Lake Michigan Enforcement
Here are some important rules and laws to remember when you’re in a boat on any of Wisconsin’s waters.
• When two motorboats are meeting at right angles (like a traffic intersection) the boat on the right has the right-of-way. The boat on the left should slow down or change course to let the boat on the right go through without causing a collision.

• When two boats are approaching each other head-on, they should each bear to their own right to avoid an accident.

• If a motor boat meets a sail boat or any boat moved only by muscle power, the motor boat should give the other boat right-of-way and change its course to avoid collision.

• It’s illegal to operate a motorboat within 100 feet of any dock, raft, pier, or buoyed restricted area on any lake at a speed in excess of “slow-no-wake.”

• Don’t go so fast that you have the possibility of being unable to stop before a collision.

• It’s illegal to create wakes that may be dangerous to others in the area.

• It’s illegal to use a personal watercraft faster than slow-no-wake within 200 feet of shore on any lake.

• No one under the age of 10 should drive a motor boat, and between the ages of 10 and 12 you should only drive one with a parent or guardian or anyone over 18 years-old in the boat with you. Between the ages of 12 and 16, you should only drive a boat if a parent or guardian is on board, and if you have successfully completed a DNR Boating Safety Course.

• No one under the age of 16 can rent a personal watercraft, and no one under the age of 12 should operate a personal watercraft.

It is illegal:
• To fail to stop for an authorized patrol boat with a blue light or that requests you to stop.
• To drive a motorboat in circles within 200 feet around any other boat or any person in the water.
• For any boat to come closer than 100 feet from any diver’s flag or anyone swimming unless that boat is accompanying the diver or swimmer.
• To sit on the gunwales, tops of seats, backs or sides or on the decking of the bow of the boat while the boat is underway unless sitting inside of the guards or railings.
• To drive a boat within an area that is clearly marked with buoys or some other device as a no boating area.
• Be sure to follow these boating rules and check out any others that might be in effect in your area.
• Keep safe by keeping an alert lookout, wearing a personal flotation device (lifejacket), obeying the rules of the road, staying with your boat in case of a tip over, and being prepared for the weather.