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In an excercise in complete idiocy, I was looking for legal loopholes to consume alcohol on a single person platform while fishing on a lake without the threat of a boating DUI.

The CA DMV says an exemption for the definition of a 'Vessel' (I cannot be piloting a vessel while intoxicated,) is a seaplane.

The regulations for homebuilt ultralight aircraft are found in 14 CFR Part 103. Complying with that sounds like a walk in the park. There are many kits made for this sort of thing, Ultralight Seaplanes are fairly common in the personal aircraft world.

I'm just trying to get out on the water, knock back some beers and fucking fish. Obviously I wouldn't operate this 'ultralight' while shitfaced, it's just anchored. It would be towed to lakes like any other boat launch. Basically a floatplane that is anchored indefinitely. It will never be intended to be "piloted" while I am intoxicated, it will just be floating out there.

Would that situation exempt me from CA dui laws on the water for my experimental ultralight seaplane?

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    Wouldn’t it just be easier and cheaper to pay someone else to drive the boat?
    – Dale M ♦
    Commented Oct 17 at 8:09
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    Aren't rowing boats and kayaks and such exempt?
    – Lag
    Commented Oct 17 at 10:15
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    In my world as a lawyer they call these kinds of attempts "too clever by half" and they rarely work.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Oct 17 at 10:55
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    @ohwilleke which suggests that this is an effective way for OP to fulfill the goal of engaging in "an exercise in complete idiocy."
    – phoog
    Commented Oct 17 at 12:14
  • If you’re willing to have someone else involved (since you mentioned towing), I wonder if you can have a single-person stationary floating platform that someone drops you off on, that will enable you to be drunk & fish without being on anything considered a boat/vessel. Or if not actually floating (if that classified as a “vessel”), basically a dock/pier that’s not connected to the shore
    – fyrepenguin
    Commented Oct 17 at 20:04

2 Answers 2

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Regulation 14 C.F.R. § 91.17

a) No person may act or attempt to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft— (2) While under the influence of alcohol;

(b) ... no pilot of a civil aircraft may allow a person who appears to be intoxicated ... to be carried in that aircraft.

Either you're crew, or you're a passenger: they've got you either way.

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  • Someone else already posted this answer and deleted it after I pointed out that part 91 does not apply to aircraft falling under part 103. (Also the cited regulation refers to "operating" the aircraft, so even if it were an aircraft governed by part 91, it's not clear to me that this applies, as I haven't found anything indicating that occupying an anchored amphibious aircraft constitutes "operation" for the purpose of part 91.)
    – phoog
    Commented Oct 22 at 22:35
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I think a simpler approach might be to avoid the use of a "vessel" entirely. Look up the laws related to something like a floating platform.

You may be able to tow the platform out into a lake with a boat, exit the boat and proceed to fish/drink from the platform. As the platform would have no means of propulsion whatsoever, it should not be able to be viewed as a "vessel". It may be possible to use an inflatable platform.

Make sure that you also look up laws related to fishing while intoxicated while you are looking up laws, just to cover your bases.

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    Won't work. HNC 651(af) is exceptionally broad in its definition of "vessel": basically, any artificial object that floats except a permanently-anchored platform, a seaplane, or an amusement-park ride is covered.
    – Mark
    Commented Oct 17 at 22:22
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    Ah, so now you just need an amusement park ride that can stop mid-course for fishing. Like a small rowboat connected by a cable to a motorized shuttle that runs along a track on the bottom of the lake and is controlled from the shore. You'd need someone else to send you out and bring you back in, though. Getting the permits to build such a device is left as an exercise for the reader.
    – bta
    Commented Oct 18 at 1:31

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