Website Updates

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts now REQUIRES that any person born on or after January 1, 1989 obtain a Massachusetts Boating Safety Certificate to operate a motorboat or personal watercraft on all waterways.

Important Dates to Know

• Certification Deadline: April 1, 2026
• Grace Period Ends: September 1, 2026 (No penalties until this date)
• Who must comply: All boaters and potential boaters ages 12 and older born on or after January 1, 1989

How to Get Certified:

• Online through the Massachusetts Environmental Police https://www.boat-ed.com/massachusetts/
• Additional options can be found through the state website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/boating-safety-course-schedule

Attention Boaters: The 2026 Invoices will be viewable and active the first week of February 2026 at
https://dartmouth-ma.townmoorings.com . February 2026 invoices will be emailed only once in that
first week.
Prior to payment please review the following:
 Your Vessel Registration or Documentation – including Expiration Date
 Boating Safety Certificate completed – for all individuals operating motorboats born after
1/1/1989 effective 4/1/2026

Payment may be made in the following ways only:
 Payment online with Town Moorings
 Mailing payment to Dartmouth Waterways Department, P.O. Box 80218, Dartmouth, MA 02748
 Drop off a payment to the Silver Box outside of the Town Hall – labeled Dartmouth Waterways
Department
 In Person Payment at the Town Collectors Office – You must bring a print out of your Invoice –
they DO NOT have access to the Town Moorings System.

Payment due dates:
March 31, 2026 – Regular Registration – FY 2025 rates still apply
Mooring Late Fees
4/1/26 – 5/1/26 – $100.00 per mooring. Late registration fee is added to each mooring.

Questions pertaining to your invoice, please email harbormaster@dartmouthma.gov.

Stickers will be available for pick up only on Friday, Saturday & Sunday – May 22, 23 & 24 or June 6, 7, 8
from 8am – 4pm, at the Maritime Center. Please mark your calendars.
We will not be mailing out stickers this year.

With forecasted temperatures below freezing tonight, the pumpout boat and shoreside pumpout station have been winterized to prevent damage. Thank you for participating in keeping our harbor clean and we will see you in 2026!

Dartmouth boaters who participated in the “automatic” weekly waste pump-out service must now call for individual servicing after Friday September 26, 2025.  Pump-out service by request will continue on Tuesday and Friday mornings into October for as long as mother nature will allow.  Forecasts for a hard frost will cause the termination of waste pump-out service in order to protect our above-deck systems from freezing damage.  

A lack of consistent boat use in the fall season results in many wasted pump-out attempts by our crew.   Individual pump-out service may be requested (please give at least one full day advance notice) by any of the following means:  

• Telephone 774-473-8411 ( be sure to leave the vessel name, the mooring number or slip number, and the location of your waste deck fitting)
• Website: https://dartmouthharbormaster.com/pumpout-service/   
• Through the townmoorings.com database website:  https://dartmouth-ma.townmoorings.com/–     
• By emailing the office directly at:  harbormaster@dartmouthharbormaster.com 

VHF radio requests hailing “Dartmouth Pump-out boat” between 0800 and 1100 on Mondays and Friday may be attempted.  Please be patient as the crew may be pumping at the time of your call.
Our shore-side pump-out station located on the Maritime Center dock will also remain operable for boater self-service until the first hard frost is predicted.

Update 3/31

Town Moorings has corrected most of the issues we originally encountered with the online invoices. The online “Pay Now” button is functioning properly and is suggested for easy payments. Thank you for your patience.

3/21/25 Town Moorings, our new database provider, is currently working on the system. We will place an update here when the system is ready for use. Thank you

Dartmouth has contracted with townmoorings.com to institute a new database system for all waterways accounts. This implementation has caused a delay in the processing of ALL 2025 Waterways invoices. In light of this delay, new deadlines have been adopted for the 2025 season only. A new, simplified payment method has also been adopted for an optional convenient payment method.

• 2025 Invoices are scheduled to be sent out by 3/31/2025
• Regular yearly registration deadline will be 4/30/2025
• Late fee ($100 per mooring permit) is assessed on 5/1/2025
• Last day to renew a mooring permit is 6/2/2025

Thank you for your patience as we have this process streamlined to increase efficiency.

HM Office