As far as paying to register your boat I always wondered as to why it was free albeit the fact you had to pay a sales tax on it's price in order to do so. To renew a boat registration number was/is/and/or free at this time. Governments being what they are are always looking to cover their costs... needless to say.
I'm ok because I don't own a 100,000 dollar boat ... probably won't unless I win a lottery , so go screw over the guy with too much money. If I am correct down south of the border they have to have a yearly sticker on their boat every year ? The really unfortunate part of this whole scenario is that it will not make better seamen out of people if they can just pay there way out of it .