# Why black out registration numbers when selling boat?



## Guest (Aug 7, 2018)

I am guessing with that info a crook can get your address, and with that other info too.


----------



## TheAdamsProject (Oct 29, 2007)

Honestly, I did it when I did mine but not really 100% sure if someone can hurt you with that info posted on the internet. The funny part is, I caught hell over it from a number of people but I still can not figure out why people care if the plate or FL Numbers are black out or not. Guess its just another internet mystery. People are weird creatures and even more so when sitting behind a keyboard.


----------



## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Why not?


----------



## topnative2 (Feb 22, 2009)

Info on tags is public info............address, name etc....eliminates the nuts of the world or potential thieves,ex-wives and creditors


----------



## EdK13 (Oct 3, 2013)

These Days? Everyone should protect their personal information - and when someone doesn't this should be the state mandated *Punishment*.


----------



## kylet (Jun 29, 2017)

Everyone knows if you want to get boat registration numbers, the best place to go is to classifieds and not the boat ramps or marinas.


----------



## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

kylet said:


> Everyone knows if you want to get boat registration numbers, the best place to go is to classifieds and not the boat ramps or marinas.


Yeah I’m sure 50,000 people walk through the boat ramp parking lot taking photos of registration numbers. That’s just a ballpark estimate of how many people can click a mouse and see your photos or ads in a day. 
I won’t be blacking out my registration numbers because if a dumbass wants to drive back to my house and try to steal anything I’ll be digging a hole with my Kubota for him. You city folks might want to think twice though.
It’s kind of like leaving a Yeti cooler in the bed of your truck or boat and leaving it unattended and expecting it to be there in the morning. Why make yourself a target?


----------



## kylet (Jun 29, 2017)

You’re missing the point. Yeah the internet is available to most anyone. And so is public areas, where you’re sure to have a much more efficient search for registration numbers if you feel like wasting you’re time. 

There are much easier ways to get a person’s name and address than the hours required to acquire reg numbers and research them for the info.


----------



## noeettica (Sep 23, 2007)

I caught someone using my N Number on their aircraft !!!


----------



## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Yeah I’m sure 50,000 people walk through the boat ramp parking lot taking photos of registration numbers. That’s just a ballpark estimate of how many people can click a mouse and see your photos or ads in a day.
> I won’t be blacking out my registration numbers because if a dumbass wants to drive back to my house and try to steal anything I’ll be digging a hole with my Kubota for him. You city folks might want to think twice though.
> It’s kind of like leaving a Yeti cooler in the bed of your truck or boat and leaving it unattended and expecting it to be there in the morning. Why make yourself a target?


X2 on that minus the Kubota I'll just feed you to a gator instead.


----------



## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Why...? Warrants dawg, warrants.


----------



## windblows (May 21, 2014)

I've always wondered this too. Should I obscure my license plate and registration numbers when I am trailering down the road too? LOL


----------



## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

I've spent way too much time on imageboards to post any personal information or numbers like that. It's just a habit. Don't dox me bro.


----------



## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

windblows said:


> I've always wondered this too. Should I obscure my license plate and registration numbers when I am trailering down the road too? LOL


Do what you want, no one said it’s a rule either way. LOLZ


----------



## duppyzafari (Jul 9, 2015)

I, too, thought "Well, I drive around with my License Plate in plain view all day, what's the difference?" and was advised that:

Unlike License Plates, Boat Registration numbers are not manufactured by the issuing authority. They're sold everywhere, and much less likely to be viewed and searched through a database by a Law Enforcement Official than a license plate on your car. If they are, the LEO is almost certainly not going to crane his or her neck to check the faintly-scratched Hull ID to compare.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, you owe the state a zillion bucks or have warrants that preclude you from a visit to the DMV or have a philosophical Moorish Free Man on the Land Article IV Free Inhabitant Sovereign Citizen bent. You want to run around in your white Carolina Skiff but don't want to attract unwanted attention by running around without stickers.

You see a white Carolina Skiff for sale on Craigslist. It looks like your Carolina Skiff. You write down the Registration Number, pop on down to West Marine, and for $11.00, you're riding less dirty than you were before. Still not legal, obviously, BUT less likely to get you handcuffed and tossed into the back of one of those Yellowfins that the sheriff's department uses. Banking on any check from a marine LEO being cursory and relating mostly to drunken speeding or taking snook out of season, you can probably survive fairly comfortably with someone else's numbers as long as you update them from time to time and don't act crazy on the water.

ALSO, if you're cruising around under the cover of darkness stealing things out of docked boats and someone's motion activated camera catches your registration numbers, the cops show up at the Craigslist guy's house instead of your own.

Anyway, this all sounds extravagantly tedious to my naturally optimistic rule-follower brain, but you never know here in Florida.

Better safe than sorry, I'd say.


