"Emily" wrote in message
...
I've never flown a seaplane, but isn't it fairly unmaneuverable during
takeoff? I know I don't want to be swerving on the runway in a plane with
wheels...

Takeoff in a seaplane certainly is a difficult time to be making evasive
maneuvers. However, a) the FARs don't apply to boats, and b) the FARs
aren't very specific anyway. One could read 91.115(e) to mean that
airplanes taking off or landing (ie in a particular vulnerable position)
should have the right of way. But those regulations don't apply to the
boats.

Now, all that said, none of the above applies in the situation in this
thread. Right-of-way rules are for situations in which each vehicle is
traveling normally. The boater in this case was intentionally placing
himself in the way of the seaplane. Even if he had consistently approached
the airplane's path from the right, and even if the maritime right-of-way
rules (the ones that apply to the boater) dictated that he had the right of
way, he would still have been in violation of other laws (the ones he was
actually charged with).

I've never had to deal with the situation described in the article, but I
certainly have aborted a number of takeoffs due to boaters. I've never had
a boater intentionally cross in front of me, but they certainly do tend to
get too close. A common "stupid boater trick" is to try to race the
seaplane during takeoff. If they keep their distance, I don't have a
problem with that, but too often the boater (or even more commonly,
jetskier) approaches the airplane too closely, making a collision impossible
to ensure against, and eliminating maneuvering room I might need to avoid a
collision with another boater who doesn't see me.

I have had less issues with landings. Few boaters notice an airplane until
it's actually on the water, and even on a relatively small lake, it's
usually possible to select a landing site far enough away from the boaters
that they cannot reach the airplane until it's slowed enough to be
reasonably maneuverable (though, an airplane on the water is never really
all that maneuverable).

Pete