: I don't know how smart they are on your side of the border, but I seriously
: doubt the police will be of any assistance if your kayak is stolen. I
: think most of the detective work would be up to you, and they might help
: prosecute the theif, if caught, if you provide enough convincing evidence
: (including the HIN). But it's not likely to get your boat returned to you
: by simply having the HIN.

: I once had my mountain bike confiscated for being "illegally
: parked" on the campus at my university by the campus cops. They were
: going to make me register the bike before handing it over to me. I had to
: point out that there was already a registration sticker on the bike that
: I'd registered through them 3 years prior, and they weren't bright enough
: to notice their own sticker!

: Shawn

Yup, I pretty much agree with you.

My understanding is, even if you led the police by the nose to your stolen boat
there would be insufficent grounds for them to even inspect it let alone seize it without a HIN. Your chances of recovery are zero, even with the boat and the culprit right in front of you and the police officer.

I'm not saying a HIN will get your boat back, but your chances go from zero
to something slightly better than zero. I suspect a HIN might be of use
if you plan to take your boat across the border, say to R2K3 for example, as well. I'd hate to get stopped at customs on the way back and have to pay duty on a boat I built, but which I couldn't prove originated in Canada.

The cost is a one time fee of $5 CDN (about $0.02 American ), so I thought
it might not be unreasonable. Just wondering if any other folks had any
first hand experience with this.

Thanks for the input.