Drinking and Boating?

[Brendecw1]

Last summer I was on Lake Washington with my friend and a few of his frat buddies. We were just wakeboarding and innertubing. We were in a area where there were no other boats within at least a 1000 yards. We were not using the red flag to indicate a man in water. Off in the distance a king county sherrifs boat heads in our direction. I instantly turn off my boat and start pulling out life preservers and my license and registration. He came over we talked. I passed the safety inspection. He stated the reason he 'pulled' us over was due to the non-use of the flag. When he ran our registration I found out that the boat wasn't registered properly and I got a fatty ticket for that. (My dad covered the ticket because he said the boat was registered properly, and it didn't go on my driving record!) Thankfully though he ignored the flag infraction. All in all the officer was extremely nice and more than fair with me. I jokingly asked the cop to write the ticket to my dad since it was his boat. He just laughed.

But my real question is that we were going to bring some beer with us but me and only a couple other people were 21. And I didn't know the exact laws on open container and things like that. So we figured to be safe and leave it at home.

Does anyone know the laws regarding this? Is it legal for the driver to have an open container as long as he is 21 and keeps is BAC under .08?

Thanks
Chris

Hope to see you all on the lake this summer!

[Brendecw1]

Give me a reply! Please

[Groondogg]

This is the only thing I have found so far, but I am still looking...



RCW 79A.60.040

Operation of vessel in a reckless manner — Operation of a vessel under the influence of intoxicating liquor — Penalty.

(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a vessel in a reckless manner.

(2) It shall be a violation for a person to operate a vessel while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug. A person is considered to be under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug if:

(a) The person has 0.08 grams or more of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of breath, as shown by analysis of the person's breath made under RCW 46.61.506; or

(b) The person has 0.08 percent or more by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, as shown by analysis of the person's blood made under RCW 46.61.506; or

(c) The person is under the influence of or affected by intoxicating liquor or any drug; or

(d) The person is under the combined influence of or affected by intoxicating liquor and any drug.

The fact that any person charged with a violation of this section is or has been entitled to use such drug under the laws of this state shall not constitute a defense against any charge of violating this section. A person cited under this subsection may upon request be given a breath test for breath alcohol or may request to have a blood sample taken for blood alcohol analysis. An arresting officer shall administer field sobriety tests when circumstances permit.

(3) A violation of this section is a misdemeanor, punishable as provided under RCW 9.92.030. In addition, the court may order the defendant to pay restitution for any damages or injuries resulting from the offense.

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=79A.60.040

[ford123]

Sorry to intrude into the Washington forum, but I can tell you a story that might have some revelance......

I was in Florida for a friends wedding....This was in 1989....a while back...

Anyway, we rented a fishing boat on a local river, and we had brought a cooler full of beer. Well, not only were alcoholic beverages not permitted, but not even anything that could be discarded, such as food wrappers, cans, and so forth..
Yada yada, we got "pulled over," by the Fish Police, aka warden, who proceeded to check our licsenses and such. He of course saw the beer cans, floating in the bottom of the boat, along with plastic food containers (prohibited).

The officer advised me that not only could he give me a ticket for the food wrappers, and the alcohol, but he could write me up for "contributing to the deliquincy of a minor."

And I was 19, and he was 18.........

The officer made us dump the beer in the river, and let everything else slide.
He was a nice guy...

Of course that was 1989.....Today is a different world.