legal questions

[liquidchaos]

So, the good ol' booze cruise, but is it legal? I have heard rangers state that it is illegal to be drinking on a raft. As the law was explained to me if you are paddling you are considered propolsion for the craft and are considered a driver of the craft and the same laws apply as if you were on lake havasu drving a speed boat. Commercially speaking nobody allows booze on trips, unless of course the monetary/sex factor is worth the risk. Does anyone have any knoledge of this situation, If there is one guide rowing a boat can the rest of the crew be drunker than indians or not? Any ideas or advice would be interesting!

[Caspian]

It's all going to depend on state law, so what goes on Lake Havasu does not mean anything in Colorado. I don't know if there is a law about paddling impaired, but I can't see anyone getting convicted because they were the "propulsion" for a boat. Laws are required to be more specific than that, so if it doesn't say something to that effect, it wouldn't apply. On the civil side, if you were rowing drunk and an accident happened involving more than just you, there could very well be negligence issues.

Although we have lost an awful number of boaters this year, I'm unaware of any substance-related WW accidents that caused a death. (Although I do know a certain rather wasted RCRE official who had issues staying upright in the flatwater just above Hecla.) When I lived in Carolina, even the triple-crown regulars on the Green would only toke up after Sunshine. But come to think of it, I had an acquaintance in NC that once ran the Upper Gauley with Team "Really Big Kayak Company" and they had a little pre-run huddle. He thought they were gonna give a rundown to some newbies or maybe pass a hitter 'round. When he popped his head in, they were passing a crack pipe. Stranger than fiction...sorry to hijack a little...