If you document the boat with the Coast Guard you cannot have state numbers and you must have the boat name and hailing port on the stern. (maybe the sides at the stern is acceptable)
Many states still want their tax money, so you still have to register the boat according to state laws. And you usually have to display the sticker confirming you paid the registration. If you go out on Winni with no sticker (or the wrong color) you risk the MP stopping you.
Most small open boats are too small to be documented. You need a certain amount of enclosed volume. There really isnt a reason to document unless you lender or insurance company demands it. Or you really hate bow numbers.
I doubt a 17 or 18' foot GW is big enough to document. Could be the numbers were just in a bad spot for visibility or in a color with not enough contrast. I saw a boat launching at Meredith once with navy blue numbers on a black hull, very hard to see. I bet yellow numbers on a white hull would be bad as well, but thats just asking to be stopped.
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