This is a personal web page and not affiliated with the U. S. Coast Guard, ABYC or anyone else. Any mistakes are the author's. If you have a comment contact me here, or post a question on my BLOG

This is based on the personal experience of the author, the United States Code, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and other non-copyrighted sources. All of the images are the property of the author except the image taken from 33 CFR 183.53 of the test course. This was scanned.

This page was created solely for the benefit of the author, the boat builder and the consumer. It is intended to be a reference for the beginning boatbuilder who has decided to build boats and sell them.  It is not just for wood boats but for all boats.  I have purposely keep the design of this page as simple as possible so it will load quickly even on a dial up connection.

I have worked for many years in the boating and boat building field. I have noted with dismay the lack of information available for new boat builders. There are people who can help you. The Coast Guard people that can help you with this are at Headquarters in Washington DC. I know them all and they are dedicated professionals, very knowledgeable and will help you any way they can. You can contact them at   202-372-1073  or FAX 202-372-1934. They also now have a contract factory inspection program and new builders are given priority on visits, usually within the first year.

There are others who can help you. The American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) is the standards organization for our industry. They have standards that go way beyond what the Coast Guard has. I am a long time member, serve on committees, and know the people who work there and they are all very helpful and dedicated to boating safety. Call them at 410-990-4460 or fax 410-990-4466.

The National Marine Manufacturers Association is a the industry association for boat manufacturers.

See my Ike's List page for other links on boatbuilding.

http://newboatbuilders.com/ Copyright 2006