CALIFORNIA SEEKS TO REGULATE windsurfing

[Arrgh]

[loopless]

We share a lake with the usual suspects of bass boats etc. And the rangers confidentially tell us that they find us ( and the kayakers) as so well behaved and such a non-issue compared to the trouble they have with fishermen. But fishing is a very powerful lobby group.

[aeolian]

[gerritt]

Speaking from the perspective of a criminal defense lawyer (off the top of my head and without resorting to any research materials - so I might be wrong), this is a probable cause issue. DUI for boating is a 0.04% Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) per se limit. Public drunkenness, or PC 647(f) requires a person be dangerous to themselves or others - it is not tied to BAC.

So, for our purposes, that means if you have a single beer and go sail, you are pushing your limits. For most, 2 beers will bring you to 0.04% BAC, but body weight and tolerance affect readings. If you test at 0.04% or higher, you will spend the night in jail, lose your license (to drive), pay hefty fines, have to go to mandatory DUI school, and see your insurance rates go through the roof. DUI's have traditionally required the operation of a motorized vehicle. Now that they are including sails and/or kites in that definition, you are all on notice.

Assuming this passes, watch out for those ambitious young cops patrolling our parking lots. If they see you drinking in your wetsuits, they just might detain you and begin a DUI investigation!

BTW - for any DUI investigation, you are not required to take the field sobriety tests (FST), or the preliminary screening (PAS) test - hand held alchosensors. You also do not have to answer any questions, other than to provide ID. This course of action will no doubt result in your arrest, where you will be brought to the station. Once there, your are required to provide a breath or blood sample. As a result of your arrest, your car (windsurf/kite kit?) is subject to impound as well, at the discretion of the officer. This course of action will also limit any prosecutor's ability to obtain a conviction, as you have limited the evidence to the observations of the cop and the chemical test result. No one ever passes an FST. Even my clients who go on to test completely clean. The game is rigged. The MADD mothers won and the defenses have been legislated out of existence.

I never understood sailing after drinking. Its a balance sport. Likewise driving. Its dumb, dangerous, and unnecessary. UBER is your friend and will cost you a lot less than paying the likes of me, the courts, DUI schools, and insurance carriers -- not including the property damage, hospital bills, and mortuary fees.

PSA over.

[Riptide]

[gerritt]

Well I just couldn't stand it and checked the code. Harbor and Navigation Code 655 defines Boating Under the Influence - BUI. Everything I posted above is correct except - the legal limit. Its 0.08% BAC for recreational boating. Its 0.04% BAC for commercial operation. Watch out Tony!

[Riptide]

[gerritt]

In response to Riptide's link:

DUI/BUI proximately causing injury - can be minor injury and includes strains - is a felony punishable by up to 3 years. DUI/BUI proximately causing death can be charged as manslaughter and/or murder, depending on circumstances and history of DUI/BUI priors, aka Watson Murder.

DUI/BUI is priorable - meaning get #2, #3, #4 within 10 years of prior conviction and punishment goes up substantially.

[Gwarn]

Here's a link to the case
http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/justice.asp

[bert]

Now that recreational marijuana is legal in California I was thinking about smoking some ganja to enhance the foiling experience..probably not a good idea as it's as much an intoxicant as booze. Actually I haven't toked since my last year in college in 1972 and probably can't handle the weed that's grown these days