The real change must be cultural. Think back in the 60's and 70's, no one had heard of a "designated driver" - that was the "one for the road" era. Nowadays, it is socially unacceptable to drink and drive - not saying it doesn't happen, but it is much less accepted than in years past.

That sort of change has to come to boating.

I did read wrong and agree there is no excuse for the driver of the boat to be drunk.

The 2nd part of your post though is far from the truth and sad of you to assume that of someone you don't know.....says a lot about your character and how you judge others.

I'll second that!

"Beer on the Pier, Water on the water" has been the normal call at the Poker Runs I've attended.

I'm not a prude mind you ( I will sometimes toss a 6 pack of beer in the cooler for an entire day on the water) but nobody needs to get that trashed on a boat that they are tossing up over the side. If thats the case, you got to start picking some new friends.

Not trying to argue with you. Re read your own post.

Worthless to go back and forth and ruin a thread.

Let's just say we don't think the same about boating past that we both agree the operator should be sober and have knowledge of the boat and the water.

I think he must have been going at least 50 and probably faster to get that height. There was also mention of a freighter wake which can be very steep. Obviously an occasion where everything timed just wrong.

Drunk or not... lacking talent or brains or not.. he killed two people and critically injured a third with his recklessness and he should go to jail for a very long time.... that cruiser could have been filled with a few kids too but fortunately it wasn't. unfortunately, it's a numbers game... there will always be some percentage of the boating population that behaves foolishly or makes bad judgement calls and this is sometimes the result. See it all the time... two years ago on Long Island, a guy loaded his 34 footer with 27 people on July 4th, it capsized and three children perished. Two weeks ago, right outside my marina, some guy showing off on his jet ski slammed into another boat; he's in critical condition.. last weekend some girl on a jet ski also showing off decided to cut me off while I was doing about 75 mph, if I wasn't alert and sober, she'd be dead and my boat would have been wrecked.. And I'm not making a judgement on others here, but I NEVER drink when I'm on my boat, period. My passengers may drink but I watch them carefully, because puking is not what I'm worried about. If they get ejected because they are too inebriated to hold on or secure themselves properly, what are the odds they would survive being the water.... close to ZERO!!

Unfortuntately, this idiot took two innocents with him.. he needs to rot in jail..

A coworker of mine just got a text from a distant friend of his that was a passenger on the Baja. He confirmed the driver was pretty much hammered and they were running around the 50 MPH mark.

Then the hammer falls on him! He has ruined who knows how many lives/families..... Prayers to the families that lost love ones or have injuried love ones from this senseless accident

Very well put. And really all I'm trying to get at. Do you think this driver in his state fully comprehended the cruiser wakes? I boat sober and am surprised at times just how big and like a launch ramp freighter wakes in the Houston Ship Channel can be. And he hit three! Thats one thing generally not encountered while driving. Constantly changing road surfaces do not happen in everyday driving. But they are routine in everyday boating. If we, the boating community, don't fix this the government will. God help us.

Wheel in the hand , water in the mouth !

You do realize that 75% of the boating public would think that 75MPH on the water, around other boats, wave runners and people is reckless? And even though a girl was showing off and god forbid got killed they'd all be crying that you needed to "go to jail for a very long time" and "rot in jail", alcohol or not?

Just some food for thought.

Yes, you are 100% right. and god forbid she got hit.. the article would have read.. "speed was a factor in the crash". I don't think anyone here is naive enough to think that we have all of that horsepower and rigging to cruise at 25 mph and many of the people here might read my post and be smirking to themselves "only 75". I am always looking around me and adjusting for conditions, traffic, etc and in this case, I was in a marked channel with what I thought was miles between me and other boats... miss JetSki came out from behind a bridge piling out of nowhere and cut across my bow about 100 yards ahead which required evasive action on my part because she had no clue I was even there... it wasn't until she got the splash from the rooster that she realized she had a boat that close to her. and you're right, most people would think that speed is reckless, but my point was/is that I was operating my boat well within my own capabilities with what I thought was a wide margin of error and then unexpected stuff happens... and because I was not impaired in any way, my reaction was crisp and everyone went home that day..

