Alcohol limits for non-professional mariners

[carlt]

If you are claiming that two pints at lunchtime will have no effect on your judgement or boat handling skills then you are mistaken. I wasn't condemming anyone but merely pointing out that it is a bit sad to need a mind altering drug to enjoy oneself.

 

"it is a bit sad to need a mind altering drug to enjoy oneself" sounds like a condemnation to me. Two pints at lunchtime may have a negligible effect on my judgement when handling a boat, I certainly wouldn't drive after drinking anything, but not enough, at 4mph, to pose a risk to anyone.

 

I've been rammed by sober boaters in the past, shall we just ban boating altogether?

 

BTW I certainly wouldn't drink a drop if I was up on that high horse of yours.

[Hairy-Neil]

........merely pointing out that it is a bit sad to need a mind altering drug to enjoy oneself.

 

Sad maybe, but there's a good many of us that need a mind altering drug to merely stay alive.....

[John Orentas]

I think if alcohol is the major culprit for mind changing and creating a distorted view of the world, I think Alan must must have had his fair share in the past.

[mayalld]

If you are claiming that two pints at lunchtime will have no effect on your judgement or boat handling skills then you are mistaken.

 

two pints over the course of a leisurely lunch would make bugger all difference.

 

If we are starting to talk about any effect whatsoever, we may as well ban tea and coffee!

[bottle]

How much is 80mg/100ml alcohol content of blood in terms of pints of beer etc.?

 

There is no failsafe guide as to how to stay under the

legal alcohol limit or how much you can drink and

still drive safely.

It depends on:

• your weight, sex, age, metabolism

• stress levels

• an empty stomach

• the amount and type of alcohol

The only safe option is not to drink if you plan to drive.

Never offer a drink to someone else who is driving

 

From PDF leaflet here

 

As it says there is no way that you can work out what is your safe limit.

 

'Pints' of beer can vary in strength from very weak to very strong that is not flavour but the amount of alcohol.

[Sir Nibble]

Don't forget six months in rehab for passive smoking every time a copper nicks someone smoking a joint.

[Machpoint005]

if alcohol is the major culprit for mind changing and creating a distorted view of the world, I think Alan must must have had his fair share in the past.

No, it was just his exposure to passive drinking

[Hair Bear Bunch]

Hmmm, let me think about this.

A 75', 20+ ton, pointed, steel missile with a rudimentary guidance system as far from the front as possible with flowers wateringcans and washing being dried in the way and seeing double? Ooer!

And one even admits to bouncing off the "odd bridge", if it were a family in a small dinghy that'd been hit, it wouldn't seem so funny, and before you all start, it would only have to happen once.

[Neil.A]

Hmmm, let me think about this.

A 75', 20+ ton, pointed, steel missile with a rudimentary guidance system as far from the front as possible with flowers wateringcans and washing being dried in the way and seeing double? Ooer!

And one even admits to bouncing off the "odd bridge", if it were a family in a small dinghy that'd been hit, it wouldn't seem so funny, and before you all start, it would only have to happen once.

 

Which sits snugly into the "If it just saves one life its for your own good we know whats best for you dont try and think for yourself you are not to be trusted" policy we are all now enjoying.

[carlt]

Hmmm, let me think about this.

A 75', 20+ ton, pointed, steel missile with a rudimentary guidance system as far from the front as possible with flowers wateringcans and washing being dried in the way and seeing double? Ooer!

And one even admits to bouncing off the "odd bridge", if it were a family in a small dinghy that'd been hit, it wouldn't seem so funny, and before you all start, it would only have to happen once.

Of course if alcohol intake was on the BSS inspection and a death occurred it would immediately be downgraded from 'mandatory to 'advisory'.

 

There is far more likelihood of a family dying in a boat with inadequate ventilation, faulty boiler, blocked chimney stack or lpg explosion than your scenario. It's already happened more than once!

 

And if I was 'seeing double' I'd have had significantly more than the couple of lunchtime pints we're discussing here; and I wouldn't be steering a boat.

 

Nobody here is advocating getting blind drunk and going boating.

 

Alcohol, in moderation, is part and parcel of leisure boating.

 

In the 24 years of boating I have never heard of your family in a dinghy scenario. I've heard of plenty of deaths involving CO or lpg or drowning. Alcohol related deaths usually entail falling in and drowning therefore should we be breathalysed before climbing onto our boats and going to bed?

[Hairy-Neil]

Is there any truth to the reports I've read that these rules will only affect those on boats capable of exceeding 8mph....

