This week’s boating rule covers Safety Zone and Operation of Watercraft inside and outside of safety zones.
C. Safety Zone:
A one hundred (100) foot safety zone (“Safety Zone”) shall be maintained from all shorelines,
jetties, docks or other projections into the lake. While in the Safety Zone, watercraft may
travel in either direction.
F. Operation of Watercraft:
(1) While in the Safety Zone or in any cove, motor craft shall be operated at speeds that
produce “No Wake.” “No Wake means idle speed only. In all other areas, a watercraft shall
proceed at a safe speed so that it can take proper and effective action to avoid collision and be
stopped within a distance appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions. The
patrol shall be responsible for determining whether boats are exceeding safe conditions for the
conditions present. Under good visibility conditions and light to moderate boat traffic, the
maximum safe speed shall be set at 35 miles per hour. The maximum safe boating speed shall
be reduced for poor visibility, i.e. fog rain etc. and very heavy traffic situations. However, from
dusk until daylight, watercraft being operated on any part of the lake shall be operated at “No
Wake – Idle Speed Only”; while in operation during such times, all boats shall carry a distress
signal (a light or lantern) capable of being visible at a distance equal to the length of the lake.
(2) While outside of the Safety Zone, watercraft shall travel in a counterclockwise
direction (for example, in a northward direction while on the east side of the lake). (Effective
July 16, 1997).
(3) All watercraft shall maintain clearance of not less than 200 feet from other watercraft,
except when both crafts are operating at idle speed. The Patrol shall be responsible for
determining whether watercraft is maintaining the proper clearance from another watercraft.
The jumping of boat wakes by jet skis or other personal watercraft while within 200 feet of the
watercraft that created the wake is prohibited. (Effective August 18, 1994, amended
September 22, 1994).