33 CFR 183.205: Passenger carrying area.

(a) For the purpose of this section a boat is level when it is supported on its keel at the two points shown in Figure 2.

(b) As used in this subpart, the term “passenger carrying area” means each area in a boat in which persons can sit in a normal sitting position or stand while the boat is in operation. Passenger carrying areas are illustrated in Figures 3 through 8.

(c) The length of the passenger carrying area is the distance along the centerline of the boat between two vertical lines, one at the forward end and one at the aft end of the passenger carrying area when the boat is level as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. For boats with a curved stem inside the passenger carrying area, the forward vertical line is where a line 45 degrees to the horizontal when the boat is level is tangent to the curve of the stem, as illustrated in Figure 5. For boats with cabins, the forward vertical line is where there is a minimum distance of two feet between the inside top of the cabin and the water line formed when the boat is swamped and loaded with weights under § 183.220 as illustrated in Figure 6.

(d) The breadth of each passenger carrying area is the distance between two vertical lines at the mid-length, excluding consoles, of the passenger carrying area when the boat is level as illustrated in Figures 7 and 8. For boats with round chines inside the passenger carrying area, the vertical line is where a transverse line 45 degrees to the horizontal is tangent to the arc of the chine, as illustrated in Figure 8.