State Law vs. Federal Law

Registration and Titling Requirements:

What Vessels Must be Registered?

• All motorized vessels, including PWC, used on public waters
• All sailboats longer than 14 feet at the load waterline used on public waters
• Vessels from other states remaining in North Carolina for more than 90 consecutive days
• As of January 1, 2007, all newly purchased or transferred vessel will be required to title. This mandatory titling requirement will affect only new vessel purchases and transfers; existing vessel owners will are not required to obtain a title certificate.

The following vessels are exempt from registration:

• Vessels that are unused and kept on dry land
• Rowboats, canoes, and rafts moved only by oars, paddles, or the current
• A vessel used only on a private pond
• Vessels documented with the U.S. Coast Guard
• Ship's life boats or dinghies used solely for life-saving purposes

To register your vessel visit the NCWRC website, or contact office headquarters in Raleigh. Once in receipt of required information and fees, the NCWRC will issue a registration card, registration number, and registration decal. This registration card must be kept aboard the boat or personal watercraft (PWC) at all times and must be readily available for inspection by law enforcement personnel. Registration is good for either a 1 year or 3 year period.

The boat registration and validation decals are valid for one or three years!

You must display registration numbers (beginning with NC) on the forward half of your vessel and in a place where it can be easily read by law enforcement officials. Letters and numbers must be at least 3" tall and must be black or another color that contrasts with the hull. The registration decal must be affixed in line and within 6 inches of the registration number on the starboard bow.

Laws for Required Wearing of PFDs :

In addition to the federal PFD carriage requirements, North Carolina has the following requirements for wearing a PFD:

Children under 13 must wear a PFD underway on recreational boats while underway!

Additional Equipment Requirements:

Recommended Additional Safety Equipment!

• Compass and charts
• Marine VHF radio/cell phone
• Anchoring equipment
• Bailing device
• Spare parts & tools
• Extra starting battery
• Oars or paddles
• Flashlight

Mufflers and Noise Levels:

Vessel engines with open-air exhausts and the capacity to operate at more than 4000 RPM must have effective muffling equipment installed to effectively reduce noise. Exceptions are licensed commercial fishing boats.

In general, do not modify your factory exhaust if the result makes it louder!

Loud boat noise not only bothers other operators and users of the waterways, it can also disrupt peace ashore because of sound's ability to travel great distances over water. Excessive noise can also prevent a boat operator from hearing other boats' sound signals and warnings and can prevent you from hearing approaching law or rescue personnel.

Requirements for Waste, Oil and Garbage Disposal:

• It is a misdemeanor to place, throw, deposit or discharge into the public inland waters of North Carolina any litter, raw sewage, bottles, cans, papers, or other liquid or solid materials which render the waters unsightly, noxious, or otherwise unwholesome so as to be detrimental to the public health or welfare or to the enjoyment and safety of the water for recreational purposes.
• All boats with onboard toilet facilities must have a method to collect and contain all waste products, preventing it from entering surrounding waters. North Carolina law forbids the discharge of sewage or any waste derived from sewage in the fresh waters of North Carolina.

• Type I and II MSDs must have a “Y” valve secured to allow for waste to enter a proper on board holding tank for future drainage at a pump-out station. Type III MSDs will typically have a built-in holding tank with no external plumbing and cannot be pumped overboard. Type III MSDs must be pumped ashore at a proper facility.
• Discharge of fuel, oil or any oil product, including contaminated bilge water, is strictly prohibited. All boats 26 feet or longer must properly display a 5x8 inch Oily Waste Discharge placard near the bilge pump switch.
• All boats 26 feet or longer, when operating in waters under federal jurisdiction, must display an informational placard on the subject of federal marine pollution prevention laws. The placard must be 4x9 inches and placed in a location where crew and passengers can read it.
• All boats 40 feet or longer operating more than 3 miles from shore that are equipped with a galley and berthing, must also carry a Waste Management Plan. This plan must outline procedures for proper marine pollution regulations for garbage management and designate a person in charge for carrying out this plan.

Mandatory Education and Age Requirements:

North Carolina has the following restrictions for the operators of personal watercraft:
• No person under 14 years of age may operate a PWC. Persons that have reached their 12th birthday before 11/1/2005 may operate a PWC provided they have completed a NASBLA-approved boating safety course.
• A person at least 14 years of age but less than 16 years of age may operate a PWC if:
• the person is accompanied by a person at least 18 years of age who occupies the PWC, or
• the person possesses ID proof of age and boating safety certification or card indicating the satisfactory completion of a NASBLA boating safety education course.
• A person 16 years of age or older may operate a PWC without completing a boating safety course, however it is recommended.
• The owner of a PWC must not knowingly allow a child under the age of 16 operate their craft except as provided above.

Reckless & Negligent Operation:

No person shall operate any vessel or manipulate water skis or similar towed devices in a reckless or negligent manner. The failure to exercise the degree of care necessary to prevent endangering life, limb, or property may be considered reckless and negligent. Below are just a few of the prohibited methods of boat and PWC operation in North Carolina.

