Each motorboat and vessel operated within or docked within the Sandy Creek Arm shall bear upon the motorboat or vessel current insignia, numbers and certificates applicable to the type and model of motorboat or vessel as required by law. Motorboats and vessels operated within the Sandy Creek Arm shall have insurance in a type and amount required by law.
(1995 Code, sec. 173.012)
(a) 
No person may operate any motorboat or vessel or manipulate any water skis, personal watercraft, aquaplane, or similar device in a willfully or wantonly reckless or negligent manner that endangers the life, limb, or property of any person.
(b) 
No person may operate any motorboat, vessel or personal watercraft at a rate of speed greater than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the conditions and hazards, actual and potential, then existing, including weather and density of traffic, or greater than will permit him or her, in the exercise of reasonable care, to bring the motorboat, personal watercraft, or vessel to a stop within the assured clear distance ahead.
(c) 
No person may operate a motorboat, vessel, or personal watercraft so as to create a hazardous wake or wash.
(d) 
No person may operate a boat, vessel, motorboat, or personal watercraft at a speed that creates a swell or wake in an area designated and posted “Slow, No Wake,” “No Wake Zone,” or “No Wake Area.”
(1995 Code, sec. 173.013; Ordinance 2016-O-487, sec. 2, adopted 2/25/16)
(a) 
No person may moor or attach a boat to a buoy, beacon, light marker, stake, flag, or other aid to safe operation, placed upon the public waters of Lake Travis by the state, city, or any other governmental entity having jurisdiction over said waters. No person may move, remove, displace, tamper with, damage, or destroy the markers or aids to safe operation.
(b) 
No person may moor or attach a vessel, personal watercraft, or motorboat to a city-owned boat launching ramp except in connection with the launching or retrieving of a boat from the water.
(1995 Code, sec. 173.015; Ordinance 2016-O-487, sec. 3, adopted 2/25/16)
(a) 
No person may anchor a motorboat, personal watercraft or vessel in the traveled portion of the Sandy Creek Arm so as to prevent, impede, or interfere with the safe passage of any other motorboat, personal watercraft, or vessel through the same area.
(b) 
No person may anchor a motorboat, watercraft, or vessel near a city-owned boat ramp so as to prevent, impede, or interfere with the use of the boat ramp.
(1995 Code, sec. 173.016)
No person may operate a motorboat, watercraft, or vessel within a water area that has been clearly marked, by buoys or some other distinguishing device, as a bathing, fishing, swimming, or otherwise restricted area by the city. This section does not apply to a patrol or rescue craft or in the case of an emergency.
(1995 Code, sec. 173.017)
(a) 
No person may operate a motorboat, personal watercraft, or vessel within 50 feet of a buoy or of another vessel displaying a “diver down” flag that marks an area in which a person is scuba diving or snorkeling.
(b) 
No person may operate a motorboat, personal watercraft, or vessel at a speed greater than the minimum speed necessary to maintain steerageway and headway while the motorboat, watercraft or vessel is within 150 feet of a buoy or a vessel displaying a “diver down” flag that marks an area in which a person is scuba diving or snorkeling.
(c) 
To be entitled to the protections of this section, a scuba diver or snorkeler must prominently display a “diver down” flag from a buoy or vessel.
(d) 
This section does not apply:
(1) 
To a person who is operating a patrol or rescue craft; or
(2) 
In an emergency.
(e) 
Subsection (a) of this section does not apply:
(1) 
To a person who is already operating a vessel in an area when another person displays a “diver down” flag within 150 feet of that vessel;
(2) 
To a person who is operating a vessel in a waterway that is less than 300 feet wide; or
(3) 
To a person who has permission to enter the area from the person who placed the buoy or the person who is operating the vessel displaying the “diver down” flag.
(f) 
In this section, “diver down” flag means a square or rectangular red flag, at least 15 inches by 15 inches, that has a diagonal white stripe.
(1995 Code, sec. 173.018)
(a) 
No person shall wake surf or wake board as defined by the City’s Code of Ordinances. No person shall operate a motorboat, watercraft, or a vessel on any portion of the water of Sandy Creek Arm described in this subsection towing a person or persons on water skis, surfboards, wakeboards, tubes, or similar devices. No individual shall be towed by a motorboat, watercraft, or vessel on any portion of the Sandy Creek Arm described in this subsection. The prohibitions set forth in this subsection apply to the portion of the Sandy Creek Arm beginning 150 feet north of the main boat ramp at Jones Brothers Park located at the end of Park Drive North and extending to the end of the impounded waters of Lake Travis and that portion of Sandy Creek Arm beginning 438 feet South of Darleen Exd. and extending 90 feet Southeast of Trails End Road, as shown on exhibits A attached to Ordinance 2010-O-395 and Ordinance 2020-O-559.
