i was on a river this weekend when a coast quard aux officer stop me and told me i was in a federal no wake zone because of the gas dock in the area. what is a federal no wake zone?. I was more than 150 ft away from the gas dock.

I think he may have been combining "federal waterway" and wake zone together. This is an interesting question which had me searching for an hour or so. There are a ton of wake laws out there. I did find one for the Ohio river, which is a federal waterway which states the following;

No Wake Zones (ORC 1547.08)
Ohio law states that any watercraft operating within 300 feet of a marina, gas dock or launching area must travel at no wake or "idle speed." Boat operators are responsible for any damage that their wake may cause. Stay in the main channel of the river when operating at greater than idle speed.

Your best bet is to call the local Aux or local coast guard and ask. If you get an answer, let us know!

thank you for the info, i was actually on the illinois river, but i found out thru locals that the marina paid him to patrol the gas dock area to slow boats down even when the were more that 300ft from the gas dock

I know the gentleman you are talking about and I don't think he would appreciate you slandering his name saying he "took money" to patrol the no wake zone. The real problem here, is your inability to read a sign that said NO WAKE ZONE. I spoke to him about this post and he is pushing for active duty assistance to ensure that boaters are slowing down. The fuel dock that you speak of, is in fact a "No Wake Zone" and the reason the "No Wake" bouys are not out is due to the fact that they keep getting hit by barges. When (not if) the active duty show up, you won't be told, you will be ticket for going through the no wake zone.

You are correct that it is hard to find information about "No Wake Zones" but the important fact to know that no wake means 5mph. The 300 feet rule applies to lakes and usually is marked with bouys that are 300ft away from shore.

I would advise you to recant your statement that anyone was paid as this is not true.

While I'm at it, let me also add to my post above. Regardless of how far away you are from a fuel dock, or a marina, you are IN FACT responsible for any and all damage your wake causes. If you decided to plow past the fuel dock (as uneducated boaters usually do) and someone is becomes injured...YOU are liable! If someone's boat bounces off the post's and gets scratched...YOU are liable. If your wake is so big it causes the post's to break with the strain of the boat....YOU are liable. The morale of the story here....learn to slow where boats are docked. How would you appreciate it if I came and found you on a beach somewhere and PLOWED by in my big boat?