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Town of Ipswich, MA
Essex County
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Legislation (5)
[Adopted 6-15-1961 TM, approved by State Director, Division of Motor Boats, 7-1-1961, having been referred to that agency by the Attorney General's office; amended 3-4-1974 TM; approved by Attorney General 5-10-1974 (Ch. XV, § 4, of the 1973 Bylaws)]
[Amended 5-15-2021 ATM by Art. 23, approved by Attorney General 8-22-2021[1]]
It shall be unlawful to operate or cause to be operated any motor boat or other vessel propelled by an internal combustion engine contrary to the following restrictions in any Town of Ipswich waterways.
A. 
The following types of operation are prohibited in Ipswich waterways;
(1) 
Operating a motorboat within a designated swimming area, whether public or private.
(2) 
Operating at an excessive speed considering weather conditions, boat traffic, and other hazards.
(3) 
Operating a motorboat without properly working lights between sunset and sunrise.
(4) 
Operating a motorboat during the nighttime while towing water skiers, tubers, wakeboarders.
(5) 
Operating at greater than headway speed (six mph or less) within 150 feet of a swimmer, water-skier, mooring area, marina, boat launch, or when the operator's vision is obscured in any way.
(6) 
Operating in an overloaded condition (carrying total weight that exceeds capacity plate recommendations or is excessive considering water conditions).
(7) 
Operating with passengers on the bow, gunwales, or any other place where there may be a chance of falling overboard.
B. 
Operation of Jet Skis® (Personal Watercraft-PWC). All Operators of Jet Skis® (PWC) shall adhere to the following regulations while operating in the waterways of Ipswich:
(1) 
Wear an approved life jacket (Personal Floatation Device - PFD) at all times (operator and passengers).
(2) 
Attach the safety lanyard to the operator and the cutoff/kill switch.
(3) 
Always operate at slow, no-wake speed (six mph or less) within 150 feet of a swimmer, any shoreline, a water-skier, a boat launch, a raft or float or a moored or docked boat.
(4) 
You are prohibited from operating a PWC if:
(a) 
You are less than 16 years old;
(b) 
Under the influence of alcohol;
(c) 
Between sunset and sunrise;
(d) 
At high speed in a congested area;
(e) 
Crossing or jumping vessel wakes or operate too close to other vessels;
(f) 
While towing persons on water skis, tubes, surfboards, etc.
(5) 
All PWCs must have proper registration numbers displayed and have an active status to operate on Ipswich waterways.
[1]
Editor's Note: Certain subsection designations in this bylaw have been modified from the original so as to match the style and organization of the General Bylaws as codified. In addition, any internal cross-references to the prior numbering have been modified accordingly. See § 5-4 of this Code.
For the purposes of enforcing this bylaw, any area which has been marked by, or under the direction of, the harbormaster with conspicuous orange signs or markers, or signs lettered in orange, shall be deemed prima facie to be one of the areas described in § 118-1 hereof, but such presumption shall be subject to rebuttal by competent evidence by the defendant, in which case similar evidence by the plaintiff shall also be considered.
The Harbormaster is directed to keep a list of all areas marked by pursuant to § 118-2 of this bylaw and to make such list publicly available.
It shall be unlawful to deface, alter or remove any sign or marker placed by, or under the direction of, the Harbormaster.
It shall be unlawful to operate, or cause to be operated, any motor boat or other vessel propelled by an internal combustion engine of greater than five horsepower on any part of the Ipswich River upstream of the dam commonly known as the Sylvania Dam.
[Adopted 4-3-1989 TM, approved by Attorney General]
No craft, vehicle, boat, and/or ATV shall be operated in the Town which produces a sound pressure level of more than 78 decibels. Sound pressure levels in decibels shall be measured on the "A" scale of a sound level meter approved by the Commonwealth's Director of the Division of Marine and Recreational Vehicles. Measurements shall be made of overall vehicle noise at maximum speed at 50 feet in accordance with test procedure SAE J192 of the Society of Automotive Engineers, or in accordance with such other test procedure for measurement of sound pressure levels as the Commonwealth's Registrar of Motor Vehicles may adopt.
If any provision of this bylaw shall be declared invalid, the remaining provisions shall continue in effect nonetheless.