Booze and boating

[Jeep Man]

As long as I've been on this forum, I constantly read about loading up with beer, having a few beers, partying thru the day etc. etc. etc. Here, it's more of a crime than beating up a cop. No booze on board (unless it's a boat for sleeping on),no drinking while underway, .05 B/A content. Expect to be inspected and if your caught you loose your vehicle license for 1 year minimium, heavy fine, boat impounded and skyrocketing insurance.
How is it where you boat?

 

[Wetfuzz]

Re: Booze and boating

.08 in Ohio just like on hte road. No license penalty.... YET.

 

[clarkbre]

Re: Booze and boating

.08 in Ohio just like on hte road. No license penalty.... YET.

I think it's the same here in Washington State. In the next couple years they are implementing boater safety cards for any operators with 15+ hp on their boat.

I think the alcohol thing is crazy though. I'm all for having fun and a couple beers...at home, a bar, a friends house, ect. The thought of drinking and boating just doesn't sit well with me. In the lakes I fish in, I more commonly see a younger crowd with more powerful boats using alcohol. It truly amazes me that there aren't more alcohol related accidents/deaths on our waterways.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Booze and boating

Here in Indiana it is the same rules as the road, .08 but I can't remember the last time I saw a water cop, they concentrate mostly on the big lakes with the highest number of people.

I will have 2-3 beers while I am fishing but I am on anchor and if I move it is usually with the troller and I always quite 2-3 hours before we leave but yes, I have seen my fair share of peple who should be operating any vehicle much less a boat.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Booze and boating

As long as I've been on this forum, I constantly read about loading up with beer, having a few beers, partying thru the day etc. etc. etc. Here, it's more of a crime than beating up a cop. No booze on board (unless it's a boat for sleeping on),no drinking while underway, .05 B/A content. Expect to be inspected and if your caught you loose your vehicle license for 1 year minimium, heavy fine, boat impounded and skyrocketing insurance.
How is it where you boat?

I boarded a canadian coast guard ship some years ago, and they had beer on board. pretty weird, we thought.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Booze and boating

It's all about moderation. That's why there is a .08 limit and not .00. Three beers over 4 hours has no effect on a 200# male. Relaxing with a couple of beers and "partying" are two different activities.
Those who cannot drink in moderation, or who won't, aren't going to obey the laws anyway. The problem is not the .08 people; it's the .16 people.

If it's just me, or w/ the wife, on a slow day fishing I'll have a couple. But if I am transporting people, pulling the youngsters on the tube, etc. then I stay away from it, both to set an example and to avoid being ion a whole 'nother conversation if there were an incident no matter whose fault.

 

[LIQUID PROZAC]

Re: Booze and boating

i stay away from beer on the water while driving because even if i just had one and some drunken idiot hits me whose to say i just had one--i allow passengers to do as they please as long as respectful to others

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Booze and boating

It's all about moderation. That's why there is a .08 limit and not .00. Three beers over 4 hours has no effect on a 200# male. Relaxing with a couple of beers and "partying" are two different activities.
Those who cannot drink in moderation, or who won't, aren't going to obey the laws anyway. The problem is not the .08 people; it's the .16 people.

If it's just me, or w/ the wife, on a slow day fishing I'll have a couple. But if I am transporting people, pulling the youngsters on the tube, etc. then I stay away from it, both to set an example and to avoid being ion a whole 'nother conversation if there were an incident no matter whose fault.

I agree 100%. I usually toss 2-3 beers in my cooler for the whole day. if Im taking anyone with I leave the beers till I get home.

 

[JB]

Re: Booze and boating

No alcoholic beverages on my boat, anytime. No yabuts.

I have seen too many that thought they were in moderation put their lives and lives of others in grave danger. I have also seen too many out-of-control drunks turn a day on the lake into a nightmare.

Back in camp is the place for the beer. . .or Scotch. . .or brandy, with a nice Cuban cigar. Where and when you have nobody else's life in your hands.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Booze and boating

No alcoholic beverages on my boat, anytime. No yabuts.

I have seen too many that thought they were in moderation put their lives and lives of others in grave danger. I have also seen too many out-of-control drunks turn a day on the lake into a nightmare.

