302 CMR, § 12.07 - Rules of Conduct on DCR Properties - Boating
(1)
All boating activities must comply with the provisions of M.G.L. c.
90B.
(2) No person may launch or
use any watercraft of any nature or type, including personal watercraft, where
it is posted as prohibited. Emergency launching is allowed at all
times.
(3) No person may operate
any watercraft or personal watercraft in excess of the posted speed limit. If
no speed limit is posted, the speed limit shall be 12 miles per hour, except
that when lawfully towing water skiers, maximum speed shall not exceed 45 miles
per hour.
(4) No person, other than
DCR personnel or law enforcement officials, may operate or cause to operate or
pilot any watercraft, personal or otherwise, within the boundaries of any DCR
designated swimming area.
(5) No
person may operate any watercraft or personal watercraft in excess of headway
speed when said watercraft or personal watercraft is within 150 feet of any
channel, tunnel, pier, mooring, wharf or floating structure or designated
swimming area.
(6) Inflatable boats
are allowed in those areas where boating is allowed if the inflatable is
crafted with a minimum of two separate air cells in the gunwales and two or
more separate air cells in the floor; or if the inflatable boat is crafted with
a non inflatable hull of material normally associated with traditional boat
construction.
(7) No person may
water ski on DCR property, including but not limited to any lake, pond or beach
area unless the area has been designated and posted for such use.
(8) In areas designated as allowing water
skiing, no person may:
(a) Tow any water skier
at any time, unless there are at least two persons present in the towing
watercraft, one person is acting as a safety observer for the skier(s), and
said observer is 12 years of age or older.
(b) While being towed by a watercraft, have
any airfoil or balloon device, parasail, kite or other such device, in hand or
affixed to his person for the purpose of becoming airborne.
(9) The launching or use of any
watercraft of any nature or type, whether motor-powered or not, unless such
watercraft is operated by DCR personnel or by other properly authorized person,
is prohibited on the following DCR waters or launching ramps at all times:
(a) Houghton's Pond - Blue Hills Reservation,
Milton;
(b) Blue Hills Reservoir -
Blue Hills Reservation, Quincy;
(c)
Lost Pond Reservation, Brookline;
(d) Chestnut Hill Reservoir - Chestnut Hill
Reservation;
(e) All ponds in
Bristol Blake State Reservation;
(f) Chicopee Reservoir - Chicopee Memorial
State Park;
(g) Dean Pond -
Brimfield State Forest;
(h)
Robinson Pond - Robinson State Park;
(i) All launching ramps at Fort Phoenix State
Reservation;
(j) All launching
ramps at Fall River Heritage State Park;
(k) Spot Pond, Stoneham;
(l) Middlesex Fells Ponds: Doleful Pond,
Quarter-Mile Pond, Bellevue Pond, Long Pond, Dark Hollow Pond;
(m) High Service Reservoir - Middlesex Fells
Reservation;
(n) Silver Lake -
Breakheart Reservation; and
(o)
Pearce Lake - Breakheart Reservation.
(10) No person, except DCR personnel or other
properly authorized person, may operate a personal watercraft from the Wallum
Lake public launching facility in Douglas State Forest on weekends or holidays
from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
(11) At the following locations, only car top
boats may be launched or used, unless the watercraft is operated by DCR
personnel or by another properly authorized person:
(a) Hillside Pond - Blue Hills Reservation,
Milton;
(b) St. Moritz Pond - Blue
Hills Reservation, Quincy;
(c)
Greenlodge - Neponset River Reservation, Canton;
(d) Paul's Bridge - Neponset River
Reservation, Hyde Park;
(e)
Kendrick Pond - Cutler Park Reservation, Needham;
(f) Kingsbury Road - Mother Brook
Reservation, Hyde Park;
(g) Ames
Street/Pleasant Street - Upper Charles River, Dedham;
(h) Charles River Road - Upper Charles River
Reservation, Newton;
(i) Elm Bank
Reservation - Upper Charles River, Dover;
(j) Hemlock Gorge Reservation - Upper Charles
River, Newton;
(k) Riverdale Park -
Upper Charles River Reservation, Dedham;
(l) Quinobequin Road - Upper Charles River
Reservation;
(m) Redwing Bay -
Village Falls Park, Upper Charles River, Needham;
(n) Borderland State Park ponds, Easton and
Sharon;
(o) Nickerson State Park:
Flax, Little Cliff, and Higgins Ponds, Brewster;
(p) Turtle Pond - Stony Brook Reservation,
West Roxbury;
(q) Paradise Pond -
Leominster State Forest, Leominster; and
(r) Aaron Reservoir, Wompatuck State Park,
Scituate.
(12) At the
following locations, only motorized watercraft with electric motors (not to
exceed ten mph) and car top boats may be launched or used, unless the
watercraft is operated by DCR personnel or by another properly authorized
person:
(a) Ponkapoag Pond - Blue Hills
Reservation, Randolph;
(b) Hammond
Pond Reservation, Newton;
(c) Cliff
Pond - Nickerson State Park, Brewster; and
(d) Hopkinton Reservoir, Hopkinton State
Park, Hopkinton.
