  High Res Photo Coast Guardsmen administer a breath test to a boater suspected of operating a boat under the influence of alcohol. Boaters are subject to the same tests that police officers use on motorists. The ‘High Res Photo” finds local and state law enforcement agencies teaming up with the Coast Guard to enforce a safety zone during the fireworks display at the Coast Guard festival in Grand Haven, Michigan. The joint team effort, which included Ottawa County marine deputies, DNR agents, and Coast Guardsmen, cited five boaters that night for operating a water craft while under the influence of alcohol. See Story. Photos Senior Chief Tom Rau (ret) Keeping intoxicated boaters off the water Posted October 4, 2004 June 13, 2003. 4:03 a.m.. Coast Guard Group Grand Haven. The Communications Specialist on watch in the Group Operations Center received a call from 911 that a boat had collided with the Grand Haven North Pier. Within minutes, a Coast Guard (CG) 23-foot rescue boat along with a 47-foot motor life boat arrived at the North Pier. There, boat crews discovered an empty 21-foot Bayliner lying alongside the seaward side of the pier. Meanwhile the Grand Haven police responded from ashore and apprehended three adult males racing down the pier away from the empty boat. Ottawa County marine deputies soon arrived on scene. The young men told marine sheriff deputies that a fourth person, who was operating the boat, went overboard and disappeared when the boat struck the pier, and they were running for help. The Coast Guard called in air search and rescue and Ottawa County marine divers. What appeared at first to be a law enforcement issue now found search and rescue at the forefront. However, while questioning the young men Ottawa marine deputy Sergeant Kevin Allman detected the odor of alcohol. Smelling a rat, he pointed first to the Coast Guard helicopter overhead, then to the Coast Guard rescue boats searching nearby waters, and finally to marine sheriff divers and said: “See that helicopter, those Coast Guard rescue boats, those marine divers, those police units? If that fourth guy you claim went overboard is bogus, you will be billed for the cost of those assets.” Two of the young lads sang out like jail birds, confessing to sergeant Allman that the boat operator concocted the story. A background check revealed the operator was facing a possible third alcoholic conviction. Sergeant Allman read him like an oft-read book. That experience, those street smarts, and instant access to state and local law enforcement data are invaluable to the Coast Guard in its efforts to crack down on impaired boaters around Lake Michigan. During the 2004 boating season Coast Guard boat crews with help from local law enforcement agencies have cited183 impaired boaters around Lake Michigan and with good reason. On June 18, 2004, while operating a 16-foot jet boat at high rate of speed, a 20 year-old male slammed into the Saugatuck North Pier. The accident happened at 5:30 a.m. and in fog; his alcohol count was .156. He died on impact. On June 28, 2004 a 28 year-old male backed down a 34-foot power boat onto his 10 year-old nice while she jumped off the stern. She died from prop strike moments later despite the valiant efforts of an off-duty Coast Guardsman to save her life. And on August 7, 2004, just before midnight, an 18-foot Crownline run-about, with five people aboard, slammed into the Muskegon breakwater at 40 mph. The 52-year-old operator suffered neck injuries, his wife fractured ribs and a passenger broke a leg. Both cases involved alcohol. This is exactly why maritime law enforcement officials team up to remove impaired boat operators. During the 2004 Grand Haven Coast Guard festival, I witnessed firsthand how efficient this law enforcement accord operates. On departing Station Grand Haven, moments before the fireworks began, I watched a Coast Guard boat crew along with an Ottawa County marine boat crew escort a suspected drunk boater to the Coast Guard moorings. The crews handed the boater over to fellow officers on the dock who processed the case while the boat crews returned to the river channel, joining DNR and Coast Guard Auxiliary boats enforcing the fireworks safety zone. The joint task force had already nabbed four other drunks that evening. If these boaters mistakenly thought that law enforcement units would be too involved in enforcing the fireworks safety zone they received a sobering rebut. Especially considering those arrested and convicted of operating a vessel under the influence could receive local and federal fines. The two-bladed sword can cut deep into a boater’s wallet. Two boaters recently cited by a Coast Guard Ludington boat crew for operating a water craft under the influence of alcohol could be facing hefty local and federal fines. Coast Guard officials from the Ludington Station along with local police recently removed several boaters off Pentwater Lake, Michigan, after a Coast Guard boat crew observed them ramming their 12-foot boats together as if they were afloat bumper cars. The police hauled them off to jail after they registered a .173 and .263 percent blood alcohol level. “The support we receive from the Pentwater police was outstanding,” said Coast Guard boarding officer Hall who initiated the arrest. Hopefully, the two men, ages 37 and 43, will appear in court, for if not it could invite additional woes. Local municipal courts will levy bench warrants for those who fail to appear on a boating appearance citation. In the event a motorist is pulled over by a road unit, the officer will check the computer for liens and warrants. Guess what? That person is headed for jail if a boating-related bench warrant flashes on the patrol car’s computer. Many boaters, however, mistakenly believe that water-related citations carry little weight. Nothing could be further from the truth. Some state legislators would like to see alcoholic boating citations tagged to motor vehicle records. Neal Nitz, State Representative from Michigan’s 78th district, has introduced House Bill 5191 and 5192 that will link boating under the influence citations to automobile records. Currently the bill resides in the Committee on Criminal Justice. With latest Coast Guard nationwide boating statistics reporting 39-percent of boating fatalities are alcoholic related, one hopes state legislators will take action. Until maritime state legislation, one way or another, catches up with the motor vehicle codes that have so successfully cracked down on drunken carnage on our highways, the Coast Guard along, with the dedicated efforts of local law enforcement agencies, will continue to team up to keep our waters safe. Join the team. Boat Smart. Boat sober. Group
Grand Haven | USCG
Office of Boating Safety
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