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  1. #1

    Default Got "pulled over" by the local lake police

    I'm still very new to the boating world. Got the boat last year. I'm super safe and conservative when it comes to anything safety and I feel like I know al the rules. But Maybe I don't.

    So yesterday, My wife and I were surfing. Had our 7 and 10 year old on the boat with us. I was surfing and my wife was driving. All of the sudden the blue lights come up probably 15-20 yards beside me on the rope. I wave to my wife and I drop the rope.

    I swim back to the boat....we get a lecture. It was all very civil. They said that we had to have a spotter (at least 10 years old) at all times. my 10 year old had actually laid down to take a nap. I didn't think anything of it. My wife and I have been out dozens of times where its just us 2. We toss the rope to the side and when the surfer falls we put it in neutral, pull in the rope and pick up the surfer. We have the standard (huge) rearview mirror. I had always been told by friends and other surfers that is okay and you don't have to have a spotter. He lectured me and the 10 year old about how she couldn't rest her eyes.

    I never get argumentative with authority, but was I in the wrong? do you always have to have a 3rd person on the boat? I see it literally every time I go out, 1 driver and one surfer all the time. I did not as the police for a clarification because I felt like the less I said the less likely we'd get a ticket...and we did not get one. Just a lecture.

    Best I can find in Mississippi is that the 3rd person/spotter rule only applies to towing on a PWC which makes sense.
    2008 XLV Gravity Games edition

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Vancouver WA
    Posts
    5,018

    Default

    Laws are state by state. Some states you only have to have a mirror. Other states require a spotter. Some states will have an age requirement for the spotter.

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  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Vancouver WA
    Posts
    5,018

    Default

    Sometimes this is helpful
    https://www.uscgboating.org/regulati...p?id=18&title=

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    2008 Moomba Mobius XLV. Monster Cargo Bimini, WS Rev 410's, Polk Cabins, 3 Infinity Subs, PPI amps, WS420, Exile BT, upgraded ballast pumps, up to 3,500+ pounds of ballast, Blue LED's...
    1992 Supra Sunsport. **SOLD** 2k pounds ballast, Surf System, Blue LED's everywhere, decent audio system.
    Tow Rig: 2013 F150 Ecoboost FX4 (wife's rig) Other money pits include:1998 BMW M3 Cabriolet, 2009 Audic A6 Avant 3.0T, 2005 Kawasaki ZX-6R 636.
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Location
    Middle Tennessee
    Posts
    736

    Default

    Oddly formatted on their site making it look like it's for PWC's only but I believe it applies to PWC's and towing;

    "Every vessel towing a person(s) on water skis, a surfboard or a similar device must have a person older than 10 years of age, in addition to the operator, observing the towed person(s) at all times."
    2020 Supra SA

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Henderson, NV
    Posts
    7,017

    Default

    tray is right. every state is different.
    out west you have to have a spotter and even ages vary from state to state. wisconsin was no WITH a mirror.

    best advice is to call the local DNR and ask for clarification and then get it in print to keep if it happens again but also know that some waterways, like lake winnebago in wisconsin, fall under dnr but the bay of green bay which is loosely connected to 'bago thru the fox river falls under coast guard since it's part of the great lakes chain. that means you have to carry more safety gear such as flares when under CG rules.

    I would suspect something similar in mississippi IF the waterway is CG not DNR ran.
    '06 Supra Launch 20SSV-gone but never forgotten

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    Boating on Lake Martin, AL
    Posts
    1,523

    Default

    As mentioned it depends on the state. Here in Alabama our law is:

    Operating a vessel towing a person or persons on water skis, or an aquaplane or similar device unless there is in the vessel a person, in addition to the operator who is at least 12 years of age and is observing and is capable of communicating to the operator the progress of the person being towed or unless the vessel is equipped with a wide-angle mirror with a viewing surface of at least 500 sq. centimeters (78 square inches) and a field of vision of at least a 170 degrees.
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  7. #7

    Default

    Looks like Mississippi does require a spotter and the mirror doesnt count.

    State Boat Laws

    I guess my next question is whats the fine??? Ha. We don't get to do it often, but I love just going out with my wife.
    2008 XLV Gravity Games edition

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2020
    Posts
    261

    Default

    Boating laws in the south and mid west have always intrigued me. I’ve never lived/boated in a state where you didn’t have to have a flagger and the driver could operate as one with the mirror. Foreign to me lol.
    California and Nevada, if you are below age 45 you have to have a boater card. Essentially a boating drivers license after completing a boaters drivers Ed.
    Your flagger also has to be 13 or 16, I believe.
    Every person under 13 also has to have a life jacket on at all times. Whether the boat is in motion, or not.

    I notice other states have pretty laxed boating law.


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  9. #9

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by j.mo View Post
    Boating laws in the south and mid west have always intrigued me. I’ve never lived/boated in a state where you didn’t have to have a flagger and the driver could operate as one with the mirror. Foreign to me lol.
    California and Nevada, if you are below age 45 you have to have a boater card. Essentially a boating drivers license after completing a boaters drivers Ed.
    Your flagger also has to be 13 or 16, I believe.
    Every person under 13 also has to have a life jacket on at all times. Whether the boat is in motion, or not.

    I notice other states have pretty laxed boating law.


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    Yeah, it def varies. You have to have the boaters certification course here if you were born after June 1, 1980. Just a very random date.

    kids 12 and under always have to have on a life jacket.

    and apparently, you need a 10 year old spotter, and spotter must not fall asleep.
    2008 XLV Gravity Games edition

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Posts
    4,916

    Default Got "pulled over" by the local lake police

    Sounds like you got off with a warning which is a bonus, now you know the law, the good news is your 10yo qualifies.

    If that was my kid, no naps until we get home, lol


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    2018 Supra SA 400 (SOLD)
    Michigan

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