75 IS fast on the water, an overwhelming number of boats don't get close to that speed. Just because a Skater or Outer Limits boats do twice that speed doesn't mean that you're not hauling ass at 75. Most of the highways in the country don't allow cars to go that fast, not to mention the unpredictable nature of the water.

This is exactly what I was trying to say in my earlier post. We are held to a higher standard because most of us a fast, loud and flashy. The public wants justice for the dead or injured, even though it could be the injured's fault. Much like the Jet ski incident, if you would have hit that girl you would have been at fault because you were going to fast for conditions... Then people would have been calling for you to go to jail, alcohol or no. i'm not condoning drunk boat operation. Just that we are all human and that everyone makes mistakes.
If this thread got bought up on the local news, it would read "boaters call for death sentence" we have all judged this man on a matter of a few facts.

http://www.uscgboating.org/assets/1/...12ReportR2.pdf
Page 7
TOP TEN KNOWN PRIMARY CONTRIBUTING FACTORS OF ACCIDENTS
operator inattention and experience rank #1&2, alcohol is #7 and excessive speed is #5.
I for one will admit that that sometimes I have caught myself going to fast for rapidly changing conditions, or looking down to change the song on the stereo.
Lets not make this man out to be a criminal, instead look at the contributing factors that lead up to the incident. He had the numbers against him so there for he hit #2,5,6,7 and possibly #1 in the leading causes of accidents.
We can all take notes from this accident, we are all guilty of something. Don't just stand on a soap box because alcohol was involved

And don't forget all the drunk boat operators and passengers get in a car and drive home drunk.

I don't disagree with anything you are saying. Bad things happen and could happen to anyone. You could hit someone or get hit by someone doing 20 mph... who hasn't seen an accident at the dock, for godsakes? We're not going to agree about the alcohol part but that's cool; everyone is entitled to their own opinion. You're right, there is something for all of us to learn from this... I will step down now...

I'm with you on the alcohol thing! And I am almost certain everyone in this discussion is as well.

Just a quick update I found this morning.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/08/...ology-results/

Thats some what disturbing, I hope they have tracker on him.

While I get what you are saying they really don't have much to hold him on legally.

With no toxicology and the investigation still on going. Its hard to legally detain him for any reason at this time.

Ya, Im not up on all the legal mumbo jumbo, the fact remain's two people are dead because of him drunk or otherwise and he may be a flight risk.

Without formally charging him with anything, you can't tether him... I am sure if they felt he was a flight risk they would come up with a reason to detain him longer. .

That's it though....he is drunk or reckless at this point only in the eyes of others and not provided to be fact yet. Is or was he one or both of those.....it certainly sounds like it.

But if someone jumps in front of your car today and they die. Should they hold you till all the toxicology and facts come out too?

Yes I know they are not exact cases but you see the point. Everyone is due the process.

I have no pity for anyone who drinks and boats at any speed.

Well, if he failed a breathalyzer I would think he could have been held. At that point he would have had at least post a large amount of bail/bond money to be released. Why no mention of charges?

I am guessing no breathalyzer was done, hints no charges, and no mention. He had the right to refuse to the blow test but not the right to refuse a blood test.

In am sure they took blood which HAS to be done in a accident resulting in a death. Once the results come in I am sure he will be charged and held until court.

My guess would be, they are waiting for the blood test to come back and are taking this time to build a solid charge (no holes). There is no doubt he was drunk, a friend of a friend was on the boat with him. He may have refused the breath test (which you can do in MI) which might be why they can't hold him on those results.. But would have to submit to the blood test once taken into custody (I am sure there is more to it then that).

Slow Down Nate, your typing faster then me.....

Lol.... My bad.....it's a slow day at work.

Legally they cannot hold somebody more than 48 hours if they don't have all their information and evidence put together within a 48 hour time they have to let him go.

Oh, you mean our Country has Due Process?!?

Man, has our society's mindset turned into a 'guilty until proven otherwise'.

Don't let him kid you. For alcohol offenses that is typically the way it is. That's why I wondering why there are no charges yet. Soft prosecutor? Or fair prosecution?

That was me trying to be sarcastic, I guess what I was trying to