Within the last 6 months I have registered a jet ski and my little jon boat. On the jet ski I had a bill of sale and the seller worded it wrong so I had to call him back to fix it. He moved and I could not find him. The clerks office had me fill out a paper with my story and sign it and I paid sales tax on average book value. Then sent off for the registration and all was good.
On the Jon boat I had a hand written bill of sale and pay sales tax on what the bill of sale said and all was good.
I do not have the registration card. I would not give my card if I sell a boat. I don't want someone to have that info with them. What if they take it to the lake and kill someone with the boat and then just leave and all they have is my registration card?
In this link it says your boat might not have numbers if it was made before 1973. As far as the numbers I was referring to is the TN boating numbers on the bow. You will get a card about the size of a business card. My card has my name and address , certificate #'s that are on the boat and all the boating information you were wanting to find out. If you are checked on the public waters and do not have the card with your name on it then the officer might check to see if the boat is stolen. I am not sure but I think you can receive a citation for not have the proper registration with you. If you have a bill of sale the seller is no longer responsible for the boat in case of an accident. After looking at my card.....I need ro renew. It expired on the 1st. thanks for having me look.
Latest update. I just taked with Matt Majors " Investigator " with the TWRA. He looked up the TN numbers on the boat and told me it was a 2001 Smoker Craft. He is going to send me the paper work to get the number replaced and have an officer apply the number back on the boat.
The problem is. I can not find a pic of a 2001 Smoker Craft that looks like mine.
Smokercraft has many sub-brands. Some are specific to certain dealers such as Northwoods, but others like Starcraft, Starweld, Suncatcher, Slyvan, American Angler, etc are national in scope.
So I guess since there is nothing on the boat I have no true way of know exactly what it is? The main thing is I now have a Hull number and can get it registered