Had the frabjous experience of going to the Florida DMV, Beacon of order and efficiency, masters of simplicity, and filled with all around delightful people.
The Mission?
Get the boat titled and registered, get the trailer titled and registered as well.
The Outcome?
Boats titled and registered (for two years). The trailer… not so much.
It turns out that to title and register a trailer in the sunny state of Florida, if said trailer is from out of state, said trailer must be weighed and have an official looking weight certificate before title and registration can be transferred.
So… I need to schedule a new appointment at the DMV (they’re 3 to 4 weeks out) and between now and the time of that appointment I have to figure out the best way to get the boat off the trailer.
The easiest way would be to take it to a public boat ramp, float the boat off, tie her up somewhere, and get the trailer down to a truck stop for weighing. The problem with this simple approach is the fact that I live in south Florida and boat ramps here aren’t happy places, full of very angry people, and about six dozen boats waiting to be dropped, plus that guy with a Toyota Camry with a bolt on hitch trying to figure out why he can’t get his boat up the ramp.
Not only that, but I have no working engine, so it would be a completely unpowered ordeal sure to thoroughly anger everyone in the general vicinity. And where am I going to tie up for any length of time without someone setting fire to the boat out of anger?
So: unless I can find a mostly unused dead boat ramp this is a no go.
The second easiest option is to see if I can drop the boat at a marina for a day and use their happy forklift to stick it on some boatjacks while I get the trailer weighed. I’ll be calling a few marinas this week to see if I can get that done.
There is at least progress.
