First they came for the maintenance...

newtothis

newtothis

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...now they're coming for the whisky.

"Department for Transport campaign will warn about the risks of drinking afloat

The Royal Yachting Association (RYA), which is recognised as the representational voice for recreational boaters, and the British Ports Association (BPA), representing over 350 ports, harbours and piers around the UK’s coast, have joined forces to welcome a ministerial announcement of an alcohol awareness campaign.

At the start of Maritime Safety Week on the 1st July, Transport and Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani MP announced that her Department would be undertaking a campaign to highlight the potential dangers of drinking and boating. The announcement was a key part of the Department for Transport’s Maritime Safety Action Plan which was launched in London this week.

The RYA and BPA are members of a newly formed Alcohol Awareness Steering Group which will work with the Government and other parts of the maritime sector to develop the campaign aimed at recreational boat users. The campaign aims to improve safety on the water by highlighting the dangers of drinking and boating."
 
Does anyone think sailing while pissed is a good idea?

On a ragtop, you probably won't go very far and you'll bump into things at low speed, but a stinkpot could do serious harm. IIRC there've been a good few deaths from people falling off dinghies returning to their boat after a well lubricated evening.

As long as it's a campaign I'm fine with it. I'd even back some well thought-out legislation, but I doubt it would be well thought out, and fear unintended consequences.
 
Stemar said:
Does anyone think sailing while pissed is a good idea?

On a ragtop, you probably won't go very far and you'll bump into things at low speed, but a stinkpot could do serious harm. IIRC there've been a good few deaths from people falling off dinghies returning to their boat after a well lubricated evening.

As long as it's a campaign I'm fine with it. I'd even back some well thought-out legislation, but I doubt it would be well thought out, and fear unintended consequences.
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Driving a stinkpot at 30 kts in crowded waters while tanked up is probably not a brilliant idea.
Having a couple of lagers while drifting through a quiet bay in a Force 2 is rather pleasant.
Regulation usually take a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and seldom makes a distinction between the harmless and the harmful, which I'm pretty sure is already legislated for.
 
Off the top of my head, a handful of fatalities, leading to very well publicised prosecutions, caused by drunken power boating, come to mind, but surely everyone knows that boozing and boats don’t go well together, and the sort of oiks involved in those cases, including the fellow just back from Georgia, were never going to be deterred by an MCA campaign.
 
I enjoy a dram but never drink and sail.

Don't have a problem with whoever having the power to breathalyse somebody following an incident. I can't see this being 'policed' with random breath tests at the safe water mark.
 
capnsensible said:
Good idea. Think drink needs saving until you are docked or anchored. And anchored can be dodgy......
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I agree that anchored can be dodgy 'cos the batteries can run down and then the fridge packs up and the wine turns to shite. :ambivalence:

We put ours in freezer until it turns into a white or red slush puppie. Beautiful! :encouragement:

Richard
 
So many campaigns at once. We're demanding the right to cheap fuel for our hobbies, the right to maintain our boats badly (the RNLI will always sort things out) and now the right to use boats while drunk.

The 1950s called. They want their attitudes back.
 
JumbleDuck said:
So many campaigns at once. We're demanding the right to cheap fuel for our hobbies, the right to maintain our boats badly (the RNLI will always sort things out) and now the right to use boats while drunk.

The 1950s called. They want their attitudes back.
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That is perhaps the silliest comment yet posted on this website, and it’s certainly seen a few...
 
RichardS said:
I agree that anchored can be dodgy 'cos the batteries can run down and then the fridge packs up and the wine turns to shite. :ambivalence:

We put ours in freezer until it turns into a white or red slush puppie. Beautiful! :encouragement:

Richard
Click to expand...

Or the Italians turn up in the summer, crash into your boat ( think of all the complaints here in the past) and you can't re anchor properly because you are drunk......

Or the forecast changes.

Or your anchor drags at o. Two. Horrible.

And you are drunk.

Free world, mind. Your call. ;)
 
All together, now...

"What shall we do with a drunken sailor, what shall we do with a drunken sailor.....
....ditto-blotto....
....earleye in the morning"
 
capnsensible said:
Or the Italians turn up in the summer, crash into your boat ( think of all the complaints here in the past) and you can't re anchor properly because you are drunk......

Or the forecast changes.

Or your anchor drags at o. Two. Horrible.

And you are drunk.

Free world, mind. Your call. ;)
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Drunk? You never mentioned drunk previously.

So when you said "Good idea. Think drink needs saving until you are docked or anchored. And anchored can be dodgy......" you didn't mean that one shouldn't drink alcohol ..... you actually meant that one should not get drunk. ;)

Richard
 
Minn said:
That is perhaps the silliest comment yet posted on this website, and it’s certainly seen a few...
Click to expand...

You are, of course, perfectly entitled to believe that, but I invite you to think how all of this looks to that section of society which thinks that everything with a bed and a mast is a "luxury" yacht. How would you explain to them that equivalents of fuel duty, the MOT test and drink-driving laws shouldn't apply to leisure sailing?
 
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