How much do you drink on board?

  • Thread starter Thread starter timbartlett
  • Start date Start date
Proof of skippership (not nationality)

So theoretically when I am at anchor and have had a skinful and the old bill pull up and say "blow into this old son" what is stopping me from saying my 90 year old tee total dad is the skipper as no qualifications are needed on UK craft.

I am thinking it will only be vessels underway that would be a target.

Personally never drink on passage, or at anchor. No problem with a few in the marina.
 
The simple answer is that there is no simple answer. I go sailing for the freedom of getting away from people, structure, regulation and traffic controls.

I drink as much or as little as I wish and feel appropriate for the circumstances we are in or planning to be, and will continue to do so as long as I have a pulse.

Crossing Lyme Bay in sunshine with no wind, and no other boats around, will have a couple of beers with lunch. Lying at anchor in the evening, happy to drink a bottle of wine. Crossing the English Channel in a rough sea, wont touch a drop because it makes me sick as much as anything else.

We dont need any articles in YM raising the profile of this debate and scaremongering, as was the case with red diesel and sea cocks.

Find something else to write about.
 
I don't drink at all so it doesn't apply to me, but the idea of a dry boat seems really quite silly. SWMBO enjoys a gin at anchor and friends enjoy a glass of wine with their lunch ashore.

Sailing and driving are not the same. Alcohol slows your reflexes. But I think its very, very rare in a sailing boat - when cruisng - that last minute hazards appear that need instant reactions.

Collisions don't happen like they do on the road. Alcohol might slow your reactions but it would take more than the breathalyser limit to impair your judgement. After all, two pints could take you over the limit on the road but surely you could still tell from a transit that another boat is on a collission course?

Racing is a different matter. And so is 'driving' a mobo at a rate of knots.

Likelihood of detection is the greatest deterrent and as many people curently get away with driving a bit over the limit, the chances of getting caught on a boat are unlikely to have a real deterrent effect on those determined to drink afloat.

It's a matter of judgement. Sensible sailors don't need the legisalation. But you cannot legislate against idiots. Is a legal alcohol limit likely to deter the kind of sailor that takes off with an AA road atlas and nothing else?

Of the incidents noted above, how many were sail boats? As I say, driving a gin palace siize mobo at twenty knots is a totally different matter.
 
moodyNick said:
The simple answer is that there is no simple answer. I go sailing for the freedom of getting away from people, structure, regulation and traffic controls.

I drink as much or as little as I wish and feel appropriate for the circumstances we are in or planning to be, and will continue to do so as long as I have a pulse.
.
Click to expand...

well said
 
'How much do you drink on board?'

Under way - I never drink any alcohol (but I wouldn't stop anyone else doing so).

At anchor - maybe a small amount (if sheltered anchorage and fair weather).

In a marina - as much as I want (unless there's any likelihood of having to go to sea or shift berth).
 
moodyNick said:
The simple answer is that there is no simple answer. I go sailing for the freedom of getting away from people, structure, regulation and traffic controls.

I drink as much or as little as I wish and feel appropriate for the circumstances we are in or planning to be, and will continue to do so as long as I have a pulse.

Crossing Lyme Bay in sunshine with no wind, and no other boats around, will have a couple of beers with lunch. Lying at anchor in the evening, happy to drink a bottle of wine. Crossing the English Channel in a rough sea, wont touch a drop because it makes me sick as much as anything else.

We dont need any articles in YM raising the profile of this debate and scaremongering, as was the case with red diesel and sea cocks.

Find something else to write about.
Click to expand...


I'm voting for this man! It is only an issue if the press (YM included) make it an issue.
 
Burnham Bob said:
Of the incidents noted above, how many were sail boats? As I say, driving a gin palace siize mobo at twenty knots is a totally different matter.
Click to expand...

