Q. i bought a boat that has a hin number. the guy i bought the boat from was not the last registered owner per the vinyl decals. he did give me a bill of sale. so i go to get it registered and discover that the hin number on the registration is not the hin number on the boat. in fact its not even a valid hin number the one on the registration. the one on the boat is the one for the boat and its not stolen. im not going to mention the state i live in but they will not allow me to register the boat unless i get a bill of sale from the decal owner from years ago. they gave me his name and thats all. so i did find him and he refused to give me one. the state refuses to register it under the correct number even though the number on the registration doesnt match the number on the hull. i went up in the state government and they refuse to let me register it. im thinking of registering it in Delaware or a foriegn flag getting the registration then try and get it registered in my state from that since they dont even have he correct number to crossreference it. my friends say if i do this ill upset the Government here if they find out and they will find a reason to put me in jail. from living in this state i wouldn't be surprised. what say you? is registration out of state strictly from the hin number a bad idea? my belief is this boat from the 70s has possibly never been registered. its ridiculous. i can take the boat on the water, row around, put it on a trailer, take it to a game wardens house, park it at a mall, park it in my front yard, go to the river, go through a lock, get stopped by a game and fish, they can run my hin, not stolen. but as soon as i put a motor or sail on it im breaking the law all because they wont register it.