(13)
Sailboats and sailboards are prohibited on Walden Pond at Walden Pond State
Reservation.
(14) No operator of a
watercraft may anchor, dock or tie up any such watercraft to any dock or ramp
designated by the DCR to be a general public use dock or ramp in such a manner
as to hinder or obstruct the launching or landing of other watercraft or the
navigation of adjacent waterways or for a period of time in excess of one hour,
except at locations designated for longer periods of time by the DCR.
(15) From sunset to sunrise, all watercraft
shall display proper lights.
(16) A
person may not transport any aquatic species, including, but not limited to,
fragments, roots, rhizomes, stems, leaves, seeds, larvae, or animal or plant
fibers, on a boat, personal watercraft, boat trailer, anchor, gear (including
diving, recreational and fishing equipment) or any other equipment that may
come in contact with the water.
(17) A person may not transport any aquatic
species (with the exception of bait fish) in live-wells, bait buckets or engine
cooling water.
(18) Except fish
stocking activities carried out by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, a
person may not release any aquatic species, plant or animal, into a water body
unless that species came out of that water body.
(19) A person may not transport or distribute
any aquatic invasive species (or parts of any aquatic invasive species,
including roots, rhizomes, stems, leaves, seeds, larvae, or animal or plant
fibers) in a manner that could cause the species to get into or out of any
waters under the care and custody of DCR.
(20) No person may land, beach, anchor, moor
or otherwise park any watercraft, personal or otherwise, at any designated
swimming area, channel, tunnel, pier, mooring, wharf, or other coastal
infrastructure such as a jetty or groin, unless:
(a) Such areas are designated for such
purposes;
(b) Such person has
obtained a boating and waterfront permit issued in accordance with
302 CMR
12.17(3); or
(c) There is an emergency
situation.
(21) No
watercraft or personal watercraft powered by an internal combustion engine,
where the engine is uncovered or exposed to the atmosphere, shall be launched,
maintained or operated upon any DCR waters except by a boating and waterfront
permit issued in accordance with
302 CMR
12.17(3).
(22) No person may launch a windsurfing or
kite apparatus from a designated swimming beach between Memorial Day and Labor
Day, unless such swimming beach has been specifically designated for such
purpose.
(23) In addition to all
other rules of conduct relating to boating set forth in 302 CMR 12.07, for all
activities in the Charles River Basin, no person may:
(a) Operate a watercraft at a speed exceeding
ten miles per hour, or in such a manner as to endanger or annoy bathers or the
occupants of other boats, or to create a wake within 50 yards of
floats;
(b) Create a wake within 50
yards of a canoe, shell, rowboat, kayak, sail boat or similar non-motorized
vessel;
(c) Pass a canoe, shell,
rowboat, kayak or sailboat by a powerboat unless:
1. A powerboat approaching a canoe, shell,
rowboat, kayak or sailboat from the opposite direction shall reduce speed to
headway only within 50 yards of the non-motorized vessel or within a sufficient
distance to avoid endangering the non-motorized vessel, whichever is greater;
and
2. A powerboat approaching a
canoe, shell, rowboat, kayak, or similar non-motorized vessel going in the same
direction shall indicate intent to pass and shall wait for a reply. The canoe,
shell, rowboat, kayak, or similar non-motorized vessel shall acknowledge at the
earliest opportunity and shall stop to allow the powerboat to pass at
controlled wake.
(d)
Operate motorized watercraft at speeds greater than five miles per hour in the
area between the North Beacon Street Bridge and the Boston University Bridge,
which is designated as a controlled wake area;
(e) Unless otherwise designated or specified
by the Department during permitted events, or except in an emergency, anchor or
moor any watercraft outside of locations designated for the purpose by buoys or
markers set by direction of the Department. Moorings in stream must be of a
type and at a location approved in advance by DCR personnel;
(f) Moor houseboats, barges or similar
vessels that cannot be moved under their own power, unless authorized by DCR in
writing;
(g) In accordance with
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection regulations, moor in the
Charles River Basin and discharge sewage into the Charles River
Basin;
(h) Moor a watercraft in
excess of 30 feet in the Charles River Basin or upstream of the Boston
University Bridge without written authorization from the Department;
and
(i) Except in an emergency,
moor a watercraft to a public landing for a period of time in excess of 20
minutes, except that at the Hatch Shell Landing, a watercraft can remain only
as long as it takes to drop off or pick up passengers;
(24)302 CMR 12.07(24)(a) through (c) applies
to Otis Reservoir:
(a) No watercraft, except
pontoon or sail powered boats, may exceed 24 feet in length overall;
(b) Waterskiing is prohibited between 10:00
A.M. and 6:00 P.M. on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, from Memorial Day to
Labor Day in the area between Kibbe Point and Tolland State Forest Campground;
and
(c) All boats using the Dismal
Bay area shall not exceed 5 MPH (no wake).
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.