West Virginia Boating

Laws and Safety Equipment
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1	Laws
2	Numbering
3	Safety Equipment-Life Jackets
4	Fire Extinguishers
5	Visual Distress Signals
6	Ventilation
7	Mufflers
8	Backfire and Flame Control
9	Whistle Bell and Horn
10	Navigation Lights
11	Pollution and Garbage
12	Prohibited Operation
13	Age and Education Requirements
14	Personal Watercraft
15	Water Skiing
16	Diving
17	Boating Under the Influence
18	Accidents
19	Other West Virginia Laws
20	Chapter Review

WATER SKIING AND SURFBOARDING

Any person being towed while on water skis, kneeboard, wakeboard, tube, surfboard or similar towed device must wear a USCG Approved Type I, II, III, or V personal flotation device at all times. Exception - A person engaged in barefoot water-skiing may elect, at his or her own risk, to wear a non-Coast Guard Approved barefoot wetsuit designed specifically for that activity.

Towing a person or persons on water skis, surfboard or similar device is permitted from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset.
No person shall operate or manipulate any vessel, tow rope or other device in such a way as to cause water skis, surfboard or similar device, or any person thereon to collide with or strike against any object or person.

No person may operate a vessel towing a person on water skis, surfboard, or similar device unless:

A person at least twelve (12) years of age or older, other than the operator, is on board the vessel in a position to observe the progress of the person being towed: or
The vessel is equipped with a wide-angle rearview mirror mounted in a manner that permits the operator to observe the progress of the person being towed.

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WATER SKIING AND SURFBOARDING