When we bought ours, I just had the guy we bought it from fill out a bill of sale. Took that to the DoL and told them I purchased it but it had no title. They had me bring in a picture of the serial number and gave me a title (in dispute title is what it's called when there is no title to transfer) and license on the spot. In 2 years, if the original owner does not dispute my ownership of the boat, the boat is legally mine and I'll get a clean title.
That was my experience. It sounds like with the DoL, your experience may vary