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 Polk County
 Code of Ordinances
 Chapter 4.2. BOATS AND BOATING
 Article III. WATERWAY PROTECTION CODE

  § 4.2-26. Definitions.  

Latest version.

  • Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this article shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage and to give this article its most reasonable application. Use of the masculine gender shall include the feminine gender. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely discretionary.

    Airboat shall mean any boat, sled, sea skiff, or swamp boat pushed or pulled or propelled by air power generated by an engine of more than twenty-five (25) horsepower.

    Bather shall mean any person who is in the water, whether said person is swimming, wading or engaged in other activity in the water.

    Board shall mean the board of county commissioners of Polk County, Florida.

    Canal shall mean a trench, the bottom of which is normally covered by water, with the upper edges of its two (2) sides normally above water.

    Canoe shall mean a light, narrow vessel with curved sides and with both ends pointed. A canoe-like vessel with a transom may not be excluded from the definition of a canoe if the width of its transom is less than forty-five (45) per cent of the width of its beam or it has been designated as a canoe by the United States Coast Guard.

    Channel shall mean a defined course, whether marked or unmarked, across a broader body of water between two (2) well defined points, such as the mouths of canals, rivers, or other waterways. Such rivers and canals will also be defined as channels.

    County shall mean Polk County, Florida.

    County boat ramp shall mean any boat ramp owned, leased or operated by the Polk County Board of County Commissioners.

    Idle speed/no wake indicates a restricted or controlled zone which has been established to protect the interests of the public. "Idle speed/no wake" means that a vessel cannot proceed at a speed greater than that speed which is necessary to maintain steerageway.

    Motorboat shall mean any vessel which is propelled or powered by machinery and which is used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water.

    Open water shall mean an area of water not containing fixed structures, such as a dock.

    Operate shall mean to be in the actual physical control of a vessel upon the waters of this county or to exercise control over or steer a vessel being towed by another vessel upon these waters.

    Person shall mean an individual, partnership, firm, corporation, association, or other entity.

    Personal watercraft shall mean a small class A-1 or A-2 vessel which uses an outboard motor, or an inboard motor powering a water jet pump, as its primary source of motive power on which is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on, or being towed behind the vessel, rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or standing inside the vessel.

    Power loading shall mean the act of exceeding idle speed of the vessel's engine while loading or unloading a vessel at a boat ramp.

    Rowboat shall mean a vessel manually powered by means of oars (paddles).

    Sailboat shall mean any vessel whose primary source of propulsion is the natural element (i.e. wind). When under auxiliary power, a sailboat shall be considered a motorboat.

    Shoreline shall mean the line marking the edge of a body of water.

    Skier shall mean any person being drawn across the surface of the water.

    Skiing shall mean the act of any person being drawn across the surface of the water.

    Ski jump is a solid structure anchored to the bottom of the water body used in water skiing activities to propel skiers into the air.

    Slalom course is a grouping of floating buoys anchored to the bottom of the lake or river bottom used in water skiing activities.

    Slow down/minimum wake speed indicates a restricted or controlled zone which has been established to protect the interests of the public. "Slow down minimum wake" means that a vessel must not proceed at a speed greater than that speed which is reasonable and prudent to avoid an excessive wake or condition under the existing circumstances:

    (1)

    A motorboat in an area designated as a slow down minimum wake zone that is operating on a plane is not proceeding at slow down minimum wake speed.

    (2)

    A motorboat in an area designated as a slow down minimum wake zone that is in the process of coming off plane and settling into the water, which action creates more than no or minimum wake is not proceeding at slow down minimum wake speed.

    (3)

    A motorboat in an area designated as a slow down minimum wake zone that produces no wake or minimum wake is proceeding at slow down minimum wake speed.

    (4)

    A motorboat in an area designated as a slow down minimum wake zone that is completely off plane and which has settled into the water and is proceeding without wake or with minimum wake is proceeding at slow down minimum wake speed.

    Vessel is synonymous with boat as referenced in section 1(b), Art. VII of the State Constitution and includes every description of watercraft, barge, and air boat, other than a seaplane on the water, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water.

(Ord. No. 91-13, Art. II, § 2-1, 6-18-91; Ord. No. 92-30, § 2, 9-22-92; Ord. No. 93-37, Art. II, § 2-1, 8-10-93)