Ralph Hewitt
Member III
To flag 1982 E-38 in Nicaragua they want me to have proven papers that it was made in USA. How? Any ideas? Try to explain HIN to them is no good... next?
Yes, if the boat has USCG documentation, I would think that would carry some weight (or used to at least)....Given that non-boater bureaucrats usually just want an answer that will not threaten their job, perhaps something solid-appearing like a rubbing of the HIN on the transom or from the other HIN place inside would help.
And then there was the (set aside for good reasons at the time) project by one of our site members to reproduce bronze cast builders plaques for Ericson-built boats, just like the factory ones in the late 80's.
I have actually seen one of those on a '90 O-34. Impressive and "yacht-y".... and it might also serve as additional proof when a official has a form with a box that *must* be checked off. After all, most of the boats from the 70's and 80's that are out cruising blue water are "orphans" nowadays.
(Not that same, but sorta kinda related to when I took in a copy of my DD214 to the local DMV to order up a "veteran" license plate set for my little truck. Couple of decades later I still have that plate set on my current truck. Over the years it has sometimes been a lucky charm.)
Question - is/was this boat USCG Documented in the past?
Sean, this is a BIG problem in Nicaragua..Hi Ralph -
You're looking for a Certificate of Origin? We've had this happen a couple of times, but I don't believe there has ever been a satisfactory response to this question:
I'm not sure what to tell you other than you could try and have one generated by a service like this:
We could also provide some kind of a letter, but as an owners club, I'm not sure how much weight it would have. I think this is something of value (resolving this, I mean) as you are not the first person outside US waters to ask for one....
//sse
Sean, this is a BIG problem in Nicaragua..
Do you think you could write a legal looking document (Ericson or some letterhead) with a stamp of some kind, maybe get it notarized and send a copy to me. My HIN is ERY38X72M82H , BOAT was never documented.
Let me know, THANKS
nicaralph@gmail.com
Also... Gene Kohlmann has been contacted regarding data for this venture....As an owner in another post has recently been in contact with Gene Kohlman, perhaps as a group we could consider asking him if there is any way he could assist with a “letter of build evidence “ or something? A long shot I’m sure but maybe worth asking. I’ve always been frustrated that my USCG documentation says “unknown “ for “builder”. The mistress is documented though so apparently the USCG allows some loopholes in the process.
Hi Sean,Update:
Just spoke with the General Counsel for the Irvine Chamber and it would appear that they are interested in helping our community come to a resolution on this issue. I need to draft the documentation mentioned in my post above and then kick it back over to him for review. The main documents I have that I will be using are shown below. There is some production information missing on some of the models, so I will work to flesh this out from other sources.
If anyone has any other reference documents or info on the production runs, please let me know. We will be keying in on the serial numbered hulls for simplicity, however will also mention those very early production runs that failed to have them.
In the end, we should be able to produce a CO or something very close to it that overseas owners can use in the registration of their hulls. This documentation along with a more complete history of the production runs will also be complied into some general documentation that should reduce the incidence of new owners asking about HINs, etc.
Stay tuned, and let me know if you have other documentation - I will need it this week.
//sse
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