California Boater Card

[Kings Gambit]

By January 1, 2025 California boaters, to legally operate a boat on California inland and coastal waterways, must have the Boater Card. One gets the Card after paying $10 to take and pass the boating exam at 80% or greater correct score on 60 multiple-choice questions of four choices each. It’s set up where one can access the exam following completion of a study guide of six chapters that cost $50 for a family of two to gain access. There are a few steps to get this all set up. Evidently, anyone operating a boat or watercraft must have the Card. If a crew member, including a spouse and likely co-owner of the craft, is actually operating it (i.e., at the helm) that person must have the Card. Hard to imagine how this might workout with occasional crew aboard who take a short trick at the helm as operator when the skipper goes below to use the head or to make lunch. It’s tantamount to perhaps asking a person without a driver’s license to drive your automobile on city streets or freeways with you as a passenger. The Admiral has hers!

 

[Michael Davis]

We’ve had that here for several years. We usually spend two or three months cruising every summer and have never been asked to show it.

 

[walt]

It seem a little hard to tell.. but I believe you only need that license if you operate a boat with over 15 hp. Some friends from California even thought the license was required to paddle a kayak...

Boating laws rules and license requirements

California State Parks

www.parks.ca.gov

.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Yes, but the framework/concept of it is silly in certain cases, if I understand it. When the boat owner who has the Card is aboard (i.e., the skipper), that person it seems cannot “legally” be relieved at the helm by a watch stander who does not have the Card, etc. If the AP is engaged when I’m single-handing I’m still “the operator”, even if I’m below briefly to make some coffee. If I leave a crew with no card at the helm with no AP to complete the same task, then s/he would be the operator “illegally”, it seems. Maybe not a “problem” unless something bad happens. This is going to be a bigger deal for motor-boaters on mountain lakes and reservoirs.

 

[jssailem]

We have a Certification requirement for the person in charge of the boat here in Oregon. They phased it in overtime and grandfathered it for existing owners over 50. Then after 10 years, they changed their mind and required the old farts to take the test as well.

The additional rules about the person at the helm seem draconian.

 

[Kings Gambit]

The additional rules about the person at the helm seem draconian.

It’s only my interpretation that “operator”, or “to operate”, means the person driving the boat, not the person in charge (skipper). There’s some case history that appeared several years ago, reported in Latitude 38, where some unfortunate crew helming a sailboat home from a race after dark was struck by a powerboat traveling at high speed and a person was killed. The sailboat “operator” was charged, not the boat owner and skipper who put him at the helm, as I recall it. I think that ultimately the “operator” was exonerated in court, getting bankrupt along the way.

 

[jssailem]

If you find it, I would be interested in reading the report.

 

[Kings Gambit]

The readers-editor discussion (letters) of it went on for several issues (months). There was a lot of reader outrage and concern.

 

[dlochner]

Maritime law is different from land based law. My understanding is the Captain of the Vessel is ultimately responsible for the safe operation of the vessel. Just ask Joe Hazelwood, Captain of the Exxon Valdez. Admiralty law may not apply to inland lakes and rivers, in which KG's interpretation may be correct, but out on the Ocean its the Captain of the vessel.

 

[Kings Gambit]

Work backward from here. This all occurred on a lake (Inland Waters?). But the point I'm highlighting is that the operator of the sailboat, not the boat's owner or skipper, nor the operator of the powerboat, was criminally charged. The Boater Cards refer to "Operators" not skippers, owners, or captains, etc., that must be in possession if operating..

Bismark Dinius' Federal Lawsuit Settled - Latitude38

We are thrilled to report that a Federal lawsuit brought by sailor Bismarck Dinius, now 45, has been settled in his favor. Regular readers will recall the bizarre case of sailor Lynn Thornton’s tragic death during a nighttime sail on Clear Lake on April 29, 2006. The boat she was riding in on...

www.latitude38.com

 

[Alan Gomes]

It seem a little hard to tell.. but I believe you only need that license if you operate a boat with over 15 hp. Some friends from California even thought the license was required to paddle a kayak...

Boating laws rules and license requirements

California State Parks

www.parks.ca.gov

.

What is hard to tell about it? The section you posted seems clearly to say that the card is required only for people operating boats powered by motors of 15hp or more. Yet another reason to rejoice in my decision to downsize to my current boat several years back.

I appreciate your posting this. I thought I was going to have to get this infernal card, but now it appears I can save my money and not have to waste my time on it. My Ericson 26-2 has a Yanmar 1GM, which is well under the 15hp threshold. And my dinghy uses a 2 hp Honda!

I'll just print out that page and keep it on board in lieu of my boater's card. Done!

 

[Kings Gambit]

But the point I'm highlighting is that the operator of the sailboat, not the boat's owner or skipper, nor the operator of the powerboat, was criminally charged. The Boater Cards refer to "Operators" not skippers, owners, or captains, etc., that must be in possession if operating..

