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Boat/Watercraft Registrations

BOAT/WATERCRAFT REGISTRATIONS: 
  • Boat/Watercraft Registrations are valid from January 1 through December 31.
  • All watercraft with a motor must be registered.
  • They MUST be registered in the municipality that you live in as they have excise tax like vehicles.
  • Fees vary based on the year, length, horsepower.

What to bring to register your Boat:

For Re-Registrations:
You will need to bring your old registration, if you cant find it you can write down or take a pic of the registration number on the boat, or the last sticker on the boat with the year of the sticker.

If you have registered your boat before, you can renew your registration online. There will be a 2.5% fee of the total as charged by the card processing company. Click here to register online

For New Registrations:

Dealer Sale: Bill of sale showing tax paid. Bill of sale should have year, make, model, length, and horsepower of boat, if not we will need that information.

Private Sale: Bill of sale clearly stating the year, make, model, length, horsepower and vin number of the boat. ME registration number if it has one already on it.

Non-Residents: If your boat is going to be in Maine for more than 75 days you must register it in the town where the boat is moored, docked, or located. If you are not going to have it on a lake in Maine for that long you will still need to obtain a lake & river protection sticker provided it has been registered in another state. The cost of a sticker for a non-Maine registered watercraft is $45 and may be purchased online in advance. The stickers are normally mailed within 1-2 business days. Stickers are also available at select agents throughout the state. For more information, please contact MDIFW at (207) 287-8000.

Display of Registration Number & Stickers

  1. The registration number and validation stickers must be legibly displayed on each side of the bow of the boat; painted or permanently attached in a contrasting color to provide the highest degree of visibility.
  2. The number must read from left to right, be not less than 3 inches high, and be vertical block character capital letters and Arabic numerals.
  3. The registration number should be displayed on both sides of the bow as shown below.

A person may not place or operate a motorboat or personal watercraft (PWC) on the inland waters of this state unless a valid lake and river protection sticker, issued annually, is permanently affixed to each side of the bow, above the waterline and approximately 3 inches behind the validation sticker. These stickers are nontransferable. (Title 12, Section 13058)

Please be aware, it is unlawful to place a watercraft that is contaminated with an invasive aquatic plant upon the inland waters of the state. (Title 12, Section 13068-A).