Missing Hull ID number?

[freeisforme]

I tied up to a courtesy dock at the boat ramp the other day, one that's made of all aluminum, and a wake from a passing boat caused my 14' Starcraft to dip below the dock, it caught the right rear corner grab handle/ corner brace and broke off the rear portion of it, in doing that, it tore the hull ID tag just below it off, leaving just two rivets. The bits were gone by the time I saw what happened, and in 10' of fast moving water the chances of finding it are slim.

What should I do? The handle is no big deal, I could grind what's left of the corner cap down and do away with the handle part of it and it would look fine, but if I can find a new one, even better yet.
My bigger concern is the Hull number, do I just make up a new one with a punch set or will Starcraft issue me a new plate?
I called the marine police and they said the HIN must be there and it must be visible. The thing was just a 4x1" aluminum tag riveted to the hull with pop rivets, I'm surprised it lasted all these years, it was a bit tattered but still there and attached until it was torn off.

 

[dozerII]

On some Starcrafts, depending on the model there is a second plate riveted under the dash or bow cover. If yours does not have the second one you will have to make one.

 

[Bob_VT]

If you have the hull ID number from the registration then have it duplicated and re-mount one. I would also recommend you mount one inside the hull. You are not altering the number and many metal tags were cheaply made. I had a 1963 starcraft aluminum that the number was on a foil piece that was glued inside the transom.

 

[Frederic Lynes]

Mine is not a Hull ID #, since they didn't exist before 1973, but rather a Serial #. It is riveted just inside the engine compartment. You should be able to get an electric metal engraver pretty cheap, a strip of aluminum and reproduce it.