For purposes of this chapter and Chapters 68C-22 and 68D-24, F.A.C., the following definitions shall apply:

1. (1) Types of markers:

   1. (a) “Aid to navigation” means a device external to a vessel intended to assist an operator in determining position or safe course, or to warn of dangers or obstructions to navigation.
   2. (b) “Information marker” means a device external to a vessel intended to provide an operator with information concerning matters other than dangers or obstructions to navigation, or regulatory matters.
   3. (c) “Danger marker” means a device external to the vessel intended to provide an operator with information concerning dangers or obstructions to navigation such as shoals, shallows, rocks, submerged pipes or cables, dams, or low clearance obstructions above the water such as power lines, trestles, or bridges.
   4. (d) “Regulatory marker” means a device used to alert an operator to various regulatory matters such as horsepower, speed, wake, anchorages, or entry restrictions.
   5. (e) “Special mark” means a marker not primarily intended to assist safe navigation, but to indicate special areas or features referred to in charts or other nautical publications. They may be used, for example, to mark mooring fields, park boundaries, cable or pipeline areas, marine events, etc. Special marks are colored solid yellow.
   6. (f) “Mooring buoy” means a device that is permanently secured to the bottom of a body of water and to which a vessel may be secured when not underway.
   7. (g) “Buoy” means a device designed to float which is anchored in the waters of the state and which is used to convey a message, carry a sign, or support a mooring pennant.
   8. (h) “Sign” means a device which displays a message and is attached to another object such as a piling, buoy, structure, or shore.

   9. (i) “Symbol” means the orange geometric shape displayed on a danger, information, or regulatory marker. The meanings associated with the orange geometric shapes are as follows:

      1. A vertical open-faced diamond signifies danger,

      2. A vertical diamond shape having a cross centered within indicates that all vessels or certain classes of vessels are excluded from the marked area,

      3. A circular shape indicates that certain operating restrictions are in effect within the marked area; and,

      4. A square or rectangular shape will contain directions or instructions lettered within the shape.

   10. (j) “Display area” means the area on a danger, information or regulatory marker within which the symbol is displayed.
   11. (k) “Piling” means a device constructed of sufficient sturdiness (such as concrete, steel, wood, or composite material) embedded in the sea floor or shoreline for the purpose of displaying and/or supporting a sign.

2. (2) General definitions:

   1. (a) “Boating-restricted area” means an area of the waters of the state within which the operation of vessels is subject to specified restrictions or from which vessels are excluded.
   2. (b) “Shore” means that area of land immediately adjacent or contiguous to the waters of the state such that a sign or marker erected thereon is readily visible to the operator of a vessel who might reasonably believe that the sign or marker displays navigational, regulatory or other information relevant to the operation of the vessel.

   3. (c) “Florida Intracoastal Waterway” means:

      1. All waters within the right-of-way of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the Georgia state line north of Fernandina to Miami; the Port Canaveral lock and canal to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway; the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Miami to Key West; the Okeechobee Waterway Route 1 across Lake Okeechobee and Route 2 along the southern perimeter of the lake, from Port Mayaca to Clewiston; the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Anclote to Fort Myers; the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Carrabelle to Tampa Bay; the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Carrabelle to Anclote open bay section (using the Gulf of America); and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Carrabelle to the Alabama state line west of Pensacola; and,

      2. All waters from shoreline to shoreline within the Okeechobee Waterway, Stuart to Fort Myers, not including Route 1 across Lake Okeechobee and Route 2 along the southern perimeter of the lake, from Port Mayaca to Clewiston; the St. Johns River, Jacksonville to Sanford; and, the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint Rivers in Florida.

   4. (d) “Uniform State Waterway Marking System” means the system of aids to navigation, information markers, regulatory markers, and mooring buoys, as specified in Part 66 of Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
   5. (e) “United States Aids to Navigation System” means the system of aids to navigation, information markers, regulatory markers, and mooring buoys, as specified in Part 62 of Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
   6. (f) “Private Aid to Navigation” means an aid to navigation the establishment of which is authorized by a permit issued by the United States Coast Guard pursuant to Part 66 of Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
   7. (g) “Maritime property” means vessels and their engines, tackle, gear, equipment, appurtenances, furnishings, cargoes, stores, personal property then on board belonging to the vessels’ occupants, and such other similar property as is consistent with the general maritime law of the United States. This definition does not include littoral or riparian property, the shores thereof, seawalls, docks, wharfs, or other property intentionally and permanently attached to the shore.
   8. (h) “Inland lake” means a naturally occurring or man-made fresh water lake or pond. The term does not include reservoirs, impoundments, or any portion of the Florida Intracoastal Waterway.
   9. (i) “Associated canal” means a man-made canal that is directly attached to an inland lake and that does not connect to other waters or that connects only to another inland lake. The term does not include any portion of a state or federally funded navigation project or any portion of the Florida Intracoastal Waterway.
   10. (j) “In writing” means any written or printed form of communication and includes electronic mail, files transferred as attachments to electronic mail, and telefacsimiles.

3. (3) When used on markers, the terms:

   1. (a) “Idle Speed No Wake” and “Idle Speed” may be used interchangeably and mean that a vessel must proceed at a speed no greater than that which will maintain steerageway and headway. At no time is any vessel required to proceed so slowly that the operator is unable to maintain control over the vessel or any other vessel or object that it has under tow.

