Topher wrote:
Have you ever been told that you needed to register your kayak?
Officially in Hawaii, if it's over 8' long and has a sail, it should be registered. For 5 1/2 years now, DLNR has been telling both dealers and owners they don't want (or need?) us to register them. As of last month in a discussion with a DLNR officer, we were told not to worry about registering until they tell us different.
Until the TI came out, the dealers in Hawaii were not receiving (or maybe not asking for) the paperwork from Hobie required to register the boats, so to my knowledge no one in our group (on Maui) except maybe the few TI owners even have the paperwork required to register them. I requested papers for all my boats a while ago from my dealer (Kelly at P&P) but am not sweating it until we are told they want us registered.
But then again, they could ticket us at any time for not following the letter of the law, but following what they've been telling owners and dealers. I've heard from a few people on Oahu that some have been hassled, not by DLNR, but by a Coast Guard Auxiliary member, to the point that a few have registered to stop the harassment, but this is all 3rd hand reports. NOHUHU can probably fill you in better for Oahu.
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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006