Mystery sticker...

My boat has this sticker on either side of the bow. It is a reflective material and it is hard to see the design unless you look at it from the right angle; don't know if that is intentional or if it has faded over the years. It looks like it has been there for a while. There are a few other boats on my dock that have the same sticker, but no one seems to know what it is. Any thoughts here?

What's that sticker all about?

Mark, A decade or more ago the government decided to tax boat owners on the assumption that all of us were luxuriating on our boats and therefore should pay a commensurate tax. Changes were made to that thinking and the result was that boats were classified according to their value/size. Now here's where my memory is not staying up with my typing but I believe that C stickers meant that the boat in question was exempt, that B stickers payed some sort of tax and A stickers payed even a bit more. Eventually the whole system was scrubbed due to its unpopularity, etc. Maybe others can fill in the wide gaps I've created in the real truth. An owner of four sailboats, none that could be considered more than a C, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

That sounds probable. I thought it might have something to do with Coast Guard Documentation, but when I returned my boat to documented status last year there was no mention of any kind of sticker and none were included with my documentation certificate.

If no one comes up with a better explanation the stickers are coming off...

Going along with what Glyn said, my recollection is that the letter indicated the size of the boat with the tax being higher as the boat size increased. It wasn't enforced on Lk. Champlain for the first years and as soon as they said the CG would start enforcing it they ended the tax. I can't remember if I bought a sticker or not the last year, but I know I didn't put the sticker on my boat. That fact isn't significant because I never put the state sticker on it either.

I've reformed; I do have a state sticker on Xanthus.