----------



## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

In some states all you need to do is go to the DMV and fill out a form, pay a small fee and the state will hand you all of the info on file.

Then drive to the dudes house and steal his nicely polished boat.


----------



## m32825 (Jun 29, 2018)

Ok, assuming I have the Craigslist guy's boat number: how do I go about getting a new, different-colored sticker to go with it each year? Seems to me like that's going to cue the LEO to take a closer look...


----------



## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

I’m trying to comprehend why it matters enough to be a thread this long...go fishing.


----------



## Alex Fernandez (Aug 16, 2017)

If someone wants to steal your boat.... or maybe your lower unit...they will first call you to tell you they want to see the boat your selling. Unless you plan to meet every guy _or girl_ that calls at starbucks(that would creep me out ) your going to give them your address....Blacking out your fl # isnt going to deter anyone with bad intentions. Like the other guy said, rolling down the road to the ramp your boat is a billboard with your info on it..........Its like putting a small pad lock on your wood gate, one kick and its open...Ya the bad guys _or girls_ dont need your fl# to do what they want to do.....


----------



## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

m32825 said:


> Ok, assuming I have the Craigslist guy's boat number: how do I go about getting a new, different-colored sticker to go with it each year? Seems to me like that's going to cue the LEO to take a closer look...


You don't - you buy your own boat with the cash that you got from selling the untraceable parts like motors and trailers.

Big business in Miami or so I've heard.


----------



## duppyzafari (Jul 9, 2015)

m32825 said:


> Ok, assuming I have the Craigslist guy's boat number: how do I go about getting a new, different-colored sticker to go with it each year? Seems to me like that's going to cue the LEO to take a closer look...


No idea. I'm just relating the reason that someone gave me.


----------



## m32825 (Jun 29, 2018)

DuckNut said:


> You don't - you buy your own boat with the cash that you got from selling the untraceable parts like motors and trailers.


Ok, I get it now. Man, I have no future as a bad guy...


----------



## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

DuckNut said:


> You don't - you buy your own boat with the cash that you got from selling the untraceable parts like motors and trailers.
> 
> Big business in Miami or so I've heard.


Trailers have vin numbers on them that match up with your registration just like a car at least in Florida that's how it is.


----------



## Mike C (Feb 27, 2017)

Or you could just have numbers on your boat that are now hard to read because you buffed the color off of them.


----------



## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Backcountry 16 said:


> Trailers have vin numbers on them that match up with your registration just like a car at least in Florida that's how it is.


I have 3 trailers registered in FL and not one had a VIN number. Off the lot trailers, maybe a custom fit job has numbers so it can be recreated by mfg'r.


----------



## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

m32825 said:


> Ok, I get it now. Man, I have no future as a bad guy...


God loves bad guys...afterall, he created so many of them.


----------



## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

DuckNut said:


> I have 3 trailers registered in FL and not one had a VIN number. Off the lot trailers, maybe a custom fit job has numbers so it can be recreated by mfg'r.
> 
> View attachment 36724


Well both of mine do float on and boat master with the vin numbers right on the tag registration.


----------



## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

Trailer vin


----------



## topnative2 (Feb 22, 2009)

FYI....since the demise of FMP with the merger to FWC there is no agency w/ a stolen boat section. There is no agency w/ any boat expertise.
Now DHSMV issues boat titles.

This is how it works.....

1.Sell your boat in the bahamas and then request a duplicate title. Steal a boat just like u sold and "FIX" the HIN and regis. numbers. Now your up one boat plus cash.
2. Buy and old boat and junk it at the dump and "FIX" the HIN and regis. numbers and now you have a nice boat for almost nothing.

yada,yada


----------



## texasag07 (Nov 11, 2014)

I think a lot of it has to do with the scammers that find your for sale ad and then copy it and repost in another location trying to scam someone. If it has the plates/ boat registration number's the scammers can find out that public record personal info like owners names, addresses, etc and sound more legitimate to potential buyers that would call them.


----------



## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

Jpscott1 said:


> Hey Guys,
> I have sold several boats and even more cars over the years on the internet.
> It has never crossed my mind to black out the boat registration number or the license plate number when posting the pictures on the internet. I see more and more people blacking this info out when they post pictures.
> Why do this? What I am missing?



Why do people hang bags of water from the ceiling to repel mosquitos? Everyone else was doing it...


----------



## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

CurtisWright said:


> Why do people hang bags of water from the ceiling to repel mosquitos? Everyone else was doing it...


It’s supposedly for flies...see how myths are born?


----------



## Tomfsu51 (Aug 24, 2015)

This always cracks me up. What thieves would do that amount of research? I imagine the guy running my boat ID number from my classified add and passing 1000 boats on the 30 minute drive over To find out it’s in my garage.


----------



## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)




----------

