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Chapter 4: The Legal Requirements of Boating
Requirements Specific to Personal Watercraft (PWCs)
In addition to adhering to all boating laws, PWC operators have requirements
specific to their watercraft.
- Everyone on board or being towed behind a PWC must wear a U.S.
Coast Guard-approved Type I, II, III, or V personal flotation device (PFD) at
all times. Inflatable PFDs are not to be worn on personal watercraft.
- An operator of a PWC equipped with a lanyard-type ignition
safety switch must attach the lanyard to his or her person, clothing,
or PFD.
- PWCs may not be operated during the hours between one half-hour after sunset
to one half-hour before sunrise.
- No one under the age of 14 years may operate any PWC.
- No one under the age of 18 years may rent or lease a PWC.
- A PWC must be operated in a reasonable and prudent manner. It is illegal
to:
- Weave your PWC through congested waterway traffic.
- Swerve at the last possible moment in order to avoid collision (as
in spraying another person or vessel, or playing "chicken").
- Jump the wake of another vessel unreasonably
or unnecessarily close to that vessel or when visibility is obstructed.
Remember
Be Part of the Action!
Learn more about operating a PWC with this interactive animation.
(Most students will already have Flash installed. If not, follow
this link to install the Flash Player.)
Towing a Personwith a Vessel Legally
Vessel operators towing a person(s) on water skis, aquaplanes, or any similar
device must obey these laws also.
- All persons being towed behind a vessel on water skis or any other device
must wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved Type I, II,
III, or V PFD. Inflatable PFDs and ski belts are not approved PFDs for
water-skiing.
- Every vessel towing a person(s) on water skis, aquaplane, or any similar
device other than a parasail must have either:
- A person on board, in addition to the operator, observing the towed
person(s) at all times or ...
- A wide-angle rearview ski mirror designed to allow the operator to
observe the towed person at all times. Note that factory-installed
mirrors on PWCs may not meet this requirement.
- Every vessel that is towing a person on a parasail or similar device must
have a person, in addition to the operator, observing the towed person(s)
at all times. Rearview mirrors are not acceptable when towing persons on
parasails.
- Persons may be towed behind a vessel on water skis, an aquaplane, a parasail,
or any similar device during the hours of one half-hour before sunrise to
one half-hour after sunset only.
- A reasonable distance must be maintained from a person in the water, another
vessel, a bridge, a wharf, a pier, a dock, a buoy, a platform, a piling,
or a channel marker. It is illegal to cause the person being towed to collide
with any object or person.
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