Drinking and boating don't mix

R

romanservices

Member
Aug 24, 2016
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Chesapeak Bay
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1999 Sea Ray 370 AC, Raymarine es98 - AlbaCombi NMEA2K converter -
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Went down to the dock to load up the boat. Apparently a guy one dock over fell in the water last night and never got out. His body was found floating under a swim platform of a boat directly behind ours. Absolutely tragic!
 
So very tragic. Probably having a great evening with good friends and slipped or tripped.
There but for the grace of God go I (we?)...
Not really a boating & drinking issue, more like safety around water issue and much harder to prevent.
 
romanservices said:
Went down to the dock to load up the boat. Apparently a guy one dock over fell in the water last night and never got out. His body was found floating under a swim platform of a boat directly behind ours. Absolutely tragic!
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While I absolutely agree with this premise, I am not sure this story really supports it. He obviously was not operating a vessel at the time.

We had a tragedy here last year where a family had gone to a local beach/bar. Dad was the only one who could operate the boat(it was a rental, but that was irrelevant). His hat blew off into the water, and in his incapacitated state of mind, he thought it would be a good idea to leave the helm, while running on plane and jump into the water after it. He never surfaced. Mom didn't know enough to even take the boat out of gear, though she did throttle back(single lever throttle).

My friend came on the scene with the family hysterical, and the boat doing circles at idle. She had to jump from her boat(with her boyfriend now driving) to take control of the other boat.

They found his body the next morning.

Bryan
 
romanservices said:
Went down to the dock to load up the boat. Apparently a guy one dock over fell in the water last night and never got out. His body was found floating under a swim platform of a boat directly behind ours. Absolutely tragic!
Click to expand...


Where was this?
 
Nabbs creek marina. In my mind it's still a boating accident (I have the right to be wrong) he was on a boat in the water. I wouldn't sit in my car drunk and nor would I sit in a boat drunk. Truth be told I don't like to drink so I guess my views may not be mainstream.
 
No matter if you do or don't drink anywhere around or on the water is dangerous. Stone cold sober I tripped over my own dock line and fell between my swim platform and the dock. Luckily for me my slip neighbor was there. I only broke two ribs.

For me I would kinda consider that to be a boating accident. Marinas can be dangerous, trip / falls, stray electrical current, drownings.

I feel for the family and his slip neighbors.
 
Sorry for not being more clear in my first post. I did not mean to quibble over words at a time of a tragedy for a family and friends. The point I was trying to make was that being around water can be dangerous and we need to be reminded a lot. Your broken rib example is a good one. I suspect we have all tripped over lines or cleats many many times. One of those times could be tragic, drinking or not.
 
We live on land and boats and marinas are part time visits. I broke my arm tripping on a concrete dock, slid into the water on an icy dock and fell off the front of the boat during a heavy rain. Boating can be dangerous so all be careful. I was not drinking during any of those occurrences.
 
While this is certainly a tragedy, I would argue that drinking and boating go hand in hand. For most of us we do it responsibly.
 
LTD.330 said:
While this is certainly a tragedy, I would argue that drinking and boating go hand in hand. For most of us we do it responsibly.
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It's a recreation, and recreations are meant to be fun. I agree.

Also, not to play on words, but I learned this in a general safety course. The instructor said; "There are no such things as accidents, only incidents." he continued "I will only allow one accident, and that's if you crap your pants."
 
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