On Sep 1, 4:36*pm, Gezellig wrote:
Who determines where you can or cannot land one?

Currently it is kind of open ended. If its a private lake you
obviously need the owners permission. If its a public water there may
be local restrictions to prevent you from landing there (like a
drinking water reservior). I did seaplane flying in several states and
still do so on the gulf coast. Common sense has a lot to do with where
you go and where to avoid. Aside from the blatant and/or obvious, a
casual question to the local FSDO may be of benefit. But, the FSDO is
often submerged with people who don't know their ass from a hole in
the ground and can be more of a hinderance than help.
Probably the best place is to check with any local seaplane operators?
They will be up to speed on where to go or not and what kind of
problems you may encounter.
I had a delightful hour in a homebuilt seaplane up in northern
Minnesota a couple years back landing on several of the many lakes
available there. Here on the gulf coast we land on any number of
rivers and a few lakes. Most of the lakes are water sources so we
avoid them. As others have said, watrer pollution is a problem with
boaters and jetskis but let an airplane land and they will point a
finger at you as the root cause!
Have fun while you can. Aviation is getting more and more restrictive
each year and here in the USA we have the most liberal flight laws in
the world.
Cheers
Ol S&B - flying and instructing in seaplanes since 1967