Drinking Aboard

[Guest]

Any of you sea lawyers know wha tthe laws currently staes about

1) drinking while sailing

2)drinking while anchored

3)drinking tied to a dock

4) guests drinking

 

 

Just to stir the pot , here's a post from another forum about the laws in Germany:

In Germany the rules are draconian - they've issued citations and taken away licenses for intoxicated captains on anchored boats and I've heard (anecdotally) of the alcohol laws being applied on docked boats as well. The rationale is "if something should occur the captain would need to move the boat and must always be legal to do so..."

[grant 40]

currently there are no specific rules relating to alcohol....

 

HOWEVER there is the good old catch all in the Maritime Transport Act, Section 65

 

which says

 

Dangerous activity involving ships or maritime products

(1) Every person commits an offence who—

(a) Operates, maintains, or services; or

( Does any other act in respect of—

any ship or maritime product in a manner which causes unnecessary danger or risk to any other person or to any property, irrespective of whether or not in fact any injury or damage occurs.

 

 

so if you get pi**ed while in charge and start doing stupid things (more stupid than usual, i guess) you are setting yourself up to get hammered by s65.

 

SO... that would be no rules unless your are a dumba** and get yourself noticed

[wheels 543]

A couple of years back, a skipper in the USA got arrested and sent to prison because he was intoxicated and had passed out in his Dinghy. The Dingy was tied up to either warf or boat, I can;t remember, but he wasn't going anywhere. I couldn't believe he would get sent to Prison. He got a whole 12mths for it which I also though was very harsh.

[w44vi 17]

Lets hope that those who make the rules keep using common sense

Who are we kidding

[Atom Ant 0]

A couple of years back, a skipper in the USA got arrested and sent to prison because he was intoxicated and had passed out in his Dinghy. The Dingy was tied up to either warf or boat, I can;t remember, but he wasn't going anywhere. I couldn't believe he would get sent to Prison. He got a whole 12mths for it which I also though was very harsh.

Yet Lyndsay Lohan seems to keep getting off scot free! One law for the rich and another for the rest.

[SanFran 12]

Just back from houseboating in Queensland. Mate who lives there says you have to have a licence to go out on any vessel, and its well policed, including random breath testing of boaties both at the ramp on on the brinney. Not having a licence in Aussi, I must have passed the test thanks to the local Boatmaters, and there was no problem hiring it. Nothing against that personally, as the Capt'n has to be in charge!

[Fusion 0]

Dingy Rustling

:clap:

 

is the answer who remembers the question?

[Guest]

Dingy Rustling

:clap:

 

is the answer who remembers the question?

I can assure you I can't remember the question..... or feck all else

[Guest]

The situation in Canada is even more draconian. They have a zero tolerance approach to alcohol use by those in charge of a vessel.

 

Imagine, for example, you are paddling your birch bark canoe in and around the ice floes in the far north.

 

Exhausted from your last encounter and escape from a polar bear, you reach in your kit bag for a refreshing can of Moosehead, just as a Royal |Canadian Coast Guard cutter appears from the lea of an Iceberg.

 

Not only are you nabbed but you lose your Driving Licence (that is, your Car driving licence!) for a year.

 

Having said that, I've enjoyed several years sailing in and around the Great Lakes and in the Pacific North West and never lacked for refreshment.