Drunk boat driver three times over the limit beaches boat at Forster
Missed the bar at night, beaches the boat, blows three times, charged, refused bail, and no insuranceA drunk skipper who blew three times over the legal limit has been charged after missing the Forster bar by a good measure and beaching his 33ft cruiser.
Police say the man has been charged with driving his boat while under the influence after he ran his cruiser up on the beach at about 7.30pm on Monday (April 24, 2017).
But while the press, papers and locals had a field day snapping pics of the beached boat, it's beyond disappointing to see a skipper so under-the-weather navigating on the high seas.
A 55-year-old Queensland man travelling from Port Stephens to Queensland was driving the 33ft cruiser.
When the boat reached Cape Hawke Harbour, the man failed to enter the bar and ran the boat aground on Main Beach, Forster.
Police attended and the skipper was removed from the boat before being breath tested.
He was subsequently arrested and taken to Forster Police Station where he allegedly provided a breath analysis reading of 0.159.
The man was charged with high range PCA (Marine). He was refused bail and was due to appear in Taree Local Court today (Tuesday, April 25, 2017).
The boat was retrieved with the assistance of a crane.
ALCOHOL LIMITS WHEN BOATING IN NSW
Permissible concentration-of-alcohol limits when boating in NSW are as follows:
>> 0.00 for all vessel operators under 18 years
>> Less than 0.02 for commercial vessel operators over 18 years
>> Less than 0.05 for recreational vessel operators over 18 years.
The operator of a vessel includes:
>> Anyone steering or exercising control over the course or direction of a vessel
>> The observer in a ski boat or personal watercraft
>> A person being towed by a vessel
>> A person supervising the operator of a vessel under 16 years of age.
It is also offence for the master of a vessel to allow another person to operate a vessel if they have reason to believe that the person is under the influence of alcohol or any other drug.
More on boating offences and penalties in NSW.
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