Life carries with it so many things to worry about. That’s doubly true if you have a boat in your life. With safety concerns and more regarding your vessel, you’re liable to have plenty on your mind. That being said, the last thing you should have to worry about is your Coast Guard renewal documentation. It should be a simple process, the kind of thing you have to think about once a year if that. Here at the Vessel Documentation Center, we pride ourselves on making every step of the vessel documentation process easier, including the renewal step.
Coast Guard Renewal Documentation Explained
You went to all of the trouble to get your vessel documented; you don’t want to have to go through it again. That’s what can happen if you don’t get your vessel renewed. When you’ve finally completed the registration process initially, it can feel like: “I did it.” However, to maintain that documentation, you have to get it renewed each year. Yes, this is an annual process. The good news is that you don’t have to go through the entire documentation process all over again each year, you just have to send in the renewal documentation. It’s important to know when to send it.
Send it at the Right Time
If you’re a vessel owner, odds are you’re what people call a “go-getter.” You’re probably someone that doesn’t like to wait till the last minute to do something and would like to get things out of the way so that you don’t have to worry about them. Unfortunately, vessel documentation renewal can actually work against your instincts here. For example, if you renew too early, yes you’ll renew the documentation, but you’ll also shorten the period that your vessel is legally registered. If you renew more than sixty days before the expiration date, then that becomes your new expiration date. In the long run, it’s a way to lose money.
An Analogy
Say that your vessel documentation is set to expire in July. So, you want to be on top of things, you don’t want to forget, so you decide to take care of it in April. That way, it’s off your plate, you don’t have to worry about it. Then, the next year rolls around, and you decide to renew your documentation in May… but by then, your documentation is delinquent. See, when you renewed it in April, that was sixty days prior to when it would expire. So, that made your new date in April. Thus, when you renewed in May, it was already too late. Doing things on time is great, but doing them too early can make things more difficult on you.
Information to Keep in Mind
Sometimes, we go whole years without major changes happening in our lives, or to our vessels. Then again, there are some years where it can feel like everything changes. When you renew your vessel documentation, you want to be sure to include these new changes, as it matters. If your mailing address or physical address has changed, you’re going to want to make note of that. That way, your registration can be as legally up to date as possible.
Above, where we mentioned that “you don’t want to be too early with your documentation renewal,” there is one exception. We can make it so that you can renew your documentation earlier than ever. This service is exclusive to us; you have to go through the Vessel Documentation Center to get it. But, it’s as simple as pressing a button. If you want to renew for multiple years, all you have to do is press that button at the bottom of our renewal page. That’s it.
This may seem like a small thing, but you’ll be able to eliminate one rather substantial worry. Instead of being concerned with getting the registration in on time but not too early, you can instead focus on… your vessel. Your family, having a great trip, your business, maximizing profits and more – we don’t mean to imply that by renewing your vessel documentation for many years all at once, you’ll suddenly live a carefree life. But, by eliminating just one worry, by taking care of one concern that can greatly help your peace of mind.
Documentation renewal is far from the only service that we offer at our site. We have all different kinds of vessel documentation to help you with every stage of vessel ownership. Whether you’re just getting a new vessel, or you’re selling an old one or every step in between, we can help you to have the right documentation you need faster. Get the documentation you want fast so that you can get back to your life by heading to our site or calling us at (800) 535-8570.