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Orange County Florida
Boating Safety Regulations:
Sec. 8-31.General operation of boats and personal watercraft.
(a)All boats and motorboats shall, whenever possible, keep at least three hundred (300) feet behind any boat towing a skier and shall stay clear of, by at least one hundred (100) feet, any boat or motorboat anchored or used for fishing. When a ski jump is in use, all other boats shall, whenever possible, stay at least one hundred (100) feet away on either side and five hundred (500) feet behind the ski jump.
(b)No person shall operate any boat recklessly, overload any boat, indulge in any motorboat race, make sudden turns at excessive speed, follow too closely to other boats, or operate any boat in such a way that it may endanger other boats, life or property.
(c)All motorboat operators shall sit within the confines of the boat and shall require that their passengers do likewise. Bowriding and gunwhale riding are strictly prohibited.
(d)Care shall be taken by the operators of all motorboats and personal watercraft to prevent damage from their wash, bow wave or stern wave, or from objects towed by such boats to other boats, docks, piers, shorelines and boathouses. Boats, motorboats and personal watercraft shall not create a wake while operating within a canal, or within one hundred (100) feet of the shoreline, docks, piers, bridges or boathouses, or any other object arising from the water (excluding ski jumps or slalom courses) except when picking up or dropping off a waterskier. The one hundred-foot distance shall be measured from the boat, motorboat or personal watercraft itself or from any extension thereof, including but not limited to, a skier, aquaplane or other device being towed.
(e)All boats and motorboats towing water skiers, aquaplanes or other devices shall operate in a counterclockwise direction of the waterway whenever possible.
(Code 1965, § 4-5; Ord. No. 83-37, § 5, 9-19-83; Ord. No. 95-19, § 3, 7-25-95)
Sec. 8-32.Speed limits; posting.
The board of county commissioners may, by resolution, impose a speed limit on any waterway when it is determined that a speed limit is necessary to protect the health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of the county. Such speed limit shall be lawfully posted in or near the waterway in a location to be visible to the public.
(Code 1965, § 4-6; Ord. No. 83-37, § 6, 9-19-83)
State law reference(s)--Violation of speed limits, F.S. § 327.33(2).
Sec. 8-33.Personal watercraft.
(a)Personal watercraft under power shall keep at least three hundred (300) feet behind any boat towing a skier and shall stay clear of, by at least one hundred (100) feet, any vessel anchored or used for fishing or otherwise not under power. When a ski jump is in use, all personal watercraft shall stay clear of the area three hundred (300) feet on either side and five hundred (500) feet ahead of, and five hundred (500) feet behind, the ski jump.
(b)Personal watercraft are prohibited on ski jumps not explicitly designated for their use.
(c)No person shall create a wake while operating a personal watercraft within one hundred (100) feet of any persons in the water.
(d)No person shall operate a personal watercraft while exceeding the manufacturer's recommended maximum weight or number of occupants.
(Ord. No. 95-19, § 4, 7-25-95)
Sec. 8-34.Swimmers and skin divers.
(a)No person shall swim from the shore more than one hundred (100) feet unless accompanied by a boat or identified by a standard buoy and flag.
(b)No person shall scuba or skin dive unless identified by a standard scuba or skin diving flag.
(Ord. No. 95-19, § 5, 7-25-95)
Sec. 8-35.Tampering, trespass to boats, boathouses, docks.
It shall be unlawful for any person to molest, tamper with, damage, destroy, trespass upon or cast loose or set adrift any boat belonging to another, or to disturb, destroy, steal, take or carry away any of the contents, fixtures, motors or accessories of any boat belonging to another. It shall be unlawful to trespass upon or within boathouses or docks belonging to others.
(Ord. No. 95-19, § 6, 7-25-95)
Sec. 8-36.Damage to channel markers, buoys, signs, or signals.
It shall be unlawful for any person to remove, damage or destroy any channel markers, buoys, speed limits signs or directional signals maintained by the county. Any person injuring or damaging any channel markers, buoys, bulkheads, docks or boathouses or involved in any collision or upset with any other craft shall report such incident as soon as possible.
(Ord. No. 95-19, § 7, 7-25-95)
Sec. 8-37.Muffling equipment.
In order to minimize noise, boats, motorboats and personal watercraft shall utilize only factory-issued muffling equipment.
(Ord. No. 95-19, § 8, 7-25-95)
 Read all Code Ordinances for Orange County Florida, Boating Safety.
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