Boats, boats, BOATS! I love them but these darn no wake zones, boat safety zones and manatee zones are slowing me down. As the young Ricky Bobby said…I WANNA GO FAST! So when looking at a waterfront house you should consider how long it will take you to get to the open ocean NOT ONLY TODAY BUT DURING MANATEE SEASON AS WELL. The property may look close but it could be a long time at certain times of the year when the manatee are around. There are 2 types of “permanent” speed restrictions:
Remember these definitions when reading the signs:
- Any vessel operating in a speed zone posted as “Idle Speed – No Wake” must operate at the minimum speed that allows the vessel to maintain headway and steerageway.
- Any vessel operating in a speed zone posted as “Slow Down – Minimum Wake” must operate fully off plane and completely settled in the water.
- The vessel’s wake must not be excessive nor create a hazard to other vessels.
The first type of speed zone to talk about is a year round boat safety zone speed restriction spelled out in the Florida Administrative Code 68D-24.017 & 24.011 for say Palm County and for example here is one of them…
These have been expanded over the years AND I JUST NOTICED A NEW SIGN FROM THE SOUTHWEST END OF PEANUT ISLAND FOR 800′ (OR SOMETHING) SOUTH but as an example this is the year round speed restriction that goes from the entrance to the ICW in front of Old Port Cove all the way north to just the other side of the Donald Ross Bridge by Paradise Port described in the FAC as:
“(b) Donald Ross Bridge “ A Slow Speed Minimum Wake zone from shoreline to shoreline, in and adjacent to the Florida Intracoastal Waterway, bounded on the north by a line drawn perpendicular to the centerline of the Florida Intracoastal Waterway 300 feet north of the north end of the fender of the Donald Ross Bridge, and bounded on the south by a line drawn from headland to headland across the mouth of Lake Worth Creek at its southern terminus at Lake Worth, as depicted in drawing B.”
And then there are the seasonal speed zones for when the manatee like to enjoy our warm waters. These are codified in Chapter 68C-22 of the Florida Administrative Code (FAC) and they have some very nice maps as well:
So from Oct 1 to May 31 this same area PLUS that which is north of the Donald Ross bridge up to Indiantown are covered by a manatee protection zone that overlaps in areas but north of the bridge one can still speed up BUT now it’s a 25 MPH zone:
30mph June 1 – Sept 30
25mph Oct 1 – May 31
Atlantic ICW to within 50′ of shoreline, includes main marked channel of ICW. Southerly end of SR706 fender system to confluence with Lake Worth.
Note the exclusion of the ICW from just north of the Indiantown Rd Bridge to just south of the south bridge to Jupiter Island. Everyone knows you can’t go fast there right? Right. Remember that these over lap and this area is one of those boat safety zones.
One of the few places where one can go fast year round is inside of or east of the ICW from in front of Old Port Cove to the just north of the Blue Heron Bridge.
