Minnesota DNR confirms that it is illegal to ride on the tubes of an inflatable boat

[Tayana42]

We are afraid Darwin has given us our current government. Evolution to the brink of extinction.

[CFS Klopas]

It does apply to recreational boats and is a common law among many other US States as well.

[kmacdonald]

Originally Posted by Tayana42

We are afraid Darwin has given us our current government. Evolution to the brink of extinction.

Yes, I'm afraid so. Humans have about three or four more generations left. It will get ugly near the end and thankfully we won't be here to see it.

[CarlF]

Come on guys, the first rule of reading regulations is to read them narrowly.

No inflatable has a "gunwale". Since the word was invented five hundred years or so ago, it referred to a narrow and often quite high railing that was not intended by the builder as a seat. Sitting on a gunwale underway is a good way to fall overboard and be hit by the propeller. Young children, especially, like to sit there.

Inflatables don't have gunwales. Nor do air mattresses, paddle boards, or wind surfers. Tubes are intended by the manufacturer to be used as seats and their literature all shows people sitting on them.

If the state of Minnesota had wanted to prohibit sitting on inflatable tubes, they would have said "Gunwales or inflatable tubes"

[Jammer]

Which is why I wrote to the DNR. The reasonable thing I would have expected in reply is that they would have, by now, issued some sort of guidance to the field on this and declared that sponsons are not gunwales. They haven't, and the reply I got led me to believe that they don't take the question seriously.


This is why compliance is such a problem for boaters here. Boaters who make a good-faith effort to behave reasonably and comply with the regulations still get ticketed or have to cancel plans because they're turned away from the boat ramp. It is laughable and tragic at the same time.


From what I understand, the situation isn't materially better in other states, though the details differ.

[CarlF]

Do you know if anyone has ever received a citation for this? The "assumption" of a low level state official is not worth much. A citation would certainly be worth fighting in court (which I know is a pain but it's part of our duty as citizens). I can't imagine a court allowing such a poorly drafted regulation to be extended to dinghy tubes. Government regulations are changed by the courts all the time - as our current president (and the previous president too) have learned.

I have been watching the ACLU's first steps to test the Coast Guard's claim that they are exempt from the 4th amendment "probable cause" when they board a boat in inland waters for safety checks. They were given their original boarding right in 1790 to board cargo ships from overseas to assess customs duties - these custom duties were then the only source of revenue for the new federal government. No one cared about boat safety or pollution at the time.

If the Police had the Constitutional search rights of the Coast Guard, you could be pulled over at anytime on the highway without reason for a check of your car's brake pads.

https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-l...y-itself-stake

https://goldsteinmehta.com/blog/can-...-search-a-boat

Unfortunately, since you can see someone sitting on a dinghy tube this ruling for probable cause won't help the OP's situation.

[valhalla360]

Did you get a ticket?

That was a non-answer. You will that he indicated that the ropes might be considered a railing but it's unclear...basically he isn't the judge who will issue a ruling, so he can't state with certainty.

[Jammer]

No ticket for me, at least not yet. I was at the inflatable boat store the other day, dinghy shopping, and it's something that occurred to me to check on before making a decision on a dinghy. There are many reasons I would prefer a hard dinghy. This is one more to add to the list.

If I were to get ticketed, odds are I'd pay the $150 rather than spend a day trying to fight it in court in front of a judge who has never been in a sailboat and can't spell "dinghy." They aren't part of the boating culture here -- people use slips.


This isn't going to get fixed by the courts IMO. If anything is done it's going to have to be fixed by the legislature. It would take an organized lobbying effort and would involve presenting information on how inflatables are used in other states, and meetings with the DNR, and so on. I think it could actually be accomplished if someone were to take it up, but that's a job for a larger club or industry organization, not one person.


The greater problem than the ticket itself is that law enforcement has the authority to terminate a voyage and to impound boats with safety violations. They are willing to do that sort of stuff when they perceive that someone is a deliberate repeat violator of the rules. In that light, I think it unwise to invest in a vessel that simply cannot be operated in technical compliance with the law.

