If you'll be reporting this income on Schedule C - "Profit or Loss From Business" - to be included on your Form 1040 then it really doesn't make a difference from an income tax perspective how the boat is titled. If you are operating this business as a sole proprietor or have organized a single-member LLC for this purpose, (an LLC that hasn't elected to be taxed as an S-Corp or C-Corp), there's no distinction - again, from an income tax perspective - between "you" and the "business." So in either case the boat would be a "business asset" to be capitalized and depreciated as a single-member LLC is considered a "disregarded entity" by the IRS. That is, to the IRS the LLC doesn't exist.
Tom Young
