Michicraft 15, HIN hidden?

[RKD56]

Hello,

I'm new here so excuse my ignorance.

I recently bought a Michicraft 15 foot canoe in Michigan where it is not mandatory to register a boat under 16 feet unless it has a motor. I live in Ohio where all boats must be registered. My dilemma is that the outside HIN tag is missing, two naked rivets. I've went over the boat from stem to stern, even removed the bow and stern plates including floatation, to no avail.

Any suggestions where the hidden HIN might be lurking?

Thanks, Ron

 

[Fire1386]

Can't help you much with the hidden HIN number, but I would recommend calling the ODNR watercraft division and asking them what you would need to do to get it registered in Ohio. I recently had dealings with them on my older boat I was getting ready to sell being registered as a 14 footer and it was 13 feet 6 inches. In 1979 when boat manufactured it was common to round up to even number feet. 14 feet or longer need a title, which all I had was a registration paper since the mid 80's when I purchased it. They were very helpful, went out of their way I think to help me. All paperwork was corrected after they "officially" measured it to the correct 13.6 length..... I was very impressed how they handled themselves and conducted business.