General Boater Safety

Responsible Boating

  • Stay at least 100 feet from any raft, dock, pier, or swim area.
  • Boat counter clockwise, especially when towing someone.
  • Allow extra distance between your boat and any other boat, especially fishing boats, kayaks, sailboats and paddleboards.
  • When stopping to swim, anchor away from lake traffic patterns.
  • Do not tow a water skier within 200 feet from swimmer, fisherman, slow moving or anchored boats or rafts.

Negligent or Reckless Operation (Based on State Laws)

  • Jumping the wake with a motorized vessel within 100 ft of another vessel.
  • Jumping the wake of any vessel that is towing a person.
  • Weaving your vessel through congested waterway traffic.
  • Operating a vessel in a manner that creates hazardous wave or wake conditions while approaching or passing another vessel.

Slow-No-Wake (SNW) on Legend Lake

  • SNW between the hours of 6:30 pm and 10:00 am.
  • SNW 200 feet of any shoreline.
  • SNW in any channel or waterway which is less than 400 feet wide.

Personal Floatation Device (PFD) / Life Jackets

  • All vessels including canoes, kayaks and paddleboards, must have life jackets for each person.
  • Never water ski without wearing a PFD.
  • PFDs must be U.S. Coast Guard approved; not all life jackets are USCG-approved. Look for PDFs that have that use the USCG marking.

Who can drive a boat?

  • A person under the age of 10 may not operate a motorboat.
  • A person 10 or 11 years old may operate a motorboat ONLY IF accompanied by a person at least 18 years old (this person must have a boater safety certificate).
  • All others may operate a motorboat ONLY IF they have completed a boater safety course that is accepted by the Wisconsin DNR.
  • A person born before January 1, 1989 is exempt from the safety course requirement.

Did You Know?

Did you know?

As the owner of a motorized water vessel (boat, jet ski, etc.) YOU are responsible for injury or damage caused by the reckless or negligent operation of others you allow to use your vessel. In addition to the driver, YOU may receive a citation, regardless of who was driving. (WI S.S. 30.678).