Location of Hull ID on 1980 Higbee Sneakbox.

D

David Clites

Active member
Hi All,

I moved recently from NC to VA (I know this could be a step backwards for duck hunting although my son hunted VA last year and had some good wooded swamp hunts for Woodies, Blacks, and maybe a few Mallards--lot of Canada Geese too!). In re-registering my 1980 12 foot Higbee the VA DeptOfGameandInlandFisheries website doesn't like the Hull ID Number that I used successfully to Register (but not Title--not required in NC if less than 14feet ) in NC and previous owner had both Registered and Titled in NJ.

Darned if I can find a Hull ID on the boat in any of the usual places.

Any tips on where I should look closer/harder?

There is a process to get a live VA DGIF Customer Service Rep engaged to possibly resolve, but I'd sure like to see with my own eyes how the boat is marked/identified.

Thanks in advance...

Dave
 
Usually....it's in two places, one is on the transom, most of the time up high on the outside starboard side, it may just be inscribed with a engraver..and second, somewhere inside , again the starboard side up around the gunnel area, or outside under the coaming. thats the prescribed areas but the builder may have put it anywhere so...

But if you had the boat registered before, and there was a hull ID of sorts, I don't know why another state won't just re register it.

make sure the ID # you have has the right amount of numerals in it, I think that it's 11. The last two are the date of manufacture I believe


Other than that, without getting it inspected with a new ID number by whatever dept. is in charge of that, I have no other advice.
 
GCS,

Thanks for your input. I rechecked more carefully on the transom, sure enough there was a Hull ID but it is illegible due to too many layers of paint (this boat is 40 years old, but still really solid!). I can't even confirm that there is a proper number of digits in the illegible Hull ID. I tried the paper-with-crayon technique that people use on cemetery headstones...no dice. Also I checked records that I still have on 3-4 other boats that I have owned--proper number of digits is 12. On one of the boats I previously owed the Hull ID was unknown, so North Carolina Wildlife Resource agent assigned a 12 digit Hull ID which starts with "NC"....similar to how this Sneakbox Hull ID begins with "NJ".

Now I understand why there is an unusual Hull ID listed in the New Jersey title, and this is the Hull ID that I used for North Carolina registration.

Now that I understand and can explain the history on this vessel a bit better, I should be able to get things resolved over the phone with a Virginia DGIF employee on Monday.

Thanks again!

Dave
 
Capt Rich,

Thanks for the idea. I am unsure why some previous owner didn't try this before getting a new Hull ID Number assigned in NJ. Perhaps a previous owner did try to remove the excessive paint and the Hull ID was still illegible after that effort (for example the original embossing may have been too faint).

I'll see how it goes with VA DGIF live person today using previous records/reassigned HullID from NC and NJ. If the live VA person rejects those records then I will resort to removing paint.

At least I have now confirmed that the legible portion of the Original Hull ID and the NJ-assigned Hull ID's do not match. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!.

Thanks again,

Dave
 
David Clites said:
Capt Rich,

Thanks for the idea. I am unsure why some previous owner didn't try this before getting a new Hull ID Number assigned in NJ. Perhaps a previous owner did try to remove the excessive paint and the Hull ID was still illegible after that effort (for example the original embossing may have been too faint).

I'll see how it goes with VA DGIF live person today using previous records/reassigned HullID from NC and NJ. If the live VA person rejects those records then I will resort to removing paint.

At least I have now confirmed that the legible portion of the Original Hull ID and the NJ-assigned Hull ID's do not match. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!.

Thanks again,

Dave
Click to expand...

Hey Dave...if the previous HIN starts with NC someone had titled it as a homebuilt as HIN numbers that start with NC are homebuilt. Not sure why someone would have done that unless the boat was stolen at some point or the original HIN was damaged/removed. As the previous poster said, there should be a secondary HIN in some out of the way place in case the the original was altered/or the boat stolen. You can look under the deck, under hardware, or any place you might think the manufacturer would have a place to hide the HIN. I typically do mine under the semipermanent cover of the lights or fuel tank.

Brad
 
Hi Brad, thanks for the input.

The Hull ID used for registering the boat in NJ and NC is/was "NJxxxxxxxxxx" meaning the reassigned HullID first appeared in NJ and was then re-used when I registered the boat in NC. But I do understand what you're saying...i.e. assuming that NJ law/policy is similar to NC law/policy then a Hull ID beginning with "NJ" would USUALLY mean Homebuilt. However a couple years back I bought a 1969 SeaKing 12foot aluminum v-hull and similarly no Hull ID could be physically seen. So NC WRC agent assigned a new Hull ID in format "NCxxxxxxxxxx".

I will keep looking for Hull ID on the boat in an out-of-the-way location. Thanks for the good tip regarding why/where 2nd/backup Hull ID is often located.

Meanwhile per conversation I had with VA DGIF employee over the phone on Monday, I needed to (and did) mail-in only the VA Vessel Registration/Titling Application plus my most recent NC Registration plus (of course!) a personal check to "Virginia Treasurer". So I hope this is headed for a happy ending whereby I soon receive a Title and Registration Decal,etc--and my local county government will mail me a Personal Property Tax statement (thereby making local government happier too!).

Thanks again,

Dave
 
As long as there was an appropriate number, no matter where it came from, VA. should just take the old registration and issue a new one, no sense confusing them with facts.
In essence, they just want the money, and I've never seen or heard of an enforcement agent checking the hin # with the registration unless they're looking for a stolen boat..
If they accepted your check, your golden...LOL
 
I had an old boat I bought in Arkansas with a 7 digit number. Illinois didn't like mine arguing that every HIN number is 11 to 13 digit number. In the end I used the old trick of placing a piece of paper over the number and creating a gravestone type rubbing. My wife took a photo of the process. I sent both the photo and rubbing with my application and was issued a registration and title of the old number.

Good luck.
 
Dave, welcome to Virginia and the Virginia department of game and inland fisheries. I also live in Virginia, near Richmond. If you are new to the area and would like to talk waterfowl hunting in Va. give me a shout. Good luck with getting your boat registered.
 
GCS, I agree it would be best/reasonable for VA DGIF to use the same Hull ID that was used in NC. The only reason I raised this question is because the VA DGIF online registration tool flagged the Hull ID as wrong format and would not allow me to proceed fully with online registration.

JC, thanks for your PM. I will get with you through that.

Ed L, I wish I were lucky enough to have the gravestone technique working successfully on this problem. I tried multiple times and each time go only a partially-legible "rub".

Tom, PM sent..

Thanks All!
 
Good news! On Friday afternoon I received e-mail confirmation from Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly VA DGIF) that my Registration is completed and that I should received my Registration document and boat stickers within 2 weeks.

But I won't quit looking for that 2nd/hidden Hull ID!

Thanks to all for the input.

Dave
 
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