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Hi Danny,

First a disclaimer - I am not a lawyer and I'm not giving legal advice and I do recommend you get a legal opinion.

What the broker told you about "the boat not being for sale to U.S. citizens in U.S. waters" is a very common occurrence and not to be concerned with, everything is above board here. What this has to do with is "sales tax" or topics along this line. Most likely, the boat was probably never imported into the U.S., but is owned by a U.S. citizen who, like you, kept or will keep the boat in non-U.S. waters (i.e. the Bahamas). Realizing that the boat would not spend much time in U.S. waters, the owner determined that it didn't make financial sense to pay the tax in the U.S. This is done all the time.

Your broker can guide you down this common and simple path. To legally fly the U.S. flag the boat must be registered or documented in the U.S. You can buy the boat in the Bahamas and import it into the U.S. and "register" it in the state you live in, or you can document the vessel in a duty free state like Delaware which would be my choice. Or you can simply leave the vessel foreign flagged in whatever country it is currently registered.

What you need to do is talk with your broker about all the options and a "Yacht Documentation" company like Atlantic Documentation in Annapolis, Maryland; they specialize in this sort of thing. Click HERE to go to their website.

Hope this helps, good luck with your new boat,

Captain Bob Wellen