Morro Bay Municipal Code Ch. 15.12 General Boating Regulations

No owner, operator or person in command of any vessel, except a public officer in the performance of emergency duty, shall operate the same or permit the same to be operated in any portion of Morro Bay Harbor in excess of five miles per hour or which creates a wake that may cause damage to moorings of vessels or floating structures, except as hereinafter provided.

(Ord. 356 § 1, 1989: Ord. 119 § 1 (part), 1974: prior code § 9402.1)

The city council may grant a special permit to hold a boat race, regatta or parade in the harbor or make temporary use of a designated area in the harbor for a special event or activity in which speed limits may be exceeded and normal traffic interrupted. No permit shall authorize interference with normal harbor traffic for a period exceeding four hours in any twenty-four hour period.

As a condition of granting such permit, the city council shall require the permittee to provide liability insurance for the full period of time for which the permit is granted in an amount of not less than one million dollars for bodily injury to one person, one million dollars for bodily injury in any one accident and one million dollars for property damage in any one accident. The policy providing such insurance must name the city of Morro Bay as additional insured. A certificate of insurance and policy endorsement evidencing that such insurance is in force and will remain in force for the period of such permit shall be filed with the city clerk in a form approved by the city administrator before any such permit shall be effective.

The city council may impose additional conditions as deemed necessary to protect persons and property and to assure that the activity will not create a nuisance or interfere with the reasonable use of the harbor by other vessels. No such permit shall be effective until the conditions imposed by the city council have been met.

(Ord. 364 § 2 (part), 1989: Ord. 225 § 89, 1982; Ord. 119 § 1 (part), 1974: prior code § 9402.2)

No person shall launch or remove any vessel other than surfboards, paddleboards, kayaks, canoes, dinghies or similar small craft, from the water of Morro Bay over any public seawall, sidewalk, street end or public property, except at public or private locations where regular launching and hauling of vessels is conducted or in areas designated and posted for such purpose by the city.

(Ord. 119 § 1 (part), 1974: prior code § 9402.3)

No person shall wilfully or carelessly destroy, damage, disturb, deface or interfere with any buoy, float, life preserver, sign, notice, navigational marking or other similar property under the jurisdiction of the city or other governmental agency.

(Ord. 119 § 1 (part), 1974: prior code § 9402.4)

Whenever the harbor director finds that public safety so requires, he may designate any water area or tidelands or filled lands as a closed area. Except for such public officers in the performance of their duty, no person shall enter or remain within or drive or operate any vessel or watercraft into or within any area which has been so designated as a closed area and which has been posted or marked with appropriate signs giving notice thereof.

(Ord. 364 § 1 (part), 1989; Ord. 119 § 1 (part), 1974: prior code § 9402.5)

No person except a public officer in performance of his duties shall climb into or upon any vessel moored, docked or anchored in Morro Bay without the consent of the owner or other person having charge thereof.

(Ord. 119 § 1 (part), 1974: prior code § 9402.6)

No person except a public officer in performance of his duties shall wilfully injure or tamper with, or break or remove any part, off or from, any vessel in the city, or tamper with the lines securing any such vessel, without the consent of the owner or other person having charge thereof.

(Ord. 364 § 2 (part), 1989: Ord. 119 § 1 (part), 1974: prior code § 9402.7)

No person shall tamper with any mooring or anchorage in the city, whether or not the same is occupied by a vessel.

(Ord. 119 § 1 (part), 1974: prior code § 9402.8)

Except in an emergency, no person shall land on or take off from the waters of Morro Bay with any aircraft.

(Ord. 119 § 1 (part), 1974: prior code § 9402.9)

No person shall operate any vessel in the waters of Morro Bay which is operated by mechanical air propulsion or above the surface of the water.

(Ord. 119 § 1 (part), 1974: prior code § 9402.10)