   2. (b) “Slow Speed” and “Slow Speed Minimum Wake” may be used interchangeably and mean that a vessel must be fully off plane and completely settled into the water. The vessel must then proceed at a speed which is reasonable and prudent under the prevailing circumstances so as to avoid the creation of an excessive wake or other hazardous condition which endangers or is likely to endanger other vessels or other persons using the waterway. At no time is any vessel required to proceed so slowly that the operator is unable to maintain control over the vessel or any other vessel or object that it has under tow. A vessel that is:

      1. Operating on plane is not proceeding at this speed,

      2. In the process of coming off plane and settling into the water or coming up onto plane is not proceeding at this speed,

      3. Operating at a speed that creates a wake which unreasonably or unnecessarily endangers other vessels or other persons using the waterway, or is likely to do so, is not proceeding at this speed,

      4. Completely off plane and which has fully settled into the water and is proceeding at a reasonable and prudent speed with little or no wake is proceeding at this speed.

      “Slow Speed” and “Slow Speed Minimum Wake” are the preferred terms. “Slow Down Minimum Wake” markers may continue to be used for restricted areas authorized prior to January 1, 2001, except when such a restricted area is contiguous to an Idle Speed No Wake boating restricted area.

   3. (c) “Caution zone” means an area presenting a significant risk of navigational hazard, an area frequently inhabited by manatees on a somewhat regular basis, or other area similarly requiring that vessels be operated with particular alertness and caution so as to avoid endangering life, limb, vessel traffic safety or maritime property, or manatees.
   4. (d) “No Power-driven Vessels” – All vessels equipped with any mechanical means of propulsion must turn off the mechanical means of propulsion and, if possible to do so, tilt or raise the mechanical means of propulsion out of the water. The use of any motor, including an electric motor, is prohibited.
   5. (e) “No Internal Combustion Motors” or “No Motor Zone” – All vessels equipped with internal combustion motors (e.g.: gasoline or diesel motors) for propulsion must turn off the internal combustion motor and, if possible to do so, tilt or raise the internal combustion motor out of the water. The use of electric motors is not prohibited.

   6. (f) “Vessel-exclusion zone” means an area from which all vessels or certain classes of vessels are excluded. The following list includes the most common examples of vessel-exclusion zones. Whenever the following messages are displayed on vessel-exclusion zone markers, they have the meaning provided. Other messages on vessel-exclusion zone markers are permissible, so long as the markers display language that accurately describes the vessels or classes of vessels that are excluded from the area. All vessel-exclusion zones must be marked with the crossed-diamond symbol as specified in subparagraph (1)(i)2., above.

      1. “No Vessels” or “Swim Area” – All vessels of any type are prohibited from entering the marked area.

      2. “No Motorized Vessels” or “No Motorboats” or “Motorboats Prohibited” – All vessels equipped with any mechanical means of propulsion are prohibited from entering the marked area, even if the mechanical means of propulsion is not in use.

      3. “Manually Propelled Vessels Only” – All vessels other than those propelled by oars, paddles, or poles are prohibited from entering the marked area. Vessels equipped with sails or a mechanical means of propulsion may enter the marked area only if the sails or mechanical means of propulsion is not in use and, if possible to do so, the mechanical means of propulsion is tilted or raised out of the water.

      4. “No Entry Area” – All vessels and all persons, either in vessels or swimming, diving, or wading, are prohibited from entering the marked area.

   7. (g) “Miles per hour” and “MPH” mean speed made good over the bottom measured in statutes miles. A specific number will be posted in conjunction with “miles per hour” or “MPH” and is the maximum speed at which a vessel may lawfully be operated within the marked area. Although it is the intention of the Commission to allow those vessels capable of attaining a planing configuration at posted numerical speed limit to do so, this posted speed limit shall not be construed as permitting the reckless or careless operation of a vessel, in violation of Section 327.33, F.S., or authorizing any vessel to travel at an unsafe speed, in violation of navigation rule 6 as adopted pursuant to Section 327.33, F.S., by reason of:

      1. Having an elevated bow which restricts visibility, or

      2. Producing an excessive wake or other hazardous condition which endangers or is likely to endanger other vessels, other persons using the waterway, or natural resources of the state.

   8. (h) “Wake,” only when used in conjunction with a numerical size limit, means all changes in the vertical height of the water’s surface caused by the passage of a vessel including, but not limited to, a vessel’s bow wave, stern wake, and propeller wash, measured from the ambient tide level to the crest of the vessel’s wake at a distance of not less than 25 feet from the vessel.

   9. (i) “Holiday” means:

      1. New Year’s Day.

      2. Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., the third Monday in January.

      3. Memorial Day.

      4. Independence Day, the Fourth of July.

      5. Labor Day.

      6. Columbus Day.

      7. Veterans’ Day, November 11.

      8. Thanksgiving Day.

      9. Friday after Thanksgiving.

      10. Christmas Day.

      If any of these holidays falls on Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be observed as a holiday. If any of these holidays falls on Sunday, the following Monday shall be observed as a holiday.

4. (4) The Boating and Waterways Section will authorize the use of other terminology on regulatory markers if the message is clear, unambiguous, and accurately describes a lawfully imposed restriction.

Rulemaking Authority 327.04, 327.40, 327.41, 327.46, 379.2431 FS. Law Implemented 327.40, 327.41, 327.46, 379.2431 FS. History–New 12-23-01, Amended 10-5-06, 10-6-10, 7-16-24.