Chapter Two: Florida Laws and Safety Requirements
Practice safe and legal boating every time you are on the water. Boating is a highly regulated recreational activity, and there may be occasions when a law enforcement officer will inspect your boat for compliance with equipment and legal conformity. The boat operator has the responsibility of ensuring the safety of all passengers and this includes making certain all required safety equipment is onboard the boat and ready to use.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission – Responsible for enforcement within the geographical boundaries of Florida.
- USCG – Responsible for federal boating regulation and enforcement on all federal navigable waters.
- County or City marine officers (may be police departments) – Responsible for enforcement within the geographical boundaries of a particular County or City.
If stopped by a marine law enforcement officer, slow down and bring your boat to a stop if it is safe to do so. Once stopped, wait for further directions from the officer. Generally, the officer will maneuver the patrol boat to you.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
620 S. Meridian Street
Tallahassee FL 32399-1600
www.myfwc.com
Florida Boating Safety Act
Definitions of terms:
“Canoe” means a light, narrow vessel with curved sides and with both ends pointed. A canoe-like vessel with a transom may not be excluded from the definition of a canoe if the width of its transom is less than 45 percent of the width of its beam or it has been designated as a canoe by the United States Coast Guard.
“Division” means the Division of Law Enforcement of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“Floating structure” means a floating entity, with or without accommodations built thereon, which is not primarily used as a means of transportation on water but which serves purposes or provides services typically associated with a structure or other improvement to real property. The term “floating structure” includes, but is not limited to, each entity used as a residence, place of business or office with public access, hotel or motel,
“Florida Intracoastal Waterway” means the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the Georgia state line north of Fernandina to Miami; the Port Canaveral lock and canal to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway; the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Miami to Key West; the Okeechobee Waterway, Stuart to Fort Myers; the St. Johns River, Jacksonville to Sanford; the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Anclote to Fort Myers; the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Carrabelle to Tampa Bay; Carrabelle to Anclote open bay section (using Gulf of Mexico); the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Carrabelle to the Alabama state line west of Pensacola; and the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint Rivers in Florida.
“Houseboat” means any vessel which is used primarily as a residence for a minimum of 21 days during any 30-day period, in a county of this state, and this residential use of the vessel is to the preclusion of the use of the vessel as a means of transportation.
“Length” means the measurement from end to end over the deck parallel to the centerline excluding sheer.
“Live-aboard vessel” means:
- Any vessel used solely as a residence; or
- Any vessel represented as a place of business, a professional or other commercial enterprise, or a legal residence.
“Marine sanitation device” means any equipment other than a toilet, for installation on board a vessel, which is designed to receive, retain, treat, or discharge sewage, and any process to treat such sewage. Marine sanitation device Types I, II, and III shall be defined as provided in 33 C.F.R. part 159.
“Motorboat” means any vessel equipped with machinery for propulsion, irrespective of whether the propulsion machinery is in actual operation
“Operate” means to be in charge of or in command of or in actual physical control of a vessel upon the waters of this state, or to exercise control over or to have responsibility for a vessel’s navigation or safety while the vessel is underway upon the waters of this state, or to control or steer a vessel being towed by another vessel upon the waters of the state
“Owner” means a person, other than a lien holder, having the property in or title to a vessel. The term includes a person entitled to the use or possession of a vessel subject to an interest in another person, reserved or created by agreement and securing payment of performance of an obligation, but the term excludes a lessee under a lease not intended as security.
“Prohibited activity” means such activity as will impede or disturb navigation or creates a safety hazard on waterways of this state.
“Racing shell,” “rowing scull,” or “racing kayak” means a manually propelled vessel which is recognized by national or international racing associations for use in competitive racing and in which all occupants, with the exception of a coxswain, if one is provided, row, scull, or paddle and which is not designed to carry and does not carry any equipment not solely for competitive racing.
“Registration” means a state operating license on a vessel which is issued with an identifying number, an annual certificate of registration, and a decal designating the year for which a registration fee is paid.
“Sailboat” means any vessel whose sole source of propulsion is the wind
“Underway” shall mean at all times except when a vessel is anchored, moored, made fast to the shore, or aground (Fl State Statute 327.50).
“Vessel” is synonymous with boat and includes every description of watercraft, barge, and air boat, other than a seaplane on the water, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water.
“Waters of this state” means any navigable waters of the United States within the territorial limits of this state, and the marginal sea adjacent to this state and the high seas when navigated as a part of a journey or ride to or from the shore of this state, and all the inland lakes, rivers, and canals under the jurisdiction of this state.
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