The following material may be relevant to your circumstances if you happen to be in a foreign country and find yourself needing to sell the boat, where is. If it should come to pass, you can get yourself in a lot of trouble. Here is some helpful information. The information provided here is a supplement to that which is in my book on Foreign and State to State Cruising Regulations. There is more detail to know about than I could include here, so I have included web links to more sites. Foreign Flag Yachts  Offered for Sale While in a Foreign Country The terms of a Cruising License requires that the yacht not be offered for sale or sold while operating in the foreign country. The language indicates that the mere offering to sell constitutes the intent to sell which is not allowed. Completion of a sale without having first made a formal entry, known as a Consumption Entry and paying the duty may subject the yacht to a fine equal to the value of the vessel and can result in it being forfeit. Once the cruising license has expired or the license is no longer valid; having been used in contravention of the license terms, it is subject to reporting, clearing and entering as if it had no license. Routine reporting, clearing and entering may not be necessary as long as the vessel is not moved from port to port, in other words cruised. This should be verified by contacting the Customs authorities and you should note in your log: the time, date and location that the contact is made and to whom you have talked, as well as a transaction/clearance ID number. Here is a story about some yachts that were recently detained by US Customs for having violated their cruising license. http://www.allyachtregistries.com/Update.html Note that the advertising must have the following disclosure included with ALL advertising, including the boards attached to the boat. Not for sale to US Residents while in US waters. This does not mean that the boat cant eventually be sold to a US resident, but a formal process must be used to do so. First the boat has to be Imported, using a Consumption Import, a duty paid, perhaps 1.5% as noted in the article, but might be more depending upon where it was built. Then and only then can a sale be completed. This leaves several issues once the duty is paid. The boat is still foreign flagged and may still be subject to needing a Cruising License, or if not feasible then subject to normal Entry, Clearing and Reporting procedures until State Titled or US Documented and Flagged. It may be possible to complete a sale on the high seas, having US documentation in hand and then making entry by reporting to Customs and paying the duty. These details need to be worked out with someone who has working knowledge of having done so. Some Florida or So. Calif. brokers may have experience in this area. The CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) that has the CURRENT Cruising License language can be found at this link: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=19&PART=4&SECTION=94&TYPE=TEXT It also contains a list of countries that reciprocate with the US in issuing Cruising Licenses. The fines for violations of US Customs Regulations are about $5000 per. It is not profitable to get crosswise to them or you could feel like you had been T-Boned by a Very Large Freighter! Customs Brokers http://www.relandweer.com/ Sources of Information http://www.marinetitle.com/index.htm http://www.maritimelawcenter.com/html/business_of_yachting___shippin.html Regards, -- Capt. Mike Maurice Tigard, Oregon