(b) 
All motorboats having in tow or otherwise assisting in towing a person on water skis, wakeboards, tubes, or similar contrivances in authorized areas shall be operated in a careful and prudent manner and at a reasonable distance from persons and property so as not to endanger the life or property of any person.
(c) 
A person being towed on water skis, or similar devices by a vessel is considered an occupant of the vessel.
(Ordinance 2020-O-559 adopted 6/29/20)
(a) 
No person shall operate a personal watercraft in the following manner or under the following circumstances:
(1) 
Unless each person riding on or towed behind the vessel is wearing a U.S. Coast Guard approved type I, II, III, or V personal flotation device;
(2) 
If the vessel is equipped by the manufacturer with a lanyard type engine cutoff switch, unless such lanyard is attached to the person, clothing, or personal flotation device of the operator as appropriate for the vessel involved;
(3) 
During the period between sunset and sunrise;
(4) 
Within 50 feet of any other vessel, person, stationary platform or other object, or shore, except at headway speed;
(5) 
If the operator is under 16 years of age, unless the operator:
(A) 
Is accompanied by a person at least 18 years of age; or
(B) 
Is at least 13 years of age and has successfully completed a boating safety course prescribed and approved by the department;
(6) 
If the personal watercraft is a motorboat, within any area prohibited for operation of a motorboat;
(7) 
While towing water skis, an aquaplane, a surfboard, a tube, or any other similar device, unless the towing vessel is designed to carry on board a minimum of two persons;
(8) 
By jumping the wake of another vessel recklessly or unnecessarily close to that vessel; or
(9) 
In a manner that requires the operator to swerve at the last possible moment to avoid collision.
(b) 
The provisions of this section do not apply to professional exhibitions or an officially sanctioned race, tournament, or exhibition.
(c) 
Subsection (a)(4) of this section does not prohibit the operation of personal watercraft on bodies of water less than 100 feet in width.
(d) 
An owner of a personal watercraft permitting a person under 18 years of age to operate the personal watercraft in a manner prohibited by this section may be notified of the violation.
(e) 
For the purposes of this section, a person is considered to be accompanying the operator of a personal watercraft if the person is on board the personal watercraft when underway.
(1995 Code, sec. 173.020)
No person may operate a motorboat of over 15 horsepower on the Sandy Creek Arm unless the person is 16 years of age or older or:
(1) 
Is accompanied by a person (18) years of age or older; or
(2) 
Is at least 13 years of age and has successfully passed a boating safety course prescribed and approved by the department.
(1995 Code, sec. 173.021)
(a) 
This section applies only to a person who is:
(1) 
Born on or after September 1, 1984; and
(2) 
Operating on the public water of the Sandy Creek Arm:
(A) 
A vessel powered by a motor of 10 horsepower or more; or
(B) 
A windblown vessel over 14 feet in length.
(b) 
A person subject to this section must have in the person’s possession:
(1) 
A photographic identification card; and
(2) 
A boater identification card issued by the department.
(c) 
The department shall issue a boater identification card to a person who has successfully completed:
(1) 
A boater education course approved by the department; or
(2) 
A course equivalency examination approved by the department.
(d) 
A boater identification card issued to a person who has successfully completed a boater education course or course equivalency examination does not expire.
(e) 
Upon proof of completion of a boater safety education course a court shall dismiss a violation of subsections (b)(1) and (2).
(1995 Code, sec. 173.022)
(a) 
A vessel livery must purchase liability insurance from an insurer licensed to do business in this state.
(b) 
Before releasing possession of a rented vessel, a vessel livery shall provide each operator of the rented vessel instruction relating to:
(1) 
The provisions of this division;
(2) 
Operational characteristics of the rented vessel; and
(3) 
Boating regulations that apply in the area of operation of the vessel.
(c) 
After providing the instruction required by subsection (b) and before releasing possession of the rented vessel, the vessel livery shall require each operator to sign an acknowledgment form indicating that the operator has received the required instruction. The vessel livery shall retain the form for at least six months.
(1995 Code, sec. 173.024)
The operator of a vessel or motorboat underway, on sighting a rotating or flashing blue beacon light, shall reduce power immediately and bring the vessel or motorboat to a no-wake speed and subsequent stop until the intention of the water safety vessel is understood.
(1995 Code, sec. 173.025)
(a) 
The following areas of Lake Travis are hereby designated as “No Wake Zones”:
(1) 
Devil’s Hollow Cove, aka, Devil’s Cove, including Little Devil’s Cove, pursuant to LCRA Buoy Permit Number B00249 and any amendment or successor permit thereto;
(2) 
The Sandy Creek arm of Lake Travis, pursuant to LCRA Buoy Permit Number B00173 and any amendment or successor permit thereto.
(b) 
Water safety regulatory buoys shall be placed on the water surface of Lake Travis so as to accurately identify each no wake zone.
(c) 
Any person creating a swell or wake in a no wake zone designated hereunder commits an offense.
(Ordinance 2016-O-487, sec. 4, adopted 2/25/16)