Canadian & U.S. Boating Regulations

[Pro-pulsion]

=) I put a little something for everyone together, enjoy.

Canadian Boating Regulations:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/debs-obs-menu-1362.htm
https://www.safeboater.com/learn-the-rules/law-and-boating-terms.html
https://www.boat-ed.com/canada/boating_law.html


U.S. Boating Regulations:

This is a fairly simple site to work with, just select your state and use the drop menus on the right to find the info you need about your regulations. If you’re like me, you prefer to have that government seal of approval on a print out just encase one of those “know it all” officers tries to argue about a regulation. I’ve heard the water laws can vary from one officer to another so the actual government links listed below should stop them in their tracks. Hopefully it will take away the gray area they try to nail you on when you hand over a print out directly from the states’ archive.

http://www.boat-ed.com/


Alaska:
http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/boating/
Alabama:
http://www.outdooralabama.com/boating/pwc.cfm
http://www.outdooralabama.com/boating/new laws-regulations.cfm
http://www.outdooralabama.com/boating/rules-regulations/
Arkansas:
http://www.agfc.com/boating/boating-regulations.aspx
Arizona:
http://www.azgfd.gov/outdoor_recreation/WatercraftRegistration.shtml
California:
http://www.dbw.ca.gov/LawsRegs/
Colorado:
http://parks.state.co.us/Boating/RulesandRegulations/Pages/BoatingRulesandRegs.aspx
Connecticut:
http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2704&Q=323516#Boating
Delaware:
http://delcode.delaware.gov/title23/index.shtml
Florida:
http://myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/Rules_Boat.htm
Georgia:
http://www.georgiawildlife.com/boating/regulations
Hawaii:
http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dbor/bor_pwcs.htm
Iowa:
http://www.iowadnr.gov/law/boating/regulations.html
Idaho:
http://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/recreation/boating/regulations.aspx
Illinois:
http://dnr.state.il.us/admin/boats.htm
Indiana:
http://www.in.gov/nrc/2408.htm
Kansas:
http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/Boating/Law-Enforcement
Kentucky:
http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/kar/TITLE301.HTM
Louisiana:
http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/boating/
Massachusetts:
http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dle/boatinglawsummary.htm
Maryland:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/boating/regulations/
Maine:
http://www.maine.gov/IFW/laws_rules/boatlaws.htm
Michigan:
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10365_10884---,00.html
http://www.boat-ed.com/mi/handbook/pwc.htm
Minnesota:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/regulations/boatwater/index.html
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/boatwater/boatingguide.pdf
Missouri:
http://www.mswp.dps.mo.gov/
http://www.boat-ed.com/mo/handbook/index.htm
Mississippi:
http://www.dmr.state.ms.us/Marine-Patrol/Safety/boat_and_water_safety.htm
Montana:
http://fwp.mt.gov/recreation/regulations/boating/
North Carolina:
http://www.ncwildlife.org/Regs/Regs_Boating.htm
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2009/Bills/Senate/PDF/S43v4.pdf
North Dakota:
http://gf.nd.gov/boating/
Nebraska:
http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/boating/guides/boating/BGrules.asp
New Hampshire:
http://www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/ss/boatinged/index.html
New Jersey:
http://www.state.nj.us/njsp/maritime/
New Mexico:
http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/PRD/BOATINGWeb/boatingmainpageregistertitle.htm
Nevada:
http://www.ndow.org/law/regs/
New York:
http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/DMVfaqs.htm#BOATS
http://www.nysparks.state.ny.us/recreation/boating/
Ohio:
http://ohiodnr.com/?TabId=2726
Oklahoma:
http://www.dps.state.ok.us/ohp/aboutlp.htm
Oregon:
http://www.oregon.gov/OSMB/BoatLaws/laws.shtml
Pennsylvania:
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/regs_boat.htm
Rhode Island:
http://www.dem.ri.gov/topics/boating.htm
South Carolina:
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/regs/boating.html
South Dakota:
http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/Boating/index.htm
Tennessee:
http://www.state.tn.us/twra/boatmain.html
Texas:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/boat/laws/index.phtml
Utah:
http://stateparks.utah.gov/boating/publications
Virginia:
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/boating/
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/boating/wog/
Vermont:
http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/boating.htm
http://www.boat-ed.com/vt/handbook/
Washington:
http://www.boat.wa.gov/regulations.asp
Wisconsin:
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/es/enforcement/docs/BoatingRegs.pdf
West Virginia:
http://www.wvdnr.gov/lenforce/boating.shtm
Wyoming:
http://gf.state.wy.us/fish/boating/index.asp

 

[heebs12]

Thanks for the info. Appreciate it!

 

[Pro-pulsion]

After yesterday, I thought resurrecting this thread might help others as it has helped me. The story...while out on the ski yesterday I was poking along approaching a break wall of massive rocks near a boating club. As I have done for the last 25 years I started to wander left to maintain a good safe distance and follow the break wall contour so I would not crash straight into the rocks. Just as I am starting to make more effort to turn, about 20 feet immediately behind me is 24 foot fiberglass I/O boat at full throttle. In a panic I grab a mitt full of throttle and narrowly escape being run over. They look back at me and flip me off just after their wake caused me to fall. I chased them down seeing them swamp a couple in a kayak and race past a swimming pier being not more than 30 feet from the pier. When I catch up to them at a harbor I say to them "did you not see swimmers over at the pier?! What are you doing going so fast in a slow zone?! He avoids admitting to the swimmers and blamed me for cutting in front of him. His belief of the laws up here in Ontario Canada are that when he is on his course I am to give way to him. Of course I can barely hear him because he has 6 people onboard all yelling at me so saying anything beyond a few sentences was worthless. But knowing the laws had justified my innocence and proven he has no knowledge of the laws.

Up here on any lake in Ontario, when you are approaching a vessel from behind, you are called the Give Way vessel. It is up to YOU, to trigger a sound signalling device to the craft in front. You MUST make every effort to make your upcoming presence known to the craft ahead, then YOU MUST take early and SUBSTANTIAL action to avoid the Stand-On (or lead) Vessel. In other words, YOU MUST MAKE EVERY EFFORT POSSIBLE TO GIVE AS MUCH ROOM AS POSSIBLE TO THE VESSEL AHEAD when attempting to overthrow it. Following this, it is also prohibited for any vessel to travel at speeds above 10 km/h (6 mp/h) when within 90 meters (100 feet) of shore line. It is also illegal to operate any boat within a designated swimming zone. Knowing your laws just might be your saving grace in such a situation. Our authorities up here are now aware of this incident and will be handling it from there.

Please do yourselves a favor and get familiar with the laws and regulations to your waterways, knowing them will help to protect you. There might be some you are not familiar with. When it comes to the law, if you are on the wrong side of it claiming ignorance will not be acceptable. If any links are not working, please mention it and I will try to update them. Be safe out there guys and know your rights and laws, they will be on your side if or when you need them.