The Virginian-Pilot
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Coast Guard and law enforcement crews will be patrolling waterways across Hampton Roads this weekend looking for drunken boaters.
Officers with the Virginia Marine Police, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and 10 law enforcement agencies will be conducting checkpoints on the water, they announced earlier this week.
The enforcement campaign, called Operation Dry Water, will happen Friday through Sunday on waterways nationwide, they said.
Boating under the influence of alcohol is the leading cause of recreational boating accidents, according to Coast Guard Lt. Chris White. The legal blood alcohol limit on the waters is .08, he said.
Watch a video about this weekend’s enforcement campaign by clicking here.
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"Instead we have more
"Instead we have more government harassment. You watch, they'll be pulling people over left and right with no other cause than profiling, and spot checking with no probable causes. Safety checks are hassle enough as it is. Stay the heck out my business! I can see it if someone if acting crazy or reckless showing probable cause for concern. But to just pull at random releasing one, stopping another? because a boat's stereo is turned up, or folks are laughing too much? The VB marine police force is over funded (rescue/dive teams aside) and has wasted tons of taxpayer money on expensive boats of all sorts none of which have any real purpose or advantage above what a simple cheap center console could"
Yet another person who blames the police for doing their job when a lawbreaker gets caught. Wait until a drunken boater hits your boat, then you'll be asking "Why didn't the police stop and 'harrass' them earlier?" Or when you're in need of quick police response, you'll complain their police boats aren't fast enough and good enough to help you.
here's the complaint sir
Whether you are doing anything or NOT, you still have to go thru the increased harassment and interruptions potentially even causing minor damages to your boat. And I strongly disagree on the amount of boating incidents that take place requiring law enforcement. Jet-Skis aren't "boats". If you mean fender benders, dock scratches, or ramp buffoonery. That's inherent to the sport. Police need presence yes, to catch goof balls (mostly on jet-skis or recklessly tubing their kids) or fishing boats sitting in the middle of the navigation channel, or cruiser boats coasting at painfully low speeds thru no-wake zones, or being complete overt idiots. But when folks are minding their manners, and doing nothing qualifying as "probable cause" that sir is where it goes wrong. They can't stop you for any reason on the highway just to check to be sure you're not drunk, nor to check if you have a seat belt on nor should they, therefore they should not interfere with the pursuit of happiness on the water unless there's good solid reasonable cause for concern. Enuff of the self-righteous garbage. If they're minding their manners, leave people the heck alone.
Quit complaining
All this complaining over nothing. We have more boating incidents than the general public knows about. And a great deal of drunken boaters. So its a good thing they are out there. And with the vast amount of water in the area, all these agencies are needed to cover the miles and miles of waterways. If your not doing anything wrong, there is nothing to worry about. And dont single out Virginia Beach. All tourist areas have boat patrols.
oh but it "feels good"
Another feel good approach so someone can pad their resume. As far as I know boating accidents in the area are rare and even more rarely attributed to any "real" accidents outside of dinging someone at the dock. So where's the impetus?? In those cases folks can work it out on their own. It's over-kill and flat out harassment during a period when folks should be out enjoying themselves after hard weeks of working. And the tourist should feel like this is the place to come and enjoy themselves. Instead we have more government harassment. You watch, they'll be pulling people over left and right with no other cause than profiling, and spot checking with no probable causes. Safety checks are hassle enough as it is. Stay the heck out my business! I can see it if someone if acting crazy or reckless showing probable cause for concern. But to just pull at random releasing one, stopping another? because a boat's stereo is turned up, or folks are laughing too much? The VB marine police force is over funded (rescue/dive teams aside) and has wasted tons of taxpayer money on expensive boats of all sorts none of which have any real purpose or advantage above what a simple cheap center console cou
Welcome to Virginia Beach!
Arrive on vacation.....leave on probation.
.08 is too little
Boating is different than driving a car. The limit should be higher.
Shouldn't they be doing that every day?
"Officers with the Virginia Marine Police, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and 10 law enforcement agencies". The Virginia Marine Police, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Coast Guard are the agencies that SHOULD be doing this. The DUPLICATED efforts of the other TEN agencies are NOT justified or resonable. These other agencies are nothing but a drain and additional burden on our tax dollars.