No papers ... what to do ?

[danny_boy]

Hi guys,

firstly just to introduce myself. My names Dan, I live and fish in Spain on the river Ebro

I have a little dilema, well 2 actually. I have had a boat which I purchased second hand from the UK in 2005. It was really tatty and I payed not alot at all for it from a respected boat yard. I bought it to Spain and worked my ass off on it to get it up and running.

The problem I have is that it has no identification plate on it at all, never had one from when I bought it. To register it here in Spain I need some kind of number plate on the boat etc. Sorry if thats a bit vague but im really not upto scratch with the boating terminology !

Does anyone know what route to take to get my boat an identity ? What happens when you build a boat from scratch, would you apply for an ID for your vessle ?

My other dilema is that I also have a nice Mercury 30hp efi with no paper work what so ever. My friend bought the engine with all the correct papers and sold it onto me with nothing and he has no contact with the guy he bought it from as it was a private sale. Is there anything I can do to rectify this and get paper work for the engine ?

Well, anyone who has taken the time to read all of that is worthy of a huge pat on the back and my gratitude goes out to all who do !

Thanks for your time guys, hope someone can help me out on this one ?

regards,
Danny

 

[Tranona]

Can't help with what the Spanish authorities require as identity, but it is common in older boats for there to be no means of identifying your specific boat, although that was changed relatively recently. Never has been a real problem in UK because it is not compulsory to register boats. If you do register a boat in the UK there is no formal check on ID with the simple register and on the full register it is based primarily on ownership and registration of the name

You should have a bit more luck with your engine as it should have a plate with ID showing type and a unique serial number. apart from evidence such as a receipt to show you own it the only other papers is the Certificate of Conformity. You may be able to get a copy of this frrom the manufacturer through a dealer.

 

[duncan]

If it's pre 1997 it won't have a HIN number (the boat) - nothing was generally installed prior to that, although many manufactures fitted plates with models and serial numbers (but these wouldn't help). This is a common thing so there must be a way round it. Just tell them it's to old for a HIN number.

The engine will have a serial number on it - that's it. There aren't papers as such although the user manual normally travels with the unit from owner to owner! You can download one for your engine from the Merc website I believe.

The operation manual for the Mariner 30 from 1986 is here http://download.brunswick-marine.com/filereader/file/pdf/4/enen/outboard/1986/mariner/43900.pdf for example - the merc will be the same

 

[DownWest]

I believe registering home builts in Spain is tricky, not sure if that is an option. Put it on the SSR and 'find' a sales reciept? Also, engines carry 'log books' for ownership,another problem. From other posts here, registration needs a carefull look. Under 7mt get easier, but bigger engines attract interest i.e. more than 5hp.
A

If used commercially (fishing?) it will get a lot more complicated. Professional advice needed .
Over the boarder in Portugal, a friend tried to get a Uk built inboard diesel boat registered for day rod fishing. The cerfuffle they went through with with the customs was plainly obstructive. The UK partner ran out of money after a year(!) and they had to ditch the project
so tread carefully.
A

 

[owen-cox]

If the boat is less than 7m I would just put it on ssr and forget the spanish registry. it is very expensive ( 12% of hacienda(Tax office) list price plus paperwork. I suspect not possible for the engine) I lived and worked in Spain for 10 years or so and had a boat there on ssr and it was impounded by the Guardia Civil for non payment of import duty. I provided a measurement certificate that showed it was less than 7m( which they did not verify!) and they removed the impounding notice. I promised I would import it but as they were not going to recieve any large amounts of money they didnt follow it.

 

[simonfraser]

get a 'long' tape measure, your boat is now 9.95 m long.

put on a 5HP engine and get on with your life.

if they are realy bored and check you out deal with the result.

 

[capetown]

Hi Dan,

In the past we were going to move to Spain, it didn't happen, we were going to take a jet ski & 7m sailing cruiser.
They do not make it easy to import, and unless you can pass exams in Spanish, as others have said, keep it British (as long as you have not become a Spanish resident)

Have a look at this forum it may help to explain things much better than I can.

http://costabrava.angloinfo.com/information/63/sailing.asp

Another forum for your area. This has a fishing section for the Ebro River.
http://www.tortosaforum.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl


Rating plate/lable for your boat, any chance you can contact the builder? Buy one on that well known auction site?

 

[25931]

Perhaps if you were to post a ´photo someone could identify the boat which would be a start.
To register on SSR you are supposed to be a UK resident.