A. “Anchorage” means a designated position where vessels or watercraft may anchor or moor.

B. “Aquatic event” means any organized water event of limited duration which is duly sanctioned at least seven days in advance by duly constituted authority and which is conducted according to a prearranged schedule and in which general public interest is manifested.

C. “Authorized emergency vessel” means any authorized patrol vessel or watercraft of the Bellevue police department, fire department, King County sheriff’s department, the United States government, and the state of Washington or its political subdivisions, or of any other duly authorized agency of any city, acting alone or in concert with other municipalities.

D. “Boater” means any person on a vessel on waters of the city of Bellevue.

E. “Darkness” means that period between sunset and sunrise.

F. “Diver’s flag” means a red flag five units of measurement on the hoist by six units of measurement on the fly with a white stripe of one unit crossing the red diagonally, the flag to have a stiffener to make it stand out from the pole or mast. This flag shall only pertain to skin and scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) diving and shall supplement any nationally recognized diver’s flag or marking.

G. “Environmentally sensitive area” means a restricted body of water where discharge of untreated sewage from boats is especially detrimental because of limited flushing, shallow water, commercial or recreational shellfish, swimming areas, diversity of species, the absence of other pollution sources, or other characteristics.

H. “Fairway” means that channel or portion of the harbor customarily navigated by vessels or watercraft.

I. “Law enforcement” includes the Bellevue chief of police and any of her or his authorized officers or the authorized personnel of the governments of the United States, the state of Washington or its political subdivisions, by virtue of their election or appointment, or any other duly authorized agency of the city, acting alone or in concert with other municipalities.

J. “Marina” means a facility providing boat moorage space, fuel, or commercial services. Commercial services include but are not limited to overnight or live-aboard boating accommodations.

K. “Master” means the captain, skipper, pilot or any person having charge of any vessel or watercraft.

L. “Motor-driven boats and vessels” means all boats and vessels which are self propelled.

M. “Operate” means to steer, direct, or otherwise have physical control of a vessel that is underway.

N. “Operator” means an individual who steers, directs, or otherwise has physical control of a vessel that is underway or exercises actual authority to control the person at the helm.

O. “Observer” means the individual riding in a vessel who is responsible for observing a water skier at all times.

P. “Obstruction” means any vessel or watercraft or any matter which may in any way blockade, interfere with or endanger any vessel or watercraft or impede navigation, or which cannot comply with the “Pilot Rules for Certain Inland Waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts and of the Coast of the Gulf of Mexico.”

Q. “Oil” means any oil or liquid, whether of animal, vegetable or mineral origin, or a mixture, compound or distillation thereof.

R. “Owner” means the person who has lawful possession of a vessel or watercraft or obstruction by virtue of legal title or equitable interest therein which entitles him to such possession.

S. “Personal flotation device” means a buoyancy device, life preserver, buoyant vest, ring buoy, or buoy cushion that is designed to float a person in the water and that is approved by the United States Coast Guard.

T. “Personal watercraft” means a vessel of less than 16 feet that uses a motor powering a water jet pump as its primary source of motive power and that is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on, or being towed behind, the vessel, rather than in the conventional manner of sitting or standing inside the vessel.

U. “Pier” means any pier, wharf, dock, float, gridiron or other structure to promote the convenient loading or unloading or other discharge of vessels or watercraft, or the repair thereof.

V. “Polluted area” means a body of water used by boaters that is contaminated by boat wastes at unacceptable levels, based on applicable water quality and shellfish standards.

W. “Reckless” or “recklessly” means acting carelessly and heedlessly in a willful and wanton disregard of the rights, safety, or property of another.

X. “Restricted area” means an area that is closed to all traffic therein when properly marked and designated for certain purposes such as swimming, skin diving, ferry landings, aquatic and other special events. The method of markings and designation shall have been specified by the city.

Y. “Skin diving” means any free swimming person and/or any person who uses an artificial or mechanical means to replace the person’s air, including self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, snorkel tube equipment and free diving gear, but shall not mean swimmers using patrolled public beaches designated as swimming areas.

Z. “Towboat” means any vessel or watercraft engaged in towing or pushing another vessel or watercraft.

AA. “Vessel” means every description of watercraft on the water, other than a seaplane, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. However, it does not include inner tubes, air mattresses, sailboards, and small rafts or flotation devices or toys customarily used by swimmers.

BB. “Wake” means the visible trail of turbulence which produces whitewater at the bow and/or stern of a watercraft moving through the water.

CC. “Water skiing” means the physical act of being towed behind a vessel on, but not limited to, any skis, aquaplane, kneeboard, tube, or any other similar device. (Ord. 5956 § 6, 2010; Ord. 5202 § 3, 2000; 1961 code § 13.09.020.)