[mayalld]

Is there any truth to the reports I've read that these rules will only affect those on boats capable of exceeding 8mph....

 

And to all boats greater than 7m in length regardless of top speed.

[Sir Nibble]

Many moons ago, I was involved in the bikers campaign against helmet compulsion. Some people hated us for wanting to ban crash helmets. No matter how often it was explained that "optional" is not the same as "banned" the argument remained the same.

And if I was 'seeing double' I'd have had significantly more than the couple of lunchtime pints we're discussing here; and I wouldn't be steering a boat.

It doesn't matter how often you reiterate the point about moderate amounts of alcohol, some people will still read it as you arguing for your right to steer your boat so drunk as to be unable to stand if it weren't for the tiller.

[tired old pirate]

Is smack still OK?

[Djuwenda]

Hmmm, let me think about this.

A 75', 20+ ton, pointed, steel missile with a rudimentary guidance system

 

LMAO

pointed steel missile!

 

How do you refer to your manhood?

 

Give us all a break.... go an practise health and safety somewhere else, and do be careful with that big pointy steel missile of yours.

 

[NB Phoenix]

If you are claiming that two pints at lunchtime will have no effect on your judgement or boat handling skills then you are mistaken. I wasn't condemming anyone but merely pointing out that it is a bit sad to need a mind altering drug to enjoy oneself.

 

Apparently 20% to 30% of ALL types of accidents are alcohol related.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SO IF THE 70% TO 80% OF SOBER PEOPLE KEPT OUT OF THE WAY US PI$$HEADS WOULD BE MUCH SAFER

[Sir Nibble]

The other problem with that is that if you've been drinking, and I make a mistake and ram you, that's an alcohol related accident.

[mayalld]

The other problem with that is that if you've been drinking, and I make a mistake and ram you, that's an alcohol related accident.

 

Of course.

 

There is nothing like finding a demon that isn't the government to take the heat off the idiots who govern us.

 

That's why they have a department of inventing numbers to support todays crackpot idea.

[KenK]

Drunken revellers causing havoc on the Thames

HIRERS using narrowboats for such as stag parties are causing havoc on the waterways around Oxford on the Thames, with Environment Agency managers particularly concerned about damage to locks.

 

There have been a great many incidents on the river this year, and it is feared that it is only a matter of time before there is a serious accident or a death.

 

The latest was when a narrowboat was hired for a stag party and crashed it into the lock gates at Osney Lock causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

 

Earlier in the year another narrowboat hired for a party crashed into a cruiser near near Kings Lock at Godstow.

 

Drunks frequently fall into the river at locks, and agency officials are urging boaters to limit their drinking.

 

A man risked his life by tightrope-walking along the guardrail of the weir at Osney Lock and last year at Pinkhill near Farmoor, two stag party drunks raced their hire boats until one crashed into another boat on a bend causing serious damage.

 

Chris Mullineux, Environment Agency Waterways Operations Team Leader for the Upper Thames region, complained:

 

"Large single-sex groups tend to be on a binge when they are boating on the river and we often see them go hell-for-leather from the hire base to get to the nearest pub as quickly as they can.

 

"There could be a serious accident or even a tragedy arising from drunken handling of these boats and we strongly advise against it."

 

The Thames Conservancy Act 1932 give the agency the power to deal with 'dangerous navigation' but it was difficult to enforce, and it is believed the legislation needs tightening up, and breaths tests for all waterways.

 

Anglo-welsh at Eynsham have had problems with breakages on its boats caused by hirers using them for drunken parties and have banned many people from hiring its boats.

 

There have been 20 significant near-misses reported in the Upper Thames region so far this year, many alcohol-related and the majority involving stag parties.

Interesting that their prefered solution is not to ban stag parties from hiring boats, with one exception, but to require tighter regulation and breath tests for all. I fail to understand how if they can't enforce the existing legislation how tightening it up will improve things. When I was last on the Thames at Easter there were several EA boats with nice blue lights on, if they observe boats "go hell-for-leather to the nearest pub" surely they could monitor the activity and prevent the excess and damage.

 

Ken

[blueprince]

If there's going to be a drink/drive limit for boats I think we really have to consider an I.Q. test for same.

[dor]

Like so many subjects over the last few years, Tony Bliar's answer is to try and introduce some new headline-grabbing legislation instead of giving the police the resources (and accountability) to enforce existing legislation.

 

We don't need all these new laws, we just need a police force that it willing to act against crime instead of behaving as though it is all too much trouble.