A Goal of Sobriety at Sea

Drunk driving is neither smart nor safe, on land or at sea.

The Orange County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, through its Designated-Driver Program, has gotten that message across to many landlubbers in automobiles. Now it is turning its attention to the sea, sending the same word to boaters who take the helm when they have been drinking and are under the weather.

In the Designated-Driver Program, one person in a group of three or more pledges to drive the others home, and in exchange for staying sober is provided with free, non-alcoholic drinks by the participating restaurant or bar. Orange County’s program is now the largest in the nation.

MADD sees the effort to reach drinking boaters as a natural and necessary extension of the successful designated-driver approach and has selected Dana Point Harbor with its restaurants, bars and yacht clubs as its first seaside target.

Perhaps the most celebrated case of a seagoing mishap involving liquor is the recent Alaskan oil spill, allegedly caused by the captain of an Exxon tanker becoming drunk and turning over the steering of his ship to an unqualified sailor. In local waters, five people died in 1983 when a skipper ran into an unlighted buoy. He later was found to have been intoxicated and was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

But there are numerous other less-publicized incidents caused by drinking and drunk sailors at the helm. The state Department of Boating and Waterways reports that 59% of all boating fatalities are related to alcohol consumption. Those are sobering statistics that make MADD’s Designated-Driver Program a seaworthy effort.