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D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: September 13, 2017) |
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Title 19. AMUSEMENTS, PARKS, AND RECREATION |
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Chapter 19-10. HARBOR AND BOATING SAFETY |
Section 19-1026. OPERATION OF VESSELS
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1026.1All vessels shall be operated in compliance with the Navigation Rules (as defined in § 1099 of this chapter).
1026.2No person shall operate or use any vessel in a negligent manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person.
1026.3No person shall operate or use any vessel, or use any water skis, aquaplane, surfboard, or similar device, while under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or any narcotic drug, barbiturate, or hallucinogen.
1026.4No person, or agent or employee of a person, who owns, leases, or controls any wharf, pier, bulkhead; or structure on a wharf, pier, or bulkhead; or waters adjacent to a wharf, pier, or bulkhead; or any basin, slip, dock, waterfront, land under water; or any structure on any of these places shall rent, lease, or hire any vessel to a person who is under eighteen (18) years of age, unless the person under eighteen (18) years of age has successfully completed a boating safety course approved by the Harbor Master, or unless the person will be under the constant supervision of a person at least eighteen (18) years of age who has successfully completed a boating safety course.
1026.5No person under eighteen (18) years of age shall operate or navigate any vessel sixteen feet (16 ft.) or more in length of any kind in District of Columbia waters, unless the person has successfully completed a boating safety course approved by the Harbor Master, or unless the person under eighteen (18) years of age is under the supervision of a person who has reached eighteen (18) years of age and who has successfully completed a boating safety course.
1026.6Any person who is operating or navigating any vessel shall have in his or her possession satisfactory evidence of having completed an approved boating safety course, or the person shall make evidence of having completed a boating safety course available to the Harbor Master at the vessel’s launching or berthing point on the shore adjacent to District of Columbia waters.
1026.7When the operator of a vessel sixteen feet (16 ft.) or more in length is under eighteen (18) years of age, the operator and all other persons aboard the vessel who are under eighteen (18) years of age shall wear a Coast Guard approved personal floatation device of the proper size.
(1A)No person may operate a recreational vessel underway with any child under 13 years old aboard unless each such child is below decks, in an enclosed cabin, or wearing a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device of the proper size.
1026.8No person shall use, operate, or permit to be operated any vessel on District of Columbia waters, unless the vessel is of sound construction and in a good, seaworthy condition.
(1A)No person may operate a recreational vessel underway with any child under 13 years old aboard unless each such child is below decks, in an enclosed cabin, or wearing a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device of the proper size.
1026.9No person shall loan, rent, lease, chart, hire, or offer for those purposes any vessel owned by him or her, or subject to his or her control, unless the vessel is of sound construction and in a good, seaworthy condition.
1026.10All persons aboard any vessel in the area from the southernmost point of the cove commonly known as Fletcher’s Cove in the Georgetown Channel of the Potomac River upstream to the District of Columbia boundary line at Little Falls shall wear a Coast Guard-approved personal floatation device at all times.