I would suggest the problem is at the other extreme. Jet Skis', Ribs.
I'm thinking more along the dangers to the general public who are swimming, on dinghy's, in canoes, paddling etc and ipso facto it's owners of shallow draft boats that are the problem.
Boats hitting Boats is rare. (Cowes week coming up!) I see the problem as boat hitting Joe Public.
It is the owners of these smaller, faster craft who have not been brought up with boating in the blood that I would suspect of drink driving.
 
What goes on

We drink whilst sailing.

I particularly like a tot of whisky just before we start getting ready to enter harbour after a long, (and probably wet) passage.. But not enough to get drunk..

We like a beer under way and with meals when under way. however not enough to get drunk...

Once tied up.. the bottle top gets crushed..
 
Interesting timing.

Why is this suddenly a problem? People have been putting to sea since JC was preaching to the crowds and they have also been drinking all that time.. Have boaters suddenly got badly behaved and started getting drunk in charge of their boats in the last year or so?

Or is this a subtle ploy by public sector workers to find something that is suddenly a big issue that absolutely must be addressed,,,, in order to preserve their jobs?
 
Drinking on Chausey

I've not read the entire thread so far.
I sail at least 3000Nm a year. I never drink whist sailing.
When the boat is safely on it's mooring or a marina berth I almost always have a drink. Sometimes, in these circumstances, I drink to excess.
When at anchor I make a considered decision on what is a sensible amount to drink, based on where I am, the holding, who is crewing, what other boats are around and any other relevent factors at the time.
I am an adult and consider I have an adult view of drinking at all times.
Many of the decisions I make onboard are based on this sign, long may it be true:-
WhyIsail.jpg

Allan
 
Tomahawk said:
Or is this a subtle ploy by public sector workers to find something that is suddenly a big issue that absolutely must be addressed,,,, in order to preserve their jobs?
Click to expand...

I don't think it's anything that devious, just that some in the MCA ivory tower are annoyed by the inconsistency of non-commercial sailors not having to follow most of their rules.

Pete
 
Copy of my PM to Tim:

In the days before the breathalyser I often used to drive home having consumed four or five pints of beer in a a fairly short time-period and usually with three or four mates, similarly intoxicated, in the car.

Although I would not condone this behaviour now and would agree that it is socially irresponsible and attitudes have rightfully changed, the fact is that driving a car is several orders of magnitude more complicated and dangerous than boating and relies on lightnng fast reactions to make the difference between arriving safely and being dead!

Even in the above circumstances, I never crashed the car and never caused an accident.

Banning alcohol on cruising vessels, where it tends anyway to be taken over a long period which allows digestion rather then rushing it down before 10:30 closing, would be a ridiculous over-reaction.

Perhaps, in close quarters racing there might be a case, but anyone who is serious about racing is, presumably, not going to want to slow their reactions anyway.

Richard
 
timbartlett said:
I'm researching an article for YM about drink-boating.
It follows renewed calls from the MAIB for drink-boat legislation to be applied to pleasure craft.
- Do you run a "dry boat" policy all the time (even at anchor) and ban your crew from alcohol for 24 hours before they get on board?
-- Or do you crack open a can as soon as you step across the guardrails?
--- Is a glass or two with dinner OK?
----Or a "sundowner" on passage?

We want to hear your views -- but please note that if you would like your comments to appear in print, then I'll need a PM from you giving your real name. Depending on the response, I may not be able to use every comment I receive, and I may have to edit them for length, spelling or grammar.
Click to expand...

Tim, with your track record of anti-establishment statements I hope this article is going to be presented in a similar fashion:D
 
prv said:
I don't think it's anything that devious, just that some in the MCA ivory tower are annoyed by the inconsistency of non-commercial sailors not having to follow most of their rules.

Pete
Click to expand...

But why now? Why all of a sudden, particularly when the Public Sector is facing cuts.. Unless boaters behaviour has suddenly changed over the last ten years, this issue should have been dealt with years ago? As I see no evidence that boaters have suddenly turned from responsible people into a bunch of lager louts, I am lead to question the competency of the MCA and MAIB.
 
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