Beyond California's jurisdictional waters, the skipper likely would be the most, if not sole, culpable party, But the State of CA claims jurisdiction over the 23 n.mi., i.e., the San Pedro Channel, between Long Beach and Catalina Island, where I imagine state boating laws would apply and be enforced by the CG if so wishing.

 

[Kings Gambit]

What is hard to tell about it? The section you posted seems clearly to say that the card is required only for people operating boats powered by motors of 15hp or more. Yet another reason to rejoice in my decision to downsize to my current boat several years back.

I appreciate your posting this. I thought I was going to have to get this infernal card, but now it appears I can save my money and not have to waste my time on it. My Ericson 26-2 has a Yanmar 1GM, which is well under the 15hp threshold. And my dinghy uses a 2 hp Honda!

I'll just print out that page and keep it on board in lieu of my boater's card. Done!

Good for you! My Pearson 30 of "yesteryears" had only a 11 hp Universal.
KG

 

[dlochner]

Work backward from here. This all occurred on a lake (Inland Waters?). But the point I'm highlighting is that the operator of the sailboat, not the boat's owner or skipper, nor the operator of the powerboat, was criminally charged. The Boater Cards refer to "Operators" not skippers, owners, or captains, etc., that must be in possession if operating..

Bismark Dinius' Federal Lawsuit Settled - Latitude38

We are thrilled to report that a Federal lawsuit brought by sailor Bismarck Dinius, now 45, has been settled in his favor. Regular readers will recall the bizarre case of sailor Lynn Thornton’s tragic death during a nighttime sail on Clear Lake on April 29, 2006. The boat she was riding in on...

www.latitude38.com

I remember the Dinius case, it was a mess on all levels, from the investigators and questionable practices to confusion about the law. Certainly the Sherriff's Deputy who was speeding across the lake at night was not operating his boat in a prudent manner, but he was never charged.

 

[Alan Gomes]

What is hard to tell about it? The section you posted seems clearly to say that the card is required only for people operating boats powered by motors of 15hp or more. Yet another reason to rejoice in my decision to downsize to my current boat several years back.

I appreciate your posting this. I thought I was going to have to get this infernal card, but now it appears I can save my money and not have to waste my time on it. My Ericson 26-2 has a Yanmar 1GM, which is well under the 15hp threshold. And my dinghy uses a 2 hp Honda!

I'll just print out that page and keep it on board in lieu of my boater's card. Done!

Hmmmm....I decided to check the California Boater Card website, and it makes no mention of any exemption for motors of less than 15 hp. (See the FAQ). So, I then looked up the actual text of the law, and I did not see any exemption for less than 15 hp motors, either. That site says it is current as of January 1, 2023, so perhaps the text of the law has been amended since then? Or maybe the site that notes this exemption is just plain wrong. What's interesting is that shows the exemption is an official California government page (specifically for Lake Perris). So, I'm wondering where the 15 hp thing came from?
Perhaps I am going to have to waste my time and money on that ridiculous thing after all....

 

[Alan Gomes]

Note, too, that people who show up at a jet ski rental dock with zero boating experience are not required to have the card. Because, as we all know, jet skiers are such skilled mariners and never, ever cause any accidents.

 

[dlochner]

Note, too, that people who show up at a jet ski rental dock with zero boating experience are not required to have the card. Because, as we all know, jet skiers are such skilled mariners and never, ever cause any accidents.

Well, if they required boating cards for jet ski renters, the rental companies would go out of business.

If you want to see something crazy, go to NY Harbor in the summer when you can book a Jet Ski tour of the harbor. When they cut across your bow it looks like a motorcycle gang on the water.

 

[walt]

Here is another site that mentions the 15 HP... I just heard about this from some California sailors who sail on Lake Havasu - I guess technically covered by whatever this license is about.

https://californiaboatercard.com/about-the-card/

+California age restrictions for operating a motorized vessel: According to California Harbors and Navigation Code Section 658.5, NO person under 16 years of age may operate a boat with a motor of more than 15 horsepower, except for a sailboat that does not exceed 30 feet in length or a dinghy used directly between a moored boat and the shore (or between two moored boats).

 

[Kings Gambit]

Well, if they required boating cards for jet ski renters, the rental companies would go out of business.

Maybe not a bad thing. Not to defend, but jet skis are much more dangerous to the operators themselves and “passengers”, rather than other to boaters, IMO. They stop quickly. We big boaters must have this “education” b/c of the danger or risk of harm we might pose to others, if there is any cogent explanation available.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Well, if they required boating cards for jet ski renters, the rental companies would go out of business.

Obviously. And that's because, unlike poor saps like us, the rental companies have lobbyists who grease the palms of the corrupt politicians who write these laws.

My point is simply that if this requirement were not simply a money grab but a way to make our waterways truly safer, they would not exempt the most dangerous class of boat operator from them.