“Coastal Waters” and the requirement for recreational vessels to carry visual 

distress signals

Robert Bruce, Office Chief

The Hearing Office often receives civil penalty cases alleging a violation of 33 C.F.R. 

§ 175.110, as the result of a boarding on a recreational vessel. That regulation prescribes 

the requirements for carrying visual distress signals on recreational vessels, among 

others. Occasionally, when the Hearing Officer is reviewing such an allegation, evidence 

that the alleged violation was observed when the vessel was being used on “coastal 

waters” is lacking or is ambiguous.1 In such a case, the Hearing Officer may dismiss the 

alleged violation, or ask for additional evidence. 

The definition of “coastal waters” is contained in 33 C.F.R. § 175.105(b). “Coastal

waters” includes the waters of the Great Lakes, the territorial seas of the United States, 

and: 

Those waters directly connected to the Great Lakes and territorial seas (i.e., bays, 

sounds, harbors, rivers, inlets, etc.) where any entrance exceeds 2 nautical miles 

between opposite shorelines to the first point where the largest distance between 

shorelines narrows to 2 miles, as shown on the current edition of the appropriate 

National Ocean Service chart used for navigation. Shorelines of islands or points 

of land present within a waterway are considered when determining the distance 

between opposite shorelines.

Cases involving boardings on bays, sounds, harbors, marinas, rivers, and inlets often raise 

issues about whether the vessel was being used in “coastal waters.” When the location of 

the boarding is listed as a bay, sound, harbor, marina, river, or inlet, the Hearing Officer 

will want to know if the place of the boarding was connected to territorial seas or one of 

the Great Lakes by an entrance that exceeds 2 nautical miles. If such evidence is lacking 

or is ambiguous, the charge is likely to be dismissed or returned for clarification. 

Recent cases have included boardings in the Dana Point marina, CA, Channel Islands 

harbor, CA, Bodega harbor, CA, Clover Pass near Ketchikan, AK, the Wrangell Narrows, 

near Petersburg, AK, and the Cape May canal, NJ. Each of those locations includes 

waters not connected to territorial seas by an entrance greater than 2 nautical miles. The 

question then becomes, did the boarding occur in nearby waters that are within territorial 

seas or connected to territorial seas by an entrance greater than 2 nautical miles? 

Sometimes, the latitude and longitude provided on the Form 4100 and the Activity 

Summary Report will answer the question by clarifying the location of the boarding. But 

in other cases, a latitude and longitude showing a boarding in “coastal waters” is 

contradicted by boarding officer statements in the case file that the boarding was 

conducted at the dock or another specific location inside the harbor, marina, or river 

 

1 Vessels owned in the United States are also required to carry visual distress signals when used on the high 

seas. 
entrance. Such contradictory evidence creates an ambiguity that the Hearing Officer will 

have to clarify before finding the charge proved. If the evidence cannot be clarified, or if 

that the boarding did not occur in “coastal waters,” the alleged visual distress signals 

charge cannot be proved. 

Of course it is possible to prove that a vessel was used on “coastal waters” even if the 

boarding does not occur on “coastal waters.” Then, the case file would have to include 

some evidence that, prior to the boarding, the vessel was observed being used on “coastal 

waters” and did not have visual distress signals onboard. 

When conducting boardings in bays, sounds, harbors, marinas, rivers, or inlets, boarding 

officers should be mindful of whether there is evidence that the vessel was used in 

“coastal waters” if citing the vessel for not carrying visual distress signals. If the vessel 

was not observed in use on “coastal waters,” it may well be that there was no requirement

to carry visual distress signals at that time. Boarding officers should be well-versed in 

the requirements they are enforcing, and ought to avoid telling an operator they are 

required to carry visual distress signals on waters where the requirement does not apply.