[onewhippedpuppy]

It’s a pretty big deal around here on our inland lakes, especially the major ones. We have a minimum list of safety equipment required and they can legally inspect any boat for said safety equipment. Putting aside the concerns about the legality of said laws this very rarely happens, my only encounter with lake law enforcement is when I didn’t realize that a no wake zone was in effect on weekends only and was quickly pulled over as a warning. Most enforcement is by either park rangers or state troopers depending on the lake. In practice they frequently will be sitting in coves watching boaters with binoculars and will pull over boats where they can observed the driver either drinking blatantly or acting erratically. So in practice if you aren’t an idiot it will be ok.