Hello All, I am new to BWCA message board, and have a question about canoe registration. This is the first year I will be bringing my own canoe. Do I need any special numbers, permits, registrations, etc? Hopefully my cedar strip canoe will be finished by June!

Your canoe will need to be registered, either in your own state or in Minnesota. Check with your state's government agency that regulates boats to see if your state requires your canoe to be registered. If it does, then registering your canoe there makes the most sense.

If you live in a state that doesn't require canoes to be registered, then you have a choice to make. Register your canoe in your state anyway... or register it in Minnesota.

It doesn't matter which state's registration tag your canoe has. It just has to be registered if you're going to paddle it in Minnesota.

One factor, if you don't need to register in your home state, is how much stuff each state makes you put on that great looking wood boat. For paddle canoes in MN it is a few inch by few inch sticker on each side but no boat registration numbers beyond that.

Welcome to the site, your question has already been adressed so I wont add my comments. Great looking canoe, if I can be so bold as to makeing a suggestion, why dont you simply put in a view window in that unfinshed hole? Instant fishfinder. FRED

I was at a portage and a couple of regular looking guys were being friendly and asking about my canoe, then one of the guys lifts his shirt tail to reveal a badge and wrote me a ticket for not having my canoe registered. Ticket -- $150 Registration Fee -- $10

WoW! that's pretty good advice!! In my 4 trips I have never ran into a ranger on the water or portage, I guess it only takes one time..

Good idea Fred, as I love to ice fish here in central Indiana, I told people that is my "Ice Fishing canoe"
But I have since filled in the bottom as of 2-5-13. Waiting on some warmer weather to fiberglass bottom.

We got checked for registration once, too. Wasn't the FS Rangers but DNR folks. They were sitting by the creek between the Lake One entry point and Lake One itself. As we paddled by we said hello, and they said, we can see your canoe is registered and that you have your PFDs (we were wearing them), so thanks for making our job easy.

Forest service ranger checks your BW permit (woods related stuff). DNR checks your registration, pfds, bait (water & fishing related stuff).

the FS law enforcement person can check both, but i could be wrong.

Bear with me on this explanation.

In my state, canoes do not need to be registered. I told an F&G agent that I was required by another state (MN) to have a registration sticker in place on my cedar strip canoe in order to bring it into the state. They said that if I wanted to register it in my home state, I would need to have the sticker and 3" registration numbers in place. I asked them that since I was not required by them to register a canoe, could I forego the numbers and just use the sticker. They agreed and that was how I brought mine to the BW.

Sticker came off when we got back home.

SE

I plan on just carrying my registration numbers and sticker with me since I don't want to put them on my cedar stripper. Hopefully if I get stopped, they will just make me put them on.

Maybe you could put them on with blue painters tape or some other temporary adhesive. You may need to reapply the adhesive periodically as they can become permanent with time. I do feel your pain, being asked to put stickers on a wood boat.

quote Sylbill: "I plan on just carrying my registration numbers and sticker with me since I don't want to put them on my cedar stripper. Hopefully if I get stopped, they will just make me put them on."

I doubt that you will get much love from an agent that stops you without the registration sticker in place. Put it on and take it off afterwards with alcohol. Save it for your next trip.

SE

Is there a place on this forum dedicated to Strip canoes? I would love to see everyone else' finished canoes.

yes....on the Message Board page....go down to bottom, Special Interests section....click and find the Builders Group

There is one caveat I don't see mentioned here.

Canadians don't require your canoe to be registered (go figure!). So if your entire trip is in Canadian waters, you are good to go. Now they might ask you about ownership going across the border, but not registration.

I have multiple canoes, zero registrations and trip in Canada annually.

dd

I doubt that you will get much love from an agent that stops you without the registration sticker in place. Put it on and take it off afterwards with alcohol. Save it for your next trip.

SE"

Can you explain how you remove the sticker with alcohol? I also have a Freedom 17 and it seems to be perfect for what we do.

Why not use registration numbers that are something of which you can be just as proud as the woodwork? Slapping on some hardware store black and white reflective numbers is ugly, sure. But there must be some alternatives that look nice and still fill the legal requirement. I've seen some fancy boats in harbors that sport some nicely hand-painted or stylish ready-made fonts.

