If I have a pontoon boat with a max capacity of 12, can I tow extra passengers in tubes without them counting?

5 of my 15 passengers are small children, but I'd like to be able to tow 3 adults behind the pontoon. Will I get ticketed for that? Will be boating on Lake Mohave and the surrounding area.|||No you can not. You need space for them as well. It's like using a jetski for tubing etc. You need the operator, an observer and a seat for the person in the tube.



edit. You need to be able to take the people in the tube onboard without exceeding the maximum capacity. Don't forget you also need life jackets for all, including life jackets for the children of the correct size.|||If local rules state 12 persons, then that includes all persons - including those on the end of strings attached to the boat...........





The local law probably considers numbers above a dozen to be commercial trade, so you might find yourself subject to the full commercial vessel, insurance and qualifications requirements if you are deemed to be carrying commercial levels of passengers. If you have 15 people to look after that is simply too many for one person to do, and as the owner/operator you have the absolute responsibility to care for your passengers. The commercial requirements are there to ensure that qualified responsible persons are in place to keep the passengers safe. If you are driving the boat you cannot keep watch over your passengers at all times, so the law states clearly defined responsibilities for those in the crew charged with the safety of all persons on board.





If anything ever goes wrong you will have to be able to clearly prove who was doing what role at all times, it is a miserable and constant parade of well meaning people fronting a coroner and being forced to explain their actions, and sometimes being found wanting (and thus liable) in the most upsetting and sad of ways - just by overlooking a local rule or two.





I speak from bitter experience - members known to me in the emergency services still struggle with recovering the body of a beautiful little boy who drowned on a river from a large pontoon houseboat at a family gathering. The parents were found negligent and the operator of the 50 plus foot houseboat was also found guilty of a number of things. No-one blames the parents or the skipper, but the law has found them at fault and punished them on a number of issues. The family is devastated, the house boat operator has lost their home and business. Both have lost much mental stability. The whole situation is profoundly sad - but in the end it was deemed to be completely avoidable had commercial requirements been fully adhered to.