SYNOPSIS OF U. S. LAWS GOVERNING AMERICAN STEAM AND SAIL YACHTS, AND FOREIGN YACHTS IN U. S. WATERS. 1. A yacht must be licensed. A license authorizes a yacht to sail from port to port of the United States, and by sea to foreign ports, without entrance or clearance, and absolves her from the payment of tonnage duty and light money; but upon the return of a yacht from a foreign port she must enter at the custom house of the port of her first arrival. To enter a vessel, it is necessary to have a manifest with two copies ready on arrival. The revenue cutter may take one, the boarding officer another, while the third is produced by the master before the collector. The master makes oath to its truth. The manifest should specify ship's stores, and state that no cargo is carried. 2. In going foreign a yacht captain may have a certified crew list and shipping articles (sign his crew to articles), although it is not compulsory. 3. Whether or not, in going foreign, a bill of health for the vessel would be needed, would depend upon the laws of the country of her destination. If it is decided to carry same, it may be obtained from the custom house upon demand, provided the port sailing from is in a normal condition of healthfulness. 4. A foreign yacht arriving from abroad must be entered at the port of her first arrival; but tonnage duty is not exacted, provided she belongs to a regularly organized and incorporated yacht club. 5. A pleasure vessel purchased by a citizen from an alien has the same privileges as a vessel built in the United States, except that she can not be documented. She is subject to light money of fifty cents per ton on arrival at each port. For fuller information, with references to Federal Statutes, and Treasury instructions and decisions and explanatory notes, the author refers the reader to a most valuable work by Richard Wynkoop, of New York, entitled, " Vessels and Voyages." 6. If a foreign yacht should be wrecked in U. S. waters, and be purchased by a citizen, who expends upon her in repairs three times as much as he paid for her as a wreck, she could be documented as a yacht of the United States. 7. A foreign-built yacht owned by a citizen may fly the American ensign, but not the American yacht ensign. 8. For a sailing yacht the name of the vessel and port must be placed conspicuously upon the stern. The letters to be not less than three inches in length. 9. The name of a screw steamer yacht, and her port, must be placed on the stern in letters six inches in length, and upon each side of the pilot house; but if she be a side-wheel vessel, the name must be painted on the outside of each paddle-box also. 10. The painting of the name upon the bows of vessels is optional with the owner. 11. Any vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam is declared a steam vessel within the meaning of the law. 12. The hull and boiler of a steam yacht is subject to annual inspection by the U. S. Board of Local Inspectors. 13. No steam yacht, whatever her size, is permitted to be navigated without a licensed master, pilot, and engineer, under penalty of a fine of one hundred dollars. 14. Masters, mates, pilots, and engineers, upon giving satisfactory evidence of their qualifications, may be licensed by the U. S. Local Inspectors for the term of one year; but the license may be revoked for cause. 15. Every licensed officer must have his license framed under glass, and posted in a conspicuous place on board the vessel, under penalty of revocation or one hundred dollars fine. 16. Any one who employs an unlicensed officer is subject to a fine of one hundred dollars. 17. The Local Inspectors are authorized to suspend or revoke, upon satisfactory evidence, the license of any officer for bad conduct, drunkenness, inattention to duty, or incapacity. 18. If an owner proves to the Local Inspectors that his engineer has allowed his boiler to burn, and that he has not kept his engine and machinery in good order, the Inspectors are authorized to degrade him. 19. The fees previously charged for licenses to officers, and for inspections and examinations of vessels of the United States, were abolished in 1886. 20. A yacht of any foreign nation, which extends like courtesies to the United States, provided the yacht belongs to a regularly organized and incorporated yacht club, is privileged to arrive at and depart from port to port of the United States without making entrance or clearance, but when arriving from a foreign port she must enter at the port of her first arrival in the United States. If the yacht does not belong to such a nation, or does not belong to such a yacht club, she must enter at and clear from every port of the United States she goes into. 21. A commission to sail for pleasure, in any designated yacht belonging to a regularly organized and incorporated yacht club, may be obtained from the Treasury Department through the Collector of Customs at the port where the yacht may be. It does not supersede the license, but is in addition to it, and is only issued to yachts going abroad to secure more extended courtesies. It is issued for the voyage only, and must be surrendered at the port of her first arrival on her return to the United States. 22. Enrollment is no longer necessary for a yacht, but the owner may have it if the vessel be of 20 tons or more. Inasmuch as it does not expire by lapse of time as a license does, it is better to have an enrollment also, on account of certain incidental advantages. |