Nebraska doesn't require my Bell to be registered since it is not a motorized canoe, when I mentioned it has to be registered somewhere for me to be in the BWCA with it, they said that I actually can't even register it in NE if I want to, because it doesn't meet the requirements of being motorized. So.. what now? Can I register it as out of state in MN or something?

You need to keep asking. Suncatcher lives in NE and his canoes have stickers. NE canoe sticker=
But, you can also register it in Mn. Wi does not require canoe registration, but if you talk to the right person, it gets done. I have 4 registered in Wi and one in Mn.

quote TIMMY: "Nebraska doesn't require my Bell to be registered since it is not a motorized canoe, when I mentioned it has to be registered somewhere for me to be in the BWCA with it, they said that I actually can't even register it in NE if I want to, because it doesn't meet the requirements of being motorized. So.. what now? Can I register it as out of state in MN or something? "

Tell them you want the option to hang a trolling motor off the side.

Or just register it in MN... Either way.

quote SouthernExposure: "

quote Sylbill: "I plan on just carrying my registration numbers and sticker with me since I don't want to put them on my cedar stripper. Hopefully if I get stopped, they will just make me put them on."

I doubt that you will get much love from an agent that stops you without the registration sticker in place. Put it on and take it off afterwards with alcohol. Save it for your next trip.

SE"

If you do this what would stop you from using one set of stickers for multiple canoes? That is the way the DNR are going to look at it. They could write you the ticket if they want...just depends on the officer.

quote cowdoc: "But, you can also register it in Mn. Wi does not require canoe registration, but if you talk to the right person, it gets done. I have 4 registered in Wi and one in Mn."

Same here!

In the past, I'd usually register my canoes in Minnesota. But, it became more difficult to find a convenient location, or an office that was open during the times I was passing through on my way to the BWCAW.

If you do register your canoe in Wisconsin though, it's best to do it at one of the DNR offices, or at a DNR satellite office. Provided there's someone behind the desk that knows what they're doing, you can cut through all the un-related categories that are designated for motorized watercraft.

Hans Solo

I live in Washington (State)where canoes are not registered and I have both of my canoes registered in MN. There are many places to do that, and after the first time they send you information on re-registration with an option to do it on line.

Thanks guys, I just registered my canoe in WI as a non-resident. Did it online and cost me $12 for 3 years.

In MN, you need only display the small tag on the bow of your non-motorized canoe - the life-size characters apply if you throw a motor on her.

If you live in another state and your state of being does NOT require you to licence your canoe, you are required to purchase a MN watercraft licence to drop your canoe in the water in MN, anywhere you float her not just in the BWCA. On the other hand if you have a current watercraft licence from your state of being, MN gives you 90 days to use you canoe on MN waters.

You'll find more answers at http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/boatwater/boatingguide.pdf

To remove leftover adhesive from your MN boat sticker use Goof Off or White gas. Alcohol won't cut the adhesive. (that's not in the DNR booklet)

Dennis
NorthWest Canoe

hahahaha.....a Nebraska canoe, registered in Wisconsin, to be paddled in Minnesota (and elsewhere). Wouldn't it be nice if all the politicians and agencies got on the same page....

Haha, you know I was thinking the same thing. Well at least I'll be legal now in MN!

Well the canoe was born in MN, I think it just wants to go home ;)

Can you explain how you remove the sticker with alcohol? I also have a Freedom 17 and it seems to be perfect for what we do."

I found that by pulling one corner slightly and gently swabbing the exposed edge with denatured alcohol, the adhesive will soften and allow the sticker to come loose without removing the adhesive. If the adhesive does lose it's effective stickiness, you can still reapply spray adhesive to it and reuse it.

BTW, touring the BW in a Freedom 17 cedar strip canoe was a perfect balance of weight, cargo capacity and easy speed. It seems to have been designed for voyaging.

SE

Seems Wisconsin is the way to go. Wish I had done that. I just told the NE registrar I was attaching a motor to to it. They provided the cash for registration tag transfer. Cost 3 times more than WI. Still cheaper than my $120 ticket last fall.

Ouch on that ticket. That's what I'm trying to avoid I guess! Yes, WI has been really good to work with, they even answered a few DNR questions in about 15 minutes response time. And I was glad I could do a first time registration online and didn't need to waste my time finding an office here or before a trip when I just want to get on the water!

In Ohio we have the option to put the sticker on the inside of the canoe. Check with your state to see if that is an option. I can understand not wanting to put an ugly sticker on the outside of a beautiful canoe.