Boating in Missouri: Quick Reference

Which world are you in?

• • On a LAKE with a motor: registration, maybe a boater card, and the full set of operating laws.
• • Floating a RIVER in a canoe or kayak: little paperwork, but the natural hazards get very real.
• • Either way: life jacket on, stay sober, watch the water.

Register & title

• • Title and register all motorboats (jet skis included) and sailboats over 12 feet; paddle craft are exempt at any length.
• • Registration runs for THREE years and expires June 30 of the year on the decal. There's no late-renewal penalty — but don't operate with expired decals.
• • Title within 60 days. The penalty is $10 on the 61st day, plus $10 every 30 days after, up to a $30 maximum.

Boater card

• • A Boating Safety Identification Card is required for anyone born after January 1, 1984 who operates a motorized vessel on the lakes of the state (RSMo 306.127).
• • Born on or before January 1, 1984? You're exempt — though a course is still a smart idea.
• • Renters need the card or a temporary rental permit plus a safety briefing.

Life jackets (PFDs)

• • Children under 7 must WEAR one at all times aboard (except inside a fully enclosed cabin).
• • Everyone on a PWC and anyone being towed must wear one.
• • Boats 16 feet and longer also need a Type IV throwable cushion or ring.

Stay sober (BWI)

• • Boating while intoxicated and related offenses are in Chapter 577 — not Chapter 306.
• • Boating with excessive blood alcohol content (RSMo 577.014) is 0.08% or more.
• • Because BWI is about engine or sail power, pure paddle and oar craft fall outside it — but impaired paddling is still dangerous and can trigger other violations.

Speed & distance

• • The 100-foot Slow–No-Wake rule is a LAKE rule (RSMo 306.125): on Missouri lakes, go Slow–No-Wake within 100 feet of a dock, pier, occupied anchored boat, or buoyed restricted area. On rivers and managed areas, follow posted no-wake zones and the managing agency's rules.
• • A PWC may not operate above Slow–No-Wake within 50 feet of another vessel or a person in the water, and may not wake-jump in a way that blocks visibility (RSMo 306.142).
• • From a half-hour after sunset until an hour before sunrise, no vessel may exceed 30 mph.

Who can operate

• • A person under 14 may not operate a motorboat or PWC unless someone 16 or older is aboard supervising.

Towing & skiing

• • You need an observer aboard in addition to the operator, OR a wide-angle rear-view mirror.
• • No towing from sunset to sunrise.
• • The skier-down / person-in-water flag is required by law (RSMo 306.126): a red or orange flag at least 12 by 12 inches, displayed on the Missouri River, the Mississippi River, and the lakes, between 11 a.m. and sunset, whenever a person has left the vessel and is in the water (not while you're actively towing). Other boats slow to no-wake within 50 yards of a displayed flag.

Float-stream rules

• • RSMo 306.325: food and beverage containers must be in a sealed, nonglass cooler or container, a trash bag or container must be attached to the vessel, and glass beverage containers are prohibited on capsize-prone vessels — canoes, kayaks, tubes, and the like — within the banks of navigable waterways.
• • There's also a river alcohol-container rule (RSMo 306.109): no beer bongs and no containers holding more than 4 gallons, except on the Mississippi, Missouri, and Osage rivers.

River hazards

• • Strainers — fallen trees and brush that let water through but trap a body. Steer well clear.
• • Foot entrapment — never stand up in moving water over your knees. If you're swimming a rapid, go on your back with your feet up and pointing downstream.
• • Flash floods — don't float high or rising water; check the river gauge before you go.
• • A low-head dam is a 'drowning machine': the churning, recirculating current below it can trap and hold a person or a boat under. Get out early — land upstream, carry around, and relaunch well below the boil. Never swim into the hydraulic to rescue someone.

If it goes wrong

• • If you capsize, get to the UPSTREAM side of the boat and stay there — keep the boat downstream of you so the current pushes it away instead of pinning it against a rock with you behind it. Never let yourself end up between the boat and a rock.
• • Reach, Throw, Row, Go — try to reach with a paddle or pole, throw a rope or float, row a boat to them, and only as a last resort go in. Put on a life jacket before you ever enter the water, and call 911 if someone is in real trouble.
• • If an accident causes death, injury, or property damage over $500, the operator must report it to the Highway Patrol (Water Patrol) and must stop, give identifying information, and render aid (RSMo 306.140).
• • In an emergency, call 911.

Protect the water

• • Clean, drain, and dry your boat and gear between waters to stop invasive species like zebra mussels and didymo from hitching a ride.