Hailing port - home city or home port?

Liberty44140

I've always put the city and state of my hailing port on the back of my boats. It used to be that to be USCG documented you had to have the city and state of your hailing port on the boat, but now it could be your home city and state, just has to be a city and state. We are not documented, just state registered per my own personal preference. We've gone without a hailing port on the transom since we bought our 342 in 2016 which has always bothered me. I just ordered the city and state stickers and it will be my hailing port city and state, not the city and state where we live. This sparked a discussion between the admiral and I about what is proper as most of our dock mates use their home city and state, not that of our hailing port. We both agreed on hailing port city and state as our preference. Is one or the other "proper"?

04FV270riverrat

I have my home city which also happens to be the hailing city most of the summer. My city is Dayton, KY so I spelled it DayTonky to be unique...plus I like country music so it kinda fits that also.

skennelly

I think you can put wherever you want on it.  From my experience I tend to look at a boats hailing city and say "Oh cool that boat came all the way from ....".  In reality the owners never changed the city.  My boat says Chicago, but I never lived in Chicago but when people live in the burbs we always reference "Chicagoland" so it still works in my mind.

Dream_Inn

I've seen both as well.  It can be a bit strange to see it state somewhere you know there is no water (at least to not get to where they currently are), such as somewhere, PA (for us on the Chesapeake).  I have Annapolis on my boat, but my marina is actually in Edgewater.  Mine is documented as well (by my choice), but I figure we live in Annapolis and the boat is just a few miles south of there.  I find it funny when I see a marina name in place of the city.

Black_Diamond

I used my home port town. Documented too (by choice of bank lol). If Documented, city/state must be displayed. 

Ian

A boat at the marina where we store is tagged Tempe Arizona.... there's a "Salt River" there but nothing a 43' Carver would go into. I think people put their preference - home location, club/port or whatever they feel. I have nothing on mine.

Willhound

If no particular format required by registration then I think whatever you want. We haven't, was going too but there's a good chance in a few years that we'll move so I'd just have to change it.

LaRea

Both are proper.  Some people choose the one that is more likely to start an interesting conversation at the dock.  

Liberty44140

Interesting responses, definitely a to each their own kind of thing. I did have a boat pull up to me from Detroit with the hailing port “Motown USA” many years ago, definitely not proper but I got a big laugh. Stopped laughing when they pulled up to raft off of me with no fenders and only two dock lines....

Stodge

Liberty44140 said:

Interesting responses, definitely a to each their own kind of thing. I did have a boat pull up to me from Detroit with the hailing port “Motown USA” many years ago, definitely not proper but I got a big laugh. Stopped laughing when they pulled up to raft off of me with no fenders and only two dock lines....

It's even more fun when they try to use life vests as fenders. 

Cableguy Greg

Stodge said:

Liberty44140 said:

Interesting responses, definitely a to each their own kind of thing. I did have a boat pull up to me from Detroit with the hailing port “Motown USA” many years ago, definitely not proper but I got a big laugh. Stopped laughing when they pulled up to raft off of me with no fenders and only two dock lines....

It's even more fun when they try to use life vests as fenders. 

I have Pittsburgh on the back of my boat and she is not documented.

I was on the North Shore wall outside of Heinz Field this past Saturday. Guy pulled up with his wife and kid in a jet boat and has two of the smallest fenders that I have ever seen. He had one dock line. I help him in and the fenders were too low for the concrete wall. I tied his one line to the shore cleat and he used the line on his rear fender to tie to another cleat. He claimed that the rest of his lines were "at home in the garage". Two things that do not come off my boat, dock lines and fenders. You never know when you might need them. We also have the orange life vest fender people who own a boat tie to the same concrete wall. SMH.

Ian

I agree and we have extra fenders and ropes on board. I like those that come in to dock and as you are about to catch them as they come alongside they scramble to undo ropes and fenders cleated to the other side of the boat and bring over the the docking side. 

Dream_Inn

Well, taking things slightly off topic, but I couldn't imagine rafting up with somebody I don't know (& I don't mean boaters that are new to me that we'll raft up with because they know friends, I mean, stranger that I never intend to get to know).  I know many tie up along walls and just climb over boats.  I'm glad I don't have that type of situation anywhere here on the Chesapeake.  (Canal days was about the only place I've heard on the bay that do that, but that's one weekend for an event).

We have a set process for anyone tying to our raft-ups.  The boat that is rafted, has at least two fenders out.  Boating coming in has a bow and stern line ready.  We tie stern line first, nice and tight, then the bow.  Sometimes the boat that came in will put out a mid cleat fender and/or also a spring line depending on how platforms align.