PFDs, Boating Safety & Float Plans

Virginia law requires a Coast Guard-approved PFD for every person aboard most vessels, and requires anyone operating a motorboat with a 10-horsepower-or-greater engine or a personal watercraft to complete a NASBLA-approved boating safety course and carry proof of completion — see the Boating Safety Course legal requirement. Wear the PFD, not just carry it, especially in cold water and low-visibility early-morning conditions typical of a waterfowl hunt.

Overloading a small boat with hunters, gear, and decoys is a real, common cause of swamping — know your specific boat's rated capacity and stay within it.

File a float plan — tell someone not on the hunt where you're launching from, roughly where you'll be, and when you expect to be back — before any boat-based hunt, especially in remote marsh or open-bay areas with limited cell coverage.

Carry a reliable means of emergency communication (a charged phone in a waterproof case, and ideally a marine VHF radio for open-water hunts) and know the specific area's cell coverage limitations before relying on a phone alone.

Use navigation lights appropriately during the low-light hours (well before sunrise, near sunset) when most waterfowl hunting actually happens — this is both a legal boating requirement and a genuine collision-avoidance safety measure in busy or narrow waterways.