a small parking lot, but I don't know the rules about parking there. The HC ramp and that part of the bay would be more suited to Sunfish if you can park there. There would be less powerboat congestion and much more open water right off of the ramp.
 
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