Safe Boating Rules:
- On all inland lakes, the general flow of traffic is counterclockwise as depicted on the Silver Lake map. By following the flow of traffic, it is easier to predict boat movement and avoid collisions.
- Driving while intoxicated is as illegal on a boat as in a car.
- Powerboats (including personal watercraft), as always, must give way to sailboats and sailboards.
- Approved Personal Floatation Devices (life jackets) are required by law while water skiing, wakeboarding, or riding personal watercraft . There must be one available floatation device for each person in your boat.
- To operate a boat one must be sixteen years old with a drivers license. A permit can be issued at age twelve or older after having taken an approved boating course.
- Personal watercraft are under the same laws and rules as any powerboat regarding no-wake areas, traffic flow, and sailboats. Anyone under the age of fourteen must be accompanied by an adult to ride a personal watercraft.
- Do not allow passengers to sit on the edge of the boat or gunwale while underway. It is illegal to do so!
- Do not follow directly a water skier. Following directly behind increases the chances of hitting a skier.
- It is illegal to tow a skier without a another person on the boat to act as a spotter in case the skier falls.
- You must be at lease 100 feet of shoreline, dock, raft or another vessel if traveling greater than no wake speed.
- PWC's must be 200 feet and not cross within 150 feet of another vessel if traveling at greater than no wake speed.
Facts about drownings:
- People who are drowning typically cannot call and wave for help. Drowning victims resort to an instinctive drowning response which includes: Inability to call or wave for help with arms extended laterally. A drowning person typically struggles briefly for 20 -60 seconds before submerging.
- Most drownings are not swimming related. Sixty-three percent of all people who drown never intended to be in the water.
- When consuming alcohol a person cannot sober up by going into the water. The effects of alcohol are magnified on the water due to the combination of sum exposure, heat, and physical activities.
- Drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related death among children under the age of 15 and most drownings occur 10 to 15 feet from safety.