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 fire or police departments)– responsible for enforcement within the geographical boundaries of a particular County or City.
If stopped by a law enforcement or marine patrol 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
850-488-5600
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.
“Documented vessel” means a vessel for which a valid certificate of documentation is outstanding pursuant to 46 C.F.R. part 67.
“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.
“Homemade vessel” means any vessel built after October 31, 1972, for which a federal hull identification number is not required to be assigned by the manufacturer pursuant to federal law, or any vessel constructed or assembled prior to November 1, 1972, by other than a licensed manufacturer for his or her own use or the use of a specific person. A vessel assembled from a manufacturer’s kit or constructed from an unfinished manufactured hull shall be considered to be a homemade vessel if such a vessel is not required to have a hull identification number assigned by the United States Coast Guard. A rebuilt or reconstructed vessel shall in no event be construed to be a homemade vessel.
“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.
“Marker” means any channel mark or other aid to navigation, information or regulatory mark, isolated danger mark, safe water mark, special mark, inland waters obstruction mark, or mooring buoy in, on, or over the waters of the state or the shores thereof, and includes, but is not limited to, a sign, beacon, buoy, or light.
“Motorboat” means any vessel equipped with machinery for propulsion, irrespective of whether the propulsion machinery is in actual operation
“Nonresident” means a citizen of the United States who has not established residence in this state and has not continuously resided in this state for 1 year and in one county for the 6 months immediately preceding the initiation of a vessel titling or registration action.
“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.
“Person” means an individual, partnership, firm, corporation, association, or other entity.
“Personal watercraft” means a vessel less than 16 feet in length which uses an inboard motor powering a water jet pump, as its primary source of motive power and which is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel, rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or standing inside the vessel.
“Portable toilet” means a device consisting of a lid, seat, containment vessel, and support structure that is specifically designed to receive, retain, and discharge human waste and that is capable of being removed from a vessel by hand.
“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.
“Recreational vessel” means any vessel:
“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.
“Resident” means a citizen of the United States who has established residence in this state and has continuously resided in this state for 1 year and in one county for the 6 months immediately preceding the initiation of a vessel titling or registration action.
“Sailboat” means any vessel whose sole source of propulsion is the wind
“Unclaimed vessel” means any undocumented vessel, including its machinery, rigging, and accessories, which is in the physical possession of any marina, garage, or repair shop for repairs, improvements, or other work with the knowledge of the vessel owner and for which the costs of such services have been unpaid for a period in excess of 90 days from the date written notice of the completed work is given by the marina, garage, or repair shop to the vessel owner.
“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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