327,02Definitions.—As used in this chapter and chapter 328, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning, the term: (1)"Aircraft" means a vessel intended primarily for use in shallow water and powered by an internal combustion engine with an aircraft-type propeller mounted above the stern used to force air into the rudder. (2)"Alien" means a person who is not a citizen of the United States. (3)"Barge" means a vessel that does not have accommodation, is not self-propelled and is designed to be pushed or towed by another vessel. (4)"Ship casualty" means a collision, accident or accident involving a vessel in or on, or entering or exiting water, including capsize, collision with another vessel or object, sinking, injury, death, disappearance of a person from a vessel under conditions indicating the possibility of death or personal injury or damage to property on any vessel or dock. (5)"Canoe" means a light, narrow vessel with curved sides and pointed at both ends. A vessel resembling a transom canoe need not be exempt from the definition of a canoe if its transom width is less than 45 percent of its width or is designated as a canoe by the United States Coast Guard. (6)"Commercial fishing vessel" means a vessel principally engaged in catching or landing marine fish or marine products or freshwater fish or freshwater products or a vessel licensed under379,361from which commercial quantities of salted products are collected, within and outside the waters of this State, for sale to the consumer either at retail or wholesale. (7)"Commercial skydiving" means offering or offering for payment any activity involving the towing of a person from a motor vehicle if: (in)One or more people are tied to the tug. (and)One or more people rise above the water. and (do)One or more persons remain suspended under a canopy, chute, or chute above the water while the vessel is underway. The term does not include the towing of an ultralight glider performed in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration's regulations for ultralight vehicles as set forth in 14 C.F.R. part 103. (8)"Merchant ship" means a ship used as a place of business or professional or other commercial enterprise. (9)"Commission" means the Fish and Game Conservation Commission. (10)"Dealer" means a person authorized by the Tax Agency to buy, sell, resell or otherwise distribute a vessel. Such person must have a valid sales tax registration certificate issued by the Internal Revenue Service and a valid trade or business license required by any county, municipality or political subdivision of the state in which the person operates. (11)"Department" means the Law Enforcement Division of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
(12)"Documented vessel" means a vessel for which a valid certificate of documentation pursuant to 46 C.F.R. part 67
(13)"Efficient propulsion device for safe navigation" means a vessel, other than a barge, equipped with:
(in)Correct engine, control and steering system. that
(and)Accessories and sails present and in good condition, and a correct steering system.
(14)"Floating structure" means a floating entity, with or without a dwelling built thereon, that is not used primarily as a means of transportation on water, but serves purposes or provides services normally associated with the structure or other improvements on real property. The term includes, but is not limited to, a unit used as a residence, place of business or office with public access, hotel or motel; restaurant or lounge; association; conference room; warehouse or parking lot; or a mining rig, dredger, wire or similar object or entity represented as such. Floating structures are expressly excluded from the definition of "vessel" in this section. Random movement on the water or partial or total inactivity on the bottom does not in itself disqualify a device from being classified as a floating structure.
(15)"Intracoastal Waterway Florida" means the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the Georgia state line north of Fernandina to Miami. Port Canaveral Lock and Canal for the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway; Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Miami to Key West; Okeechobee Waterway, Stuart in Fort Myers; Rijeka St. Johns, Jacksonville to Sanford; Intracoastal Waterway Gulf, Anchorage to Fort Myers; Intracoastal Waterway, Carrabelle to Tampa Bay; Part of the open Carrabelle Bay to Anclote, using the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Carrabelle to the Alabama state line west of Pensacola. and the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint rivers in Florida.
(16)"Home-made vessel" means a vessel constructed after October 31, 1972, for which the manufacturer is not required to assign a Federal Hull Identification Number under Federal law, or a vessel constructed or assembled before November 1, 1972, unless approved by the manufacturer for its own use or the use of a specific person. A vessel assembled from kits or constructed from an incompletely manufactured hull is considered a home-built vessel if such vessel is not required to have a hull identification number assigned by the US Coast Guard. A rebuilt or reconstructed vessel cannot be considered a home-made vessel.
(17)"Houseboat" means a vessel used primarily as a place of residence for at least 21 days in a 30-day period in a district of this state if such use of the houseboat precludes its use as a means of transportation.
(18)"Kiteboarding" or "kitesurfing" means an activity in which a kiteboard or surfboard is attached to a kite to harness the power of the wind to propel the board across the surface of the water. For purposes of this subsection, the term "dragon" has the same meaning as in 14 C.F.R. part 101
(19)"Length" means the measurement from edge to edge across the tire parallel to the centerline, excluding clearance.
(20)"Encumbrance" means a security interest secured or created by a written agreement recorded with the Department of Highway and Motor Vehicle Safety pursuant to Sec.328,15and which ensures payment or fulfillment of an obligation and generally applies to third parties.
(21)"Liensee" means a person who has a lien on a vessel registered with the Department of Highway and Motor Vehicle Safety pursuant to s.328,15.
(22)"Living ship" means:
(in)A vessel used solely for living, not for navigation.
(and)The vessel for which the declaration of residence after t.222,17; the
(do)A vessel used as a residence and not equipped with effective propulsion for safe navigation.
A commercial fishing vessel is expressly excluded from the term "living vessel".
(23)"Live ship" means a ship that is chartered, chartered or leased to another for consideration.
(24)"Built vessel" means a vessel constructed after October 31, 1972, for which a federal hull identification number is required by federal law, or a vessel constructed or assembled before November 1, 1972, by a duly licensed builder.
(25)"Marina" is a licensed commercial facility that provides secure public mooring or dry storage of vessels on a rental basis. A commercial facility licensed by a licensed shipbuilder as a dealer is considered a marina for purposes of out-of-court sales.
