TOPIC: Dorsett Help Needed

Trying to figure out how to deal with a lost title for my 59 Dorsett Catalina. California DMV is no help.. Tried to do a lien sale using the CF number, that did not work..

I can have a new number assigned, but that does not keep it original.

Any ideas???

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Do yourself a favor & forget the old number. The old one may already be assigned to another vessel. You're lucky that the DMV is willing to do that much, as I've been forced to get "creative" on registering boats with certain DMV folks that won't give an inch on the rules.

So, just let them assign something to it? I wonder if they will do that if I take it to the DMV office... California DMV is not easy to deal with.
The trailer is not a problem at all... I can get that registered, then at least trailer will be legal. But wanted to keep the boat registered as a 59..

Mine is a 1958 Skagit 20 express. The DMV swears it is a 1966 as per the previous owner registration in the same state. I showed them the original HIN number on the brass serial plate, and they said tough luck. My new HIN looks the same as a 2010 does now. If anyone ever asks what year it is, I show them the original serial plate which is clearly a 1958. I just pay the yearly fee and live with it like many others here do.

Where is the brass plate located?
I am pretty sure the plate is gone from my Dorsett... But Maybe.....

How about this question: What should the numbers look like? That is, Do they start with the SRR**** string like later Dorsett? Or did Dorsett have the SRR identifier from the beginning?

The boat certainly is a Dorsett... No question about that at all.. I dont want some DMV person try to tell me it is a later model..

It should be an easy thing to go to the DMV and apply for a duplicate title or registration. If it was in your name and you lost the title its not a big deal. Ask to speak with your DMV branch manager if someone on the desk gives you a hastle over such a simple thing. Lost titles happen every day and they handle these same problems all the time.
JAG

I have been to the DMV office.. I have a "decent" relationship with most of the DMV personnel.. I have been playing with collector cars for many years and I am always the one that cleans up many title issues with old cars I have dealt with for the past 40 years..

Problem here is the DMV office has no factory identification numbers to go on. I have a bill of sale from the person I got it from but it seems that person does not show up as owning a Dorsett boat. So DMV said, I must get a Marine Hull inspector to come and verify the numbers on the hull.... Well, I am not sure how any inspector can verify numbers on a hull that has no numbers...

Next thing I tried was to do a Lien Sale using a service that I use to do this for some of the collector cars I need help with.. No Luck there either.. They need a VIN.... They thought that if I could find a VIN on the trailer, that may lead us to some information on the boat.. However, the VIN plate on the trailer has rotted off.

The easiest thing I can think of although not really the right thing to do would be to find someone that junked one out but kept the identification plate.. BUT I don’t even know if Dorsett HAD a plate on their hulls..

I have been trying to keep this simple because of cost. I spend a ton of money at the DMV to clean up titles on my vehicles… This boat has me a little stuck in the mud…

Get the manager at the DMV. Explain to this person that boats built prior to November 1972 were not requred to have ANY type of serial number, hull ID, or manufacturer's ID code on them. Some builders never put any type of ID on their boats. And those that did each had their own system. There was NO universal system in the USA until 1973 model year boats.

Someone at the California DMV has encountered this scenario previously.

Bring in photos of the boat, get copies of brochures from the year of your boat. Make it clear to them that it is such and such a make, model and year. Be nice, courteous, try to educated them about old boats.

Andreas

Yes Andreas, you are absolutely correct. I have had to do the very same thing here in Michigan.
This posters first post simply stated "Lost Title" thats why I responded with the info I did. What this gentlemen has is a boat with a bill of sale but no real proof of the persons actual ownership and that's why the DMV is balking at giveing out a new title to him. It can be handled but tact must be used.
I think Kelly had a solution for this a few years ago in the form of a new I. D. tag or somwthing like that.
JAG