caltexflanc
Guru
Hmm, are you guys saying that if I had a drink or two while operating my boat it might impair the (bad) judgements I make when I am 100% sober?
I'm sorry but now you're just making things up. Show me a study where I perform some simple task, and you put a drop of beer on my tongue and I suddenly can't perform that task exactly as well.It IS medical proven fact that ANY amount of alcohol in ANY person's system has detrimental effects on several levels... the more %age alcohol in blood the greater the effect.
In the movie "Judge Roy Bean" the voice over as the boys were approaching the Judge about calling their wives WH.....es. "Tector Crites (Jackson gang: [voice-over] There is nothing worse than a harlot turned respectable. A reformed anything is bad enough, but a reformed harlot is the direct wrath of the Devil."
That can sometimes be applied to reformed anything I have noticed in life.
There is such a thing as a responsible drinker.
I'm sorry but now you're just making things up. Show me a study where I perform some simple task, and you put a drop of beer on my tongue and I suddenly can't perform that task exactly as well.
There is certainly a vast wealth of evidence that alcohol impairs fine motor coordination and reaction times (when measured in precise detail and timing) at various percentages of blood concentration. But there is no single study that I am aware of that shows any significant impact at "ANY amount"
So please stop making assessments of my psychological status based on made up facts.
Art,
I'll ignore your incredibly rude innuendo. The point of the "drop" analogy is that there actually IS some amount that is safe. Now we can have a conversation about what that amount is. You were previously stating (in CAPS) that any amount was unacceptable. Which is patently false.
......... Show me a study where I perform some simple task, and you put a drop of beer on my tongue and I suddenly can't perform that task exactly as well ............
Marin,
But my point is that the reduction in reaction times at very small levels of alcohol (below legal levels) is not significant....
The important thing is for you and everyone else to understand what alcohol does to motor skills, reflexes and judgement and stay away from operating a boat if you've been drinking alcohol.
Art,
I don't think that Trawler Forum could care less whether I'm an alcoholic or not, so I wonder why you continue to discuss it here. If you have such concerns they would be better shared as a PM, instead of trying to bait and belittle me publicly.
I'm just sayen.
I am about as far removed from the medical field as it's possible to get. But I suspect that a blanket statement like the one above is not possible to make. I suspect the level of impairment form any "altering" substance will vary widely from individual to individual. Some may exhibit few or no signs of impairment. Another person may find themselves very much impaired after imbibing the same amount of alcohol or drugs.
I've been to plenty of gatherings over the years, particularly when I was younger, when the participants all drank about the same amount of the same thing, yet some remained apparently functional while others couldn't stand without assistance.
So to assume that "Joe" will operate his boat just fine after a beer or two and so will be no threat to the people on his boat and the boats around him is a bad assumption to make, I think.
I happen to agree with those who believe that doing anything that carries the risk of reducing one's ability to observe things, make judgements about what is going on around them, and react to situations that may arise, is not a smart thing to be doing.
Nobody ever makes a mistake until they do. Nobody makes an error in judgement and hurts or kills someone until they do. Everyone is convinced they can handle the affects of alcohol or drugs until the moment they find out they can't.
Sure, observation, judgement, and reaction can be impaired by a lot of other things besides alcohol. A bad headache can do it, a bad day at the office can do it. But my approach to doing anything, particularly something that can potentially affect others lives--- be it driving a vehicle, flying a plane, running a boat, riding a bicycle, you name it--- is that I want as much stacked in favor of success as I possibly can.
So I don't deliberately do things that have been proven to have the potential to reduce one's chances for success. In this case, success means operating a boat without incident or accident, or injury or death to anyone I am assuming responsibility for by taking the boat out.
Mule - There is also such a thing as "maintenance drinking", a term defining those who consistently drink alcohol; or need to. Think about it.
One aspect of "responsible drinking" referrers to a person who never operates equipment with any alcohol in their system.
If a person is never without alcohol in system and seldom without an alcohol content drink in hand, although maybe not deemed drunk regarding general visual attributes (because they have learned to relatively well compensate for their addiction), is defined as a "maintenance drinker".
Those who drink often/always are sometimes termed a "heavy drinker". Sometimes termed an "alcoholic".
Each person needs to make their own call about themselves and take self actions as needed. Denial strikes deep! I know.
Greetings,
Can't find it now but I also recall some study that suggested awareness and reaction times improved with an initial small amount of alcohol but also noted things went downhill rapidly with increasing dosages. If there is any merit to this study at all I would NOT suggest it be used to justify drinking.
My mate will have a beer occasionally and a glass of wine with a meal. Impaired? Possibly but not to a level I would worry about.
I would like to see everyone's opinions on the subject of operating a boat while drinking.
230+ posts ago this was the original request. While I haven't read every single post, for the most part the thread seems to have been comprised of people explaining why they think people shouldn't drink and operate a boat, and other people explaining why they think it's okay to drink and operate a boat.
But I'm not sure anyone ever actually succinctly addressed the original request, including me. So....
1. I think anyone who consumes alcohol in any amount before or while operating a vessel is a fool.
2. Anyone who consumes alcohol in any amount before or while operating a vessel automatcally loses all credibility as far as I'm concerned, with anything to do with boats or boating.
3. I don't want anyone who consumes alcohol in any amount before or while operating a vessel on my boat, on my dock, in my marina, on my bay, on the waters I boat it, or in this part of the world.
Those, Ron, are my opinions on the subject of operating a boat while drinking.
Well, there are similar health studies on a glass of wine or a beer occasionally. But similarly that doesn't mean a six pack every night or a bottle of wine every night is good. All things in moderation.
Now I know very few people who drink one beer or one glass of wine. Mostly they drink none or more.