(26)"Marine sanitary facilities" means equipment, other than lavatories, to be installed on a vessel intended to receive, retain, treat or discharge sewage and any process for the treatment of such sewage. Marine sanitary appliances Types I, II and III are defined as specified in 33 C.F.R. part 159
(27)"Mark" means a channel mark or other aid to navigation, an informational or regulatory mark, an individual danger mark, a safe water mark, a special mark, an obstruction mark on inland waters or a mooring buoy in, on or over waters; of the State or its coasts, and includes, but is not limited to, a sign, beacon, buoy or light.
(28)"Tethered balloon" means the operation of a tethered balloon below 14 C.F.E. part 101
(29)"Mechanically propelled vessel" means a vessel equipped with propulsion machinery, whether or not the propulsion machinery is in operation.
(30)"Muffler": an automotive sound-reducing device or system designed to effectively reduce the exhaust noise of an internal combustion engine and prevent excessive noise when installed in such an engine.
(31)"Navigation rules" means for vessels in:
(in)Waters outside established navigational demarcation lines as defined in 33 C.F.R. part 80, International Navigation Rules Act of 1977, 33 U.S.C. little. 1602, as amended, including appendices and appendices, until October 1, 2012.
(and)All waters not outside these established delimitation lines, Inland Navigation Rules Act of 1980, 33 C.F.R. of parts 83-90, as amended, until 1 October 2012.
(32)"Nonresident" means a citizen of the United States who has not resided in this state and has not continuously resided in this state for 1 year and in one county for 6 months immediately prior to commencement of vessel ownership or the registration process.
(33)"Operate" means to have charge of, direct or have actual physical control of a vessel in the waters of this State, to exercise control over or be responsible for the navigation or safety of the vessel while the vessel is operating in the waters of this State; state or to control or direct a vessel towed by another vessel in state waters.
(34)"Owner" means a person, other than the beneficial owner, who has title to or title to the Vessel. The term includes a person who has the right to use or possession of a vessel that is subject to the interest of another, which is pledged or created by agreement and ensures payment of the fulfillment of the obligation. The term does not include a tenant under a lease that is not intended as security.
(35)"Person" means an individual, partnership, firm, corporation, association or other entity.
(36)"Personal boat" means a boat less than 16 feet in length that uses an inboard motor driven by a water jet pump as the primary source of propulsion and is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing or kneeling in the boat instead of conventionally. sitting or standing inside the boat.
(37)"Portable toilet" means a device consisting of a cover, a seat, a storage tank and a support structure specially designed for the reception, storage and disposal of human waste and which can be removed from the tank by hand.
(38)"Prohibited activity" means an activity that would impede or interfere with navigation or create a safety hazard on the waterways of this state.
(39)"Competition hull", "rowboat" or "competition kayak" means a hand-propelled vessel recognized by national or international regatta federations for use in racing and in which all passengers, except the coxswain, if any, steer, skiff or paddle and which is not designed for transportation and does not carry equipment exclusively for competitive racing.
(40)"pleasure vessel" means a vessel:
(in)It is produced and used primarily for non-commercial purposes. that
(and)It is rented, rented or leased to an individual for his or her non-commercial use.
(41)"Registration" means a government license to operate a vessel issued with an identification number, an annual certificate of registration and a sticker indicating the year for which the registration fee has been paid.
(42)"Resident" means a citizen of the United States who has established residence in this state and has continuously resided in this state for 1 year and in one county for 6 months immediately prior to commencement of vessel ownership or the registration process.
(43)A "sailing boat" is a vessel whose sole source of propulsion is the wind.
(44)"Constant wind speed" means the wind speed determined by averaging the observed wind speed rounded to the nearest mile per hour over a 2-minute period.
(45)"Unclaimed Vessel" means an undocumented vessel, including its machinery, equipment and accessories, which is in the physical possession of a marina, garage or repair shop for repairs, improvements or other work with the knowledge of the owner of the vessel and for which the cost of such services is not paid more than 90 days after the date on which the marina, garage or repair shop informed the owner of the vessel in writing of the work done.
(46)"Vessel" is synonymous with a vessel as specified in § 1(b), art. VII of the State Constitution and includes every description of ship, barge, and aircraft, other than seaplanes on water, which is used or may be used as a means of transportation on water.
(47)"Waters of this State" means all navigable waters of the United States within the territorial limits of this State, the territorial sea contiguous to this State, and the high seas when navigated as part of a voyage or route to or from the coast of the state in question. State and all inland lakes, rivers and canals under the jurisdiction of that State.
History.—little. 1, Chapters 59-399; little. 1, Chapters 63-103; little. 1, Chapters 65-361; little. 17, Chapters 69-216; pp. 25, 35, chapters 69-106; little. 3, Chapters 70-336; little. 132, Chapters 71-377; little. 1, Chapter 72-16; little. 1, Chapters 72-55; pp. 1, 15, chapters 74-327; little. 23, Chapters 79-334; little. 1, Chapters 81-100; little. 1, Chapters 81-114; little. 76, Chapters 82-226; little. 1, Chapter 83-20; little. 2, Chapters 84-184; little. 1, Chapters 85-252; little. 1, Chapters 88-133; little. 1, Chapters 89-136; little. 2, Chapters 89-250; little. 2, Chapters 94-241; little. 152, ch. 94-356; little. 951, ch. 95-148; little. 1, Chapters 95-333; little. 3, Chapters 98-308; pp. 18, 89, chapters 99-245; little. 2, Chapter 2000-362; little. 1, Chapter 2006-172; little. 194, Chapter 2008-247; little. 6, Chapter 2009-86; little. 1, Chapter 2013-194; little. 2, Chapter 2014-70; little. 2, chapter 2017-163.
Note.—Formerly s. 371.021.