Back in camp is the place for the beer. . .or Scotch. . .or brandy, with a nice Cuban cigar. Where and when you have nobody else's life in your hands.

thats the reason for my 2-3 beers only in the cooler. once they get drank, thats it. Cant drink whats at home in the fridge when you are out in the middle of the lake.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Booze and boating

thats the reason for my 2-3 beers only in the cooler. once they get drank, thats it. Cant drink whats at home in the fridge when you are out in the middle of the lake.

yep, thats what i do. My buddy usually goes with, and we take 6 beers with for the day. he drinks at least 3-4, and i get the other 2-3. Cant get in trouble that way. We are both pretty big boys too. then, at the hotel room afterwards, its on!!! lol.

 

[JDP]

Re: Booze and boating

I stick to a 1 beer policy for myself if I'm pulling anybody on the tube or anything. Others on the boat can drink if they wish and the only people I ever take on the boat know me pretty well and know my policy.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Booze and boating

No alcoholic beverages on my boat, anytime. No yabuts.

.

ME TOO!

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Booze and boating

Here in NC its just as if you were in a car. I dont drink so have no mercy for those that do. Problem is just what does "a couple of beers" mean? Everyone says "I had just a couple of beers" yet very few people that like beer and have a chance to suck down a few stop at just 2.You cant get high on just 2.I drank for many years and have never seen anyone have "just a couple of beers" NEVER,,Thats BS

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Booze and boating

About 20 years ago, I was hit by a drunk driver. He had a BAC of just under .20. He was speeding, driving recklessly, still drinking in the car, had no driver's license, no insurance and had been convicted of DUI on multiple, previous occassions. In this accident, he came close to killing me and he did kill someone else.

A county police department investigated the accident extensively, because there had been a fatality. They said I was not at fault. I was driving the speed limit, was paying attention, and did everything I could to avoid the accident. I was also given a blood test for alcohol and drugs at the hospital to which I was taken. All of the tests were negative. I hadn't had a single drink that night, even though it was a Friday evening, and was not a drug user.

Inspite of all of this, I was successfully sued to the tune of a mid six figure settlement. That's right, boy and girls - close to a half million dollars. Why? Just because, as my attorney put it, I was there. What they did was to argue that I should have been able to avoid the accident. They put a value on the life of the person who died, assigned a percentage of blame to me, and used that to come up with a figure that "I should pay" for the loss of her life.

Imagine what would have happened if I had been drinking. I would not have needed to be legally drunk - all it would have taken for me to be sued for even more money, was to have had any booze what-so-ever, in my system.

Men metabolize an ounce of alcohol in about 60 -75 minutes. Women take longer to do so, because of differences in an enzyme that metabolizes the booze, and lower levels of body liquids. In either case, that "one beer," or "few" over the course of a number of hours, will take some time to get out of your system. If you learn to look at each one of those ounces as a "great big bag of liability" hanging over your head, you may wish to review your policy on mixing the operation of a boat with drinking.


PS: Here's another reason not to mix boating and booze!

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Booze and boating

I do not drink on the boat.

In Mass. you could lose your vehicle driving license if found guilty of operating a motor boat under the influrence of alcohol of more then .08

 

[rolmops]

Re: Booze and boating

In NY state the same rules apply for the car and the boat.That includes a prohibition on any open alcoholic beverage container in the vehicle.And like Mass.you will loose your drivers license if you are caught boating and drinking.
Once you are anchored or "parked" you can drink yourself into a stupor if you are so inclined.

 

[jkust]

Re: Booze and boating

Wow, that is quite a nanny state... no booze at all. I don't drink on the boat since I have my wife and kids and not buddies with but I would not have a problem with my wife wanting something. I hope we never loose that much of our free choice.

 

[Bass Tracker TX17]

Re: Booze and boating

BOOZE........................................................BOATS
..................Never the twain shall meet...................

 

[skargo]

Re: Booze and boating

It's easy for me, I quit drinking 11 years ago.

My wife still is nervous about drinking as a passenger, it's not the being out on the water part she's scared of, it's the boarding and deboarding if she gets tipsy that concerns her.