The infamous "Gilligan's Island" in the American River was encircled by orange fencing, and cold cans of beer were getting squashed by park rangers upstream.

But few seemed to complain Saturday about stepped-up law enforcement at Sacramento's biggest July Fourth party – the annual group float down the American River.

This marked the third year that alcohol has been banned from the river on the holiday weekend, not just its shores. In 2006, the river became the setting of an Independence Day orgy of drunken, mud-covered brawlers throwing punches on shore and piling onto a small island near Ancil Hoffman Park.

Open containers are now outlawed on both the river and on the county-run American River Parkway on the Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends.

Officials believe it's working.

Sacramento County Park Ranger Supervisor Kathleen Utley said Saturday there had been no major problems so far along the river, other than one fight near Ancil Hoffman involving six rafters that was quickly resolved.

Not everyone, though, was tuned into the alcohol ban.

Near the Sunrise access, 27-year-old Mai Nguyen of San Jose and two of her friends were pouring out 17 cans of Coors Light that Park Ranger David Moskat had spotted in their cooler.

"I didn't pack the cooler," complained Nguyen, who stole a quick swig before being informed that the ban applied to the shore, too.

Minutes later, Ranger Moskat was sniffing the clear liquid in a young man's water bottle.

"It's definitely not water," he said.

That concoction was dumped into the weeds.

On this, officers who worked the river Saturday were clear: alcohol, heat and cold water can be a brutal combination.

Moskat and Park Ranger Supervisor John Havicon said that June was a particularly bad month for alcohol-related brawls along the river, some of them serious. A week ago, they said, a man was critically injured after being hit in the head by a flashlight during a fight.

The intense press for holiday safety was most apparent at booths set up along the shore, where life jackets were being dispersed to anyone hitting the river. The program by the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District was started after the 2004 drowning of a 12-year-old Rancho Cordova boy, who had removed his life jacket and was trying to swim across the river when he was lost in the currents.

"It's an awesome service," said 32-year-old David Chen, stopping at a booth on the south side of the river.

At the colorful booths, fire employees and volunteers fit adults and children into properly sized jackets. Many of the recipients were surprised they didn't have to pay or sign anything, and were only asked to return the jacket downstream or to a fire station later.

"We figure if they don't return it, they're safe. And they have a life jacket now," said Betty Taylor, a volunteer with the Community Emergency Response Tem, scrounging around the table for another jacket. "So it's a good investment either way."

As hundreds of adults and children poured into the American River on Saturday near Sunrise Boulevard, dragging rafts and tubes and self-styled creations, a retired couple from Sun City Roseville clearly understood that this Sacramento tradition was as much a spectator sport as anything else.

Norman and Lois Grabar, along with their two grown daughters and other family members, had staked out their spot by 8 a.m. with a white E-Z UP canopy. Here, near a busy raft rental shop, just about anyone or anything was guaranteed to float by.

"I get to watch. It's a total show," said 79-year-old Lois Grabar, whose daughter Bonnie was celebrating her 56th birthday.

"You can't believe this!" said her 83-year-old husband, Norman.

Seeing is believing.

The Grabars' other daughter, Christina, flicked her digital camera back to the day's favorite "float": a homemade wooden pirate ship loaded with 20 to 25 revelers.

Call The Bee's Marjie Lundstrom, (916) 321-1055.