The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says some 10-thousand boat owners are running out of time to register the hull identification number of their boats. D-N-R Boating Law Administrator, Susan Stocker, says the U-S Coast Guard found the numbers from the manufacturers did not meet regulations. “Recently the states have been tasked with making sure and verifying that these boats to have the 12-digit hull identification numbers, H-I-N’s. And so, we’re just trying to give a heads up to the boat owners that still need to register their HINS before they want to register it,”

Stocker says. She says boat owners should have gotten notice. “We’ve sent them an affidavit,” Stocker says, “and so what they do is they fill it out and either do a pencil rubbing or take a photography of their hull identification number to verify it. And then they can either mail it in, email it in or fax it in, and then we’ll process it.” Boat owners will need to verify the H-I-N prior to April 30th in order to renew their boat registration.

Stocker says any boat owner has to register their boat by the deadline or they face a five dollar penalty. Stocker says many boaters are probably getting the itch to get out on the water, and need to get the verification and registration complete. “As the weather does get warmer and everybody will want to get out on the water, we want to be sure they are able to do that by doing a little bit of paperwork before it gets too nice,” Stocker says.

Stocker says there are around 235-thousand boats registered in the state. for more information on the boat registration, go to the D-N-R’s website at: www.iowadnr.gov.

(Radio Iowa)