Subscribe to RSS FeedI'm landlocked today. No smell of the sea, no freshening breeze, nor rattle of halyards. Still, I have a big sky and if I keep my head tilted just right, it's kind of like . . . .
Where are we now, mid-summer or thereabouts, right? So like any mid-something, it can be a time where basic familiarity begins to feel like lifelong experience and sloppiness weeps through your seems. Maybe you decide not to go back to the car to get another life jacket for the unexpected guest. Or, maybe, you justify those three extra beers with the self-assurance of your superior boat-handling skills. Maybe still, you throw a mental lather of optimism around in lieu of actually undertaking the preventative maintenance your boat needs.
The problem with these scenarios is that they can intersect in an ugly way with the maritime law. While beers and boats have an admitted natural affinity, boating while intoxicated is serious business. Aside from a rash of state laws (and a flotilla of local law enforcement driving spiffy boats likely paid for from the Homeland Defense till), you also have the federal law. The federales make it clear that operating a recreational or commercial boat while intoxicated is prohibited. The U.S. Coast Guard's regulations sets federal standards to prosecute violators based on behavioral signs or blood alcohol concentration. (And arguably, "operating" doesn't have to mean steering because the regulations states that an individual is operating a vessel when "the individual has an essential role in the operation of a vessel underway, including but not limited to navigating or controlling the vessel's propulsion system.") And that missing life jacket and overlooked maintenance? The U.S. Coast Guard has the authority to terminate a recreational vessel's voyage when it's operated with insufficient lifesaving or firefighting equipment, or in an overloaded or other unsafe condition. (Go on, take a look yourself at 46 U.S.C. § 4308 entitled "Termination of Unsafe Operation.")
So there you are. A literary rap on the knuckles to make you sit up in your Captain's chair and recognize that sloppy boating has consequences. What's that? Ok, so maybe it is a little bah-humbug, but that's how I get when I can't smell the salt water.
Underway and making way.
--- JKF
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