Specifically, it is unlawful:

• To weave or speed in congested waterway traffic
• To operate in a manner contrary to navigation rules
• To operate in an area marked as restricted
• To jump the wake of a vessel unnecessarily close to the vessel that created the wake or when visibility around that vessel is restricted
• To aim at another vessel and at the last possible moment swerve in order to avoid a collision.
• To allow any person to ride on the bow, gunwales, transom or deck mounted seats backs or other place where there may be a chance of falling overboard.

Additional laws that apply to personal watercraft (PWC):

Boat Speed Limits:

Boat speed limits are regulated by law for certain areas and conditions. When no speed limit is posted, operate your boat so that it will not endanger others or cause injury, damage, or unnecessary inconvenience. It is unlawful to create hazardous wakes. Always keep a proper lookout and never load a boat with passengers or cargo beyond its safe carrying capacity.

• White buoys with red or orange markings will indicate speed limits and no-wake zones.
• In North Carolina, a "slow-no-wake" speed is that speed at which a vessel moves as slow as possible while still maintaining steerage control.
• Watercraft entering, leaving or passing within 50 yards of a state-owned or state-controlled boating or fishing access area must do so at a "no wake" speed.
• No person shall operate a PWC at greater than no-wake speed within 100 feet of an anchored or moored vessel, a dock, pier, swim float, marked swimming area, swimmers, surfers, persons engaged in angling, or any manually propelled vessel (except within 50 feet of a narrow channel).

Special Activities Restrictions and Considerations:

Many states regulate certain water sports activities such as waterskiing, diving and hunting from a vessel. For your safety, and for those who may be in the water, you should learn and abide by these special laws.

Special Activities, Restrictions & Requirements:

• No person shall operate a PWC towing another person on water skis or other towed device unless the PWC has on-board, in addition to the operator, an observer who shall monitor the person(s) being towed, or the PWC is equipped with a rearview mirror; and the persons operating, observing, and being towed do not exceed the safe capacity rating for the vessel.
• Persons engaged in, or assisting, skin or scuba diving in waters open to boating must display a red and white diver's flag at the place of diving. Vessels not involved with the diving operations must not approach closer than 50 feet to the flag unless the flag is located so as to constitute an unreasonable obstruction to navigation.
• When towing persons on water skis, surfboards or similar devices, state law prohibits the operation or manipulation of such devices:
  • In a reckless or dangerous manner
  • While under the influence of an impairing substance
  • Where the direction or location of the device may be manipulated or controlled from the boat so as to cause the person being towed to collide with any object or person
  • Between one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise
  • At any other time unless:
    • The vessel is equipped with a rear vision mirror, or
    • There is an observer in the vessel in addition to the operator, or
    • The person being towed wears a life preserver.

Operating Under the Influence

State Operating Under the Influence (OUI) laws are becoming more stringent. As on the roadways, on-water enforcement officers may administer sobriety tests and conduct a chemical test to determine level of sobriety. Specifically:

No person shall operate any motorboat or vessel, or manipulate any water skis, surfboard or similar device while under the influence of an impairing substance, nor operate any motor vessel after consuming alcohol sufficient to cause a blood alcohol level concentration of 0.08% or greater.

Officer Authority, Compliance & Assistance

Officers of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, U.S. Coast Guard, and other authorized law enforcement agencies, have the duty to provide for safety on the water and have the authority to stop and/or inspect vessels to enforce North Carolina and federal boating laws.

Officers of the NCWRC have the authority to stop and inspect vessels!

Boat operators must immediately yield and reduce speed when being overtaken or stop as directed by a law enforcement official. When operating in an area of law enforcement activity, you must reduce speed and give a wide berth until beyond the area of operation of the law enforcement vessel.

Accident Reporting Requirements

• Anyone involved in a boating accident is required to stop and give assistance as long as it will not personally endanger the operator, passengers or vessel. Operators involved in an accident should remain at the scene to the extent it is safe and practical, and exchange personal and boat information with authorities and other involved parties.
• When a boating accident results in death or disappearance of a person you must notify the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission by the quickest means possible. Be prepared to give date, time, location and other important information about the boat/s and person/s involved.
• You must also complete and submit an accident report form when the accident results in a loss of life or disappearance of someone involved, a person is injured and requires medical treatment beyond first aid, or if property damage total more than $2000.
• Reports of deaths, disappearances, and injuries must be made within 48 hours of the accident. Reports in other cases must be submitted within 10 days of the accident.

Other State Boating Laws

Often times counties, cities and districts within a state will have different, more restrictive laws. Boating laws are subject to change and it is your responsibility to be informed of the law as it applies to you and your on-water activities. To be absolutely certain about specific boating laws in your state it is wise to contact your state boating agency.

It is Your Responsibility – Be Informed!

We provide this information as a service and strive to keep this website up to date. Please let us know of any inconsistencies by bringing them to our attention at once at onlinecourse@boatus.com. Resources for these pages include state statutes, state web pages and state approved boating guides. BoatU.S. is not responsible for any misinterpretation of the law or any change in the law that is not adequately reflected in these pages. Damages as a result of failing to abide by stated law shall not be the responsibility of BoatU.S., BoatU.S. Foundation or its employees.

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