I am sure many of you boat owners have looked at the series of numbers and letters on the transom of your boat, and wonder what they mean. Federal regulations require that every boat built in the U.S. after 1972 must be identified by a unique 12-digit number.

Here is how the hull ID breaks down:
Hull Serial Number Example: ABC12345A505

ABC - The Coast Guard assigns each boat builder a 3 letter identification code. For more information on this code, go to: http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/mic_database.htm

12345 - The 5 digit hull serial numbers are next. These may consist of a series of numbers and letters that is unique to the boat.

A – This is the month the hull was manufactured. Each of the 12 months is represented by a letter starting with A. For instance: A means this boat was manufactured in January. F means this boat was manufactured in June, and so forth.

5 – Year of certification or manufacture

05 – Designates the model year. This boat was manufactured in 2005.

So now when you look at these numbers, you will be a little more wise.