OK, so we’ve all been hit over the head for the past couple of decades with the mantra, “gasoline and alcohol don’t mix.” While the anti-drinking & driving crowd might even be a little bit of annoyance to those folks who wouldn’t have dreamed of drinking and driving in the first place, the fact of the matter is that it worked. Drunk driving is down, and fatalities related to alcohol are down, too.

Boating Under the Influence

One area that’s been sort of glossed over, though, is drunk boating. It’s expected, for example, that a guy who goes out fishing for the day is going to drink. You know the old adage: “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll drink a lot of beer.”

This is especially disconcerting, given the fact that the boating environment accelerates the way in which alcohol is likely to impair the drinker. Between the sun, motion, vibrations and engine noise, the boat driver’s body is under stress and fatigue, making her especially susceptible to impairment.

You should also know that it’s always illegal to operate your boat while under the influence in each and every state in the U.S. Federal law also prohibits boating under the influence (BUI). Everything from a paddled canoe to the Exxon Valdes are included in this law, but the way. Canadians take it even more seriously, making it illegal to have alcohol on a boat unless it’s in a separate closed locker.

Not only illegal, but deadly

Drunk boating is serious business. If you have a blood alcohol level higher than .10 percent, you’re ten times as likely to die in a boating accident as a driver with no alcohol in his system. In addition, alcohol consumption can interfere with the inner ear, causing a person who’s drunk and falls into the water to not be able to tell up from down. It’s also estimated that nearly two thirds of boating fatalities are related to alcohol.

Most states, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, have stepped up alcohol enforcement efforts. The smartest thing to do is just not drink while you boat. In the long run, it can save you legal woes as well as avoid the drastic increase in your boat insurance rates that a BUI conviction is likely to lead to.

Photo via ..kitta..