Section 19-1039. WATER SPORTS

 

1039.1When water contact sports are allowed under District of Columbia laws and regulations, no person shall operate a vessel on any District of Columbia waters for towing a person or persons on water skis, aquaplanes, surfboards, or similar devices, nor shall any person engage in water skiing, aquaplaning, surfboarding, or other similar activities, unless there is in that vessel a person, in addition to the operator, of not less than twelve (12) years of age who is in a position to observe the progress of the person or persons being towed.

 

1039.2No person shall operate a vessel on any District of Columbia waters for towing a person or persons on water skis, aquaplanes, surfboards, or similar devices, nor shall any person engage in water skiing, aquaplaning, surfboarding, or other similar activities, at any time during the night.

 

1039.3The provisions of §§ 1039.1 and 1039.2 shall not apply to a performer engaged in a professional exhibition authorized under a permit issued by the Mayor pursuant to § 1040.

 

1039.4No person shall swim or dive from any vessel that is turning into or from any anchorage or docking, or getting underway from any anchorage.

 

1039.5No person shall swim or dive in the marked channels of the harbor, or from any bridge, wharves, or piers in or adjacent to those channels.

 

1039.6No person shall swim or dive within one hundred (100) yards of any vessel that is loading or discharging passengers or freight.

 

1039.7Except as permitted by the Harbor Master under safe conditions, no person shall engage in any recreational activities that include, or may result in, direct physical contact with ice on District of Columbia waters. These activities shall include, but not be limited to, walking on the ice, ice skating, ice sledding, ice boating, ice fishing, and the use of a vehicle or other device on the ice.

 

1039.8Activities prohibited under § 1039.7 shall not include the use of vessels, diving for non-recreational purposes as governed by Title 24 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations, or fishing from the shore or any structurally sound piers, wharves, bulkheads, or other works located in District of Columbia waters.

 

1039.9No person shall throw, push, or drop any vehicle, animal, device, debris, waste, or matter onto the ice on District of Columbia waters; nor shall any person permit or cause any matter to come into contact with the ice on District of Columbia waters.

 

1039.10Nothing contained in this section shall be construed as amending, superseding, or in any way changing the prohibition against water contact, recreational activity, or animal contact with the Potomac River, the Anacostia River, the Washington Ship Channel, Rock Creek, or Oxon Run as specified in 21 DCMR § 508.

 

source

Article 29 § 13 of the Police Regulations of the District of Columbia (January 1983).