Orange County Municipal Code Art. 4 General Boating Regulations

No owner, operator or person in command of any vessel, except a public officer in the performance of his/her duty, shall operate it or permit it to be operated in any portion of any harbor at a rate of speed in excess of five (5) miles per hour, or at any speed which creates a wake that may cause damage to moorings of vessels or floating structures except as hereinafter provided.

(Ord. No. 99-21, § 1, 8-31-99)

The Director may, when he/she deems the occasion warrants, grant a special permit to hold a motorboat race in a harbor or make temporary use of a designated area in a harbor for a special event or activity in which unmuffled engines may be used, speed limits may be exceeded and normal traffic interrupted, provided that such permit shall be for a stated period of time not exceeding six (6) months. A permit for boat races shall not exceed ten (10) days and shall be limited to the hours between 8:00 a.m. and sunset. No permit shall authorize interference with normal harbor traffic for a period exceeding four (4) hours in any twenty-four-hour period. In areas within city limits such races and other special uses shall be authorized as provided by city ordinance with the concurrence of the Director in each case.

The Director may impose conditions 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. Appeal may be made to the Commission from any decision of the Director made under this section.

(Ord. No. 99-21, § 1, 8-31-99)

As a condition of granting such permit, the Director shall require the permittee to provide liability insurance for the full period of time for which the permit is granted in an amount and type determined by the County's Risk Management. The policy providing such insurance must name the County of Orange and the State of California as additional insureds. A certificate evidencing that such insurance is in force and will remain in force for the period of such permit shall be filed with the Director or designee before any such permit shall be effective.

(Ord. No. 99-21, § 1, 8-31-99)

For such time as necessary preceding, during and after any race, regatta, parade or other event held on the waters of a harbor or adjacent to a County beach or at any other time when the Director deems it necessary for the safety of persons, vessels or other property, he/she shall have authority to restrict or prohibit waterborne traffic in the harbor or adjacent beach waters, and it shall be unlawful to willfully fail or refuse to comply with any order, signal or direction of the Director, his/her deputies or agents.

(Ord. No. 99-21, § 1, 8-31-99)

No person shall launch or remove any vessel from the waters of a harbor over any public seawall, sidewalk, street end or public property, except at locations where a regular business of launching and hauling vessels is conducted which has the necessary equipment to do such work, or in areas designated and posted for such purpose by a city in an incorporated area, or by the Director elsewhere.

Any launching site so designated and posted may be regulated as to hours of launching, size of boats to be launched, types of boats to be launched and method and apparatus to be used in said launching. Any such regulations shall be based upon and be for the purpose of protecting the safety of persons using the beach and/or water, maintaining the peace and quiet of the immediate neighborhood of the launching site and insuring noninterference with the safe and orderly use of adjacent streets by the motoring public.

(Ord. No. 99-21, § 1, 8-31-99)

No person shall willfully or carelessly destroy, damage, disturb, deface or interfere with any buoy, float, personal floatation device, sign, notice, navigational marking or other similar property under the jurisdiction of a city, County or other governmental agency.

(Ord. No. 99-21, § 1, 8-31-99)

No person shall land on or take off from the waters of a harbor with any aircraft except with the written permission of the Director or designee.

(Ord. No. 99-21, § 1, 8-31-99)

No person shall operate any vessel on the waters of a harbor which is operated by mechanical air propulsion above the surface of the water except with the written permission of the Director or designee.

(Ord. No. 99-21, § 1, 8-31-99)

No person shall tow from a vessel in the waters of a harbor any person in the water or on any object, other than a vessel, except where permitted in a designated special-use area or during a special event authorized by the Director.

(Ord. No. 99-21, § 1, 8-31-99)

All persons using temporary guest docks or moorings as may be established by the Board of Supervisors must register and pay daily fees at the Harbor Patrol Office for a specific time period, in accordance with the fee schedule established by Board resolution. The vessel must be currently registered or documented, seaworthy and mechanically operable. Any person who fails to vacate a guest dock or mooring upon expiration of the time period may be assessed towing and/or storage fees as established by Board resolution. Storage fees may be assessed whether or not vessel is impounded and moved to another location. Sheriff's Harbor Patrol may impound and store at same location, guest dock or mooring. A violation of this ordinance will be an infraction.

(Ord. No. 99-21, § 1, 8-31-99)