I spoke with a Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries conservation officer who works with boating safety and he clarified the DG&IF position on the law regarding the Safe Boating requirement:

1.      Anyone operating a watercraft with a 10 HP or greater primary means of propulsion motor, including sailboats, must have taken the Safe Boating course and have their card with them.

2.      If you are operating the trolling motor when the primary means of propulsion is not in operation, you must have taken the Safe Boating course and have the card with you.

3.      The definition of a watercraft applies to the primary means of propulsion on the watercraft, even if the primary means of propulsion is not in operation. This means that every individual operating a watercraft with a 10 HP or greater primary means of propulsion motor needs to have passed the Safe Boating course based on their age as of July 1st of future years.

4.      An individual can operate a watercraft with a 10 HP or greater primary means of propulsion motor if there is another individual in the watercraft that has the Safety Boating Education card.  This means that a nonboater can operate the trolling motor or primary means of propulsion if the boater has taken and passed the Safe Boating course and has the Safety Boating card with him.

5.      An individual that has not taken the Safe Boating course is not to operate the trolling or primary means of propulsion motors unless the individual with the Safe Boating Education card is in the boat when launching, tailoring or operating the watercraft while the boater is out of the watercraft.

6.      You can take the free DG&IF Virginia Boating Safety Education course or go online to the DG&IF web site to find the five approved vendors who offer the DG&IF approved course. These courses are not free and will take approximately six-hours to complete.

7.      If you have been operating a watercraft for over 20-years you can approach the DG&IF for a Proctor Challenge exam. If DG&IF approves your request, you will take the DG&IF Safe Boating exam with a proctor and if you pass you can earn your Boating Safety Education card.

Please take the course even if you do not own a boat.

The requirement is also, in part, aged based with respect to the required completion time...

1.PWC operators between the ages of 16 and 20 years of age or younger shall meet the requirements by July 1, 2009, operators ages 14 or 15 may operate a PWC if they have successfully completed an approved boating education safety course;

2.PWC operators 35 years of age or younger shall meet the requirements by July 1, 2010;

3.PWC operators 50 years of age or younger and motorboat operators 20 years of age or younger shall meet the requirements by July 1, 2011;

4.All PWC operators, regardless of age, and motorboat operators 30 years of age or younger shall meet the requirements by July 1, 2012;

5.Motorboat operators 40 years of age or younger shall meet the requirements by July 1, 2013;

6.Motorboat operators 45 years of age or younger shall meet the requirements by July 1, 2014;

7.Motorboat operators 50 years of age or younger shall meet the requirements by July 1, 2015;

8.All motorboat operators,regardless of age,shall meet the requirements by July 1, 2016.

Micro, another conservation officer told me that in 2011 the conservation officers will be at the ramps checking the jet skiers for their safety certificates.

The bass boats will be next as will the pontoon boats on the water as so many of the pontoon boats are privately moored.

The Rappahannock River beacon that the Hicks hit, killing the 25-year old school teacher, is the one the conservation officers hide behind to look at the fishing boaters and unsafe operation of a watercraft.

It is about time DG&IF starts to enforce the laws. 

What about out of state operators?  I've taken the safe boating course (and then some) here in NY, and hold a valid NYS drivers license.

The conservation officer told me that an out of state individual does not have to have the Boating Safety Education Certificate.

I would suggest you bring your state's certificate with you if you are in Virginia.

I would also suggest checking with any other state's fish and game department to receive their clarification and write down the individual's name that gives you the data. 

dangit now there will be more cops on the water, thats all i need.  i got pulled over on the james for going 50 and they searched the whole boat just to end up telling me to slow down.

I would suggest you bring your state's certificate with you if you are in Virginia.

Any boat I'd be in would have a USCG inspection sticker, including my kayaks.  I'm not really worried about it.  That sticker wards off most officers.

Hey Carrington, do you realize that a DG&IF conservatiion officer has more power than either a county deputy, a city police officer and a state police officer?

That's right. The DG&IF officers can stop and search any vehicle, be it an auto, truck, camper, trailer, airplane, boat, ice chest, cabin, outhouse, barn, home, etc. if they believe a DG&IF law has been broken.

And you are supposed to be smart as you did get into VATech. So why were you going 50 MPH and putting your life and the lives of others in danger on the unforgiving James River?

Water and electricity - two things you cannot control 100%. And the James is a dangerous body of water.

Slow down. We need you to graduate; get a career; make a lot of money; and pay a lot of FICA.        

50 really isnt bad on the james.  The only time i have seen the james bad was like two times over the summer before big storms.  In that weather i do slow down unless i get caught in the storm, if that happens i fly to get to the boat landing.

Which part of the James has a Speed Limit?

none that ive ever been on.

No part of the James has a speed limit.

I have gone close to 60 MPH with a friend.

But DG&IF is on alert for unsafe operation of a watercraft and they will hassle you if they think you are doing something unsafe.

The James is a very dangerous body of water and there are too many commercial watercraft and pleasure boaters on the river which is not a good mix. 

ya ive almost been ran over more then once by those massive cargo ships.  One time my engine would not start while catfishing and as my luck would go a cargo ship came around the bend and this part of the river was just wide enough for him to fit.  i noticed hey my engine wont start.  pulled the cover off and went to work, got the engine fixed with him laying on his horn and only about 200 feet away.  I gun the engine and as my luck would once again fail, the anchor line wraps around the prop, thank god i had enough power to run 500 yards where the river widened.  spent 40 mins cutting the anchor line off my prop while swimming in 40 feet of water, what a fun day on the james...