California Boating Law

HARBORS AND NAVIGATION CODE

from ignorance or gross neglect, or for the purpose of excelling any other boat in speed, creates, or allows to be created, such an undue quantity of steam as to burst or break the boiler, or any apparatus or machinery connected with the boiler, by which bursting or breaking human life is endangered, is guilty of a felony. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person found guilty of a felony violation of this section shall be subject to a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code for 16 months, two or three years, or both that fine and imprisonment. 268. Permits for boat races. (a) Counties or cities may adopt restrictions con- cerning the navigation and operation of vessels and water skis, aquaplanes, or similar devices subject to the provisions of subdivision (a) of Section 660, and may grant permits to bona fide yacht clubs, water ski clubs, or civic organizations to conduct vessel or water ski races or other marine events over courses established, marked, and patrolled by authority of the United States Coast Guard, city harbormaster, or other officer having authority over the waters on which such race or other marine event is proposed to be conducted and on such days and between such hours as may be approved thereby. These provisions shall not apply to marine events authorized by United States Coast Guard Permit. (b) The provisions of this section shall apply to all waters which are in fact navigable regardless of whether they are declared navigable by this code. CHAPTER 4 300. Willful vessel damage under 10 tons. A person who willfully and mali- ciously cuts, breaks, injures, sinks, or sets adrift a vessel of less than ten gross tons that is the property of another is guilty of a misdemeanor. 301. Willful vessel damage over 10 tons. A person who willfully and maliciously cuts, breaks, or injures a vessel of ten gross tons and upwards that is the property of another is guilty of a misdemeanor. 302. Sinking or setting adrift; vessel over 10 tons. A person who willfully and maliciously sinks or sets adrift a vessel of ten gross tons and upwards that is the property of another is guilty of a felony. 303. Willful damage; rafts. A person who willfully and maliciously burns, injures, or destroys any part of, or the whole of, a pile or raft of wood, plank, boards, or other lumber, or cuts loose or sets adrift the raft or part of the raft, that is the property of another, is guilty of a misdemeanor. 304. Wrecking or sinking: by person in command. A person in command or charge of a vessel, who, within this state, willfully wrecks, sinks, or otherwise injures or destroys it or any of its cargo, or willfully permits the same to be wrecked, sunk, or otherwise injured or destroyed, with intent to prejudice or defraud a person, is guilty of a felony. 305. Wrecking or sinking by person not in command. A person, other than one described in Section 304 who is guilty of any act specified in that section is guilty of a felony. 306. False or fraudulent documents. A person who prepares, makes, or sub- scribes a false or fraudulent manifest, invoice, bill of lading, ship’s register, or protest, with intent to defraud another, is guilty of a felony. 307. Mooring to or destroying buoys. A person who moors a vessel to, or hangs on with a vessel to a buoy or beacon, except a designated mooring buoy, or who

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