Not if it's a commercial vessel. Only if it's recreational.

I don't see anything in rule 3 that defines "commercial vessel". Can you point me to where "commercial vessel" is defined and where it sits in pecking order? Don't see in rule 18 any mention of "commercial vessel".

Rule 3 defines "restricted in her ability to maneuver" as "a vessel which from the nature of her work is restricted in her ability to maneuver as required by these rules and is therefore unable to keep out of the way of another vessel." But, "from the nature of her work" does not mean engaged in commercial trade, it is defined later in rule 3, and no where mentions "commercial trade" or "commercial vessel".

Our sailing club has the question about taxiing seaplanes on a written test. Years ago someone that had taken the test came up to me and said that he had a seaplane license, and his job was working with FAA regulations. He said that he was going to tell us we were wrong about seaplanes not having right of way, but he decided to check first and found out he was wrong.

I think the chances that seaplane pilots don't know the rules for while they're on the water is pretty high.

He also said he got interested in sailing because he got curious as to why sailboats kept turning in random directions to get in his way.

John

"Commercial vessel is defined by the USCG. It's not explicitly mentioned in the RRS, but many SI's specifically state that commercial vessels have right-of-way. I know this isn't a race situation, but if it were and if the SI's stated boats must give way to commercial vessels then it could be possible that a sea plane could have ROW provided it meets the criteria of a commercial vessel.