Page:Small-boat sailing; an explanation of the management of small yachts, half-decked and open sailing-boats of various rigs; sailing on sea and on river; cruising, etc (IA smallboatsailing01knig).pdf/279

 was held not to apply to me. I was not compelled, as was every merchantman, to have an insolent negro guard placed on board my vessel during my stay.

The Customs authorities abroad, in short, respect our Admiralty warrant; they relax their rules in favour of the yachtsman, are not ever suspiciously on the watch to see that he does not smuggle or otherwise break the laws of the country. He is trusted as a gentleman, and he is on his honour to observe the obligations on the strength of which the warrant was granted. The privilege should never be abused.

Registration is not compulsory for vessels of fifteen tons and under. But even a small yacht, if she is intended for foreign cruising, should be registered. In the first place, the Admiralty will not grant a warrant to an unregistered boat. The register is the most important of the ship's papers. It is a certificate of ownership granted by the Registrar-General of Shipping, and it is a ship's passport which serves to identify her and to establish her nationality when abroad. It is on her registered tonnage that a yacht has to pay harbour, light, canal, and other dues, at so much a ton. If, for example, one is sailing on the Dutch canals, the production of the register will settle beyond dispute the amount that can be rightly claimed for canal dues. But if a boat be unprovided with a register, her owner is likely to be occasionally worried by the red tape of foreign officialdom, and he will probably be made