As an aside, the inflatable boat dealer's showroom was filled with larger and heavier boats. They had 3.1 meter RIBs from Highfield and AB, but they were the heavy versions with the double wall hull. Everything else was larger -- center console stuff around 15' mostly -- and they said their usual buyers were owners of very large powerboats, and SAR teams.

[kmacdonald]

Write to BOAT US and ask that they lobby against those rules. The fear of losing votes is the only thing thing that will bring change.

[Lihuedooley77]

I have not read thru all of the posts..

But, I do have a safety suggestion that I am experienced with..... .

12 years on kauai island, as visitors, plus 10 yrs as full time residents, we have had 13 Napali Coast boat tours, RHIB's on up to 60 plus foot catamarans.

The ridged hulled inflatables were very fast, and flying and bounding over the ocean waves, going into sea caves, snorkeling, etc. Yahoo!

My guess is max were about 6 or so paying passengers, and the skipper and one crew .

There was no way to just sit on one of the hulls and stay in the boat, not going to happen. The passengers would be aerodynamcally unstable, arms and legs flailing and all akimbo flying thru the air and impacting with the ocean waves.

How to solve that safety problem.

On each of the inflated hulls, they had a secured line that ran from the bow to the stern on top of the hulls, that you held onto with one hand.

There was also a line that was secured to the flooring, or deck, or whatever the call it. That line, you slid one foot under. The throttle was open and the Ridged Hulled Inflatable boats were ripping over the ocean waves , 25 to 30 plus miles per hour. We felt very secure.

Oh, a hat top : For your hats, a strong chin strap or spin the baseball cap, or visor around backward, or stow it.

Us passengers were totally secure, having a howling good time.

Some tips : I wore my sailing gloves. Bike, or gym gloves will work as well. No chaffing on my hands or fingers from holding on to the top line.

I also wore reef walkers or booties, so that the deck line did not chafe the tops of my feet. Erica did the same. I did not ever see anyone else using gloves or booties or reef walkers.

That was our personal choice, plus we were going snorkeling, and wearing fins when moored at Nualolo Kai.

Point being, those professionally installed lines on top of the hulls, and on the floor of the inflatable were excellent for passenger safety.

That procedure should be accepted by the local water safety authority, they worked for everyone...mom, dads, kids, grand parents, warfrats, scallywags, and lovers of water world fun times.

just FYI, as to what we have experienced, and that actually work.

Denny and Erica

[ShellBack89]

Originally Posted by Montanan

One could sit further inside or on the bench but where's the fun in that.

They are just looking out for the safety of boaters that have risky behavior so as to avoid this happening.


Wait for it!

The smartest one in that video was the kid crying

[Dave852]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

Write to BOAT US and ask that they lobby against those rules. The fear of losing votes is the only thing thing that will bring change.

XtermtwrezSzsftdtzezr

[Nicholson58]

In the Caribbean there are no enforced dinghy rules. We frequently see small dinghys with 12 to 14 people, no jackets including children, no lights. Yes, everyone sits on the tubes unless they stand.

[sailorladd]

I find this law utterly ridiculous to say the least. This is blatant bureaucratic overreach in my opinion.
So what if I "fell overboard? I would get wet.... next thing they will ban is skiing, or walking around a sailboat under sail without a safety harness????? This is the very reason why English settlers became totally disillusioned with the British government (bureaucratic stifling and over taxation and red tape and petty little laws), and fled the UK and other parts of Europe and came across to the "new land" and now the same type of people are doing the same damn thing here.....

I built my boat from scratch, in a backyard, learnt how to sail and navigate and single handed (most of the time) around the world and I knew the risks I was taking and was prepared for the consequences and loved the challenge and shear thrill of this (sometimes) dangerous sport, so pardon me if I find "sitting on a pontoon" on an inflatable dinghy illegal"!!! LOL

[refuge]

Some laws, many laws, were written by fools with too much time on their hands.

Some laws are meant to be simply ignored.