BIAC Motor Launches

BIAC has several launches for coaching that require proper use, safety, and maintenance procedures in order to avoid injury, damage, and keep our fleet running cost effectively.
State Law: No person under 16 years of age may operate a launch unless supervised on board by a person at least 18 years of age".

Here is a step-by-step one page checklist for BIAC

Launch Use

1. Gas: Do not leave the fuel tanks in the launch. Put them in the shed and lock up!
   BIAC uses 100% gas engines. Gasoline cans are kept in the gas shed by the top of the ramp. Please lock this shed when you are out on the water and once back in.
2. Life Jackets: Before embarking ensure that life jackets are worn by all aboard, spares are available, and that the launch is equipped with a paddle in case of engine failure.
   State Law: There must be one life vest for each person on board the launch. Children under the age of 12 must wear a life vest at all times.
3. Lighting: Use running lights when in the dark or in twilight conditions.
4. Megaphones: No amplified sound is allowed in the harbor between 11 pm and 7 am (muni code). Please do not use megaphones in the early hours near our live aboard neighbors at Docktown and Pete's Harbor.
5. Wakes: Please treat Docktown and Pete's Harbor as no wake zones.
6. Mud: Do not run our launch engines in the mud as this will clog the cooling intakes and impellers. Raise the engine out of the water when docked. When leaving or returning, between the far side of Docktown to the BIAC docks please raise the engine to near the water level, yet keep the prop (and cooling ports) in the water.
7. Docking: Please securely tie launches to the dock cleats to prevent runaways.
8. Shutdown: Once properly docked, please lift the engine out of the water to allow the cooling intake and vents to drain. This also prevents mud and organisms from entering these ports when the launch is not running.

To prevent runaways like the above scene, learn how to secure a launch to a dock cleat in our Safety and Care section.

Here's the Redwood City Municipal Code on Noise:
Sec. 44.4. UNNECESSARY NOISE BETWEEN 11:00 P.M. AND 7:00 A.M.--UNLAWFUL
GENERALLY:
Notwithstanding any contrary provision contained in the Redwood City Municipal Code, no person shall cause the emission or transmission of any loud and raucous noise in the Harbor between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. upon or from any waterways in the harbor or from any boat. "Loud and raucous" means:
(1) any noise made by a boat not reasonably required in the operation thereof under the circumstances and shall include but not be limited to backfiring, and motor racing;
(2) the human voice or any record or recording thereof when amplified by any device whether electrical or mechanical or otherwise to such an extent as to cause it to carry on to private property or to be heard by others using the waterways in the harbor;
(3) any sound not included in the foregoing which is of such volume, intensity or carrying power as to tend to interfere with the peace and quiet of persons upon private property or other users of the waterways in the harbor.
(Ord. No. 2225, § 1, 5-6-2002)

Sec. 44.27. PENALTIES:
A. Except as otherwise specifically set forth in this chapter, or in the Harbors and Navigation Code sections incorporated by reference in this chapter, whenever in this chapter any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or an offense; or the doing of any act is required or the failure to do any act is declared to be unlawful, and such act is declared to be unlawful, and such act is declared to be an infraction, and where no specific penalty is provided therefore, the violation of any such provision of this chapter, shall be punished by:
1. A fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100.00) for a first violation;
2. A fine not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200.00) for a second violation of the same provision or of this chapter within one year;
3. A fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each additional violation of the same provision or of this chapter within one year.
B. Any person violating Section 44.4 of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be guilty of an infraction, and be punished by a fine of not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00).
C. Any person violating Section 44.8 of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, except that any person convicted of throwing, placing or introducing any oil into the waters of the harbor or along the shore thereof or upon any land within the Harbor shall also be liable civilly in an amount not exceeding six thousand dollars ($6,000) and, in addition, shall be liable to the City for actual damages, in addition to the reasonable costs actually incurred in abating or cleaning up the oil deposit in such waters.
D. Violation of Section 44.25 (A) of this chapter is an infraction and shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500.00), nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.00), as set forth in Section 525 of the Harbors and Navigation Code.
E. Every day any violation of any provision of this chapter of the City shall continue shall constitute a separate offense. (Ord. No. 2225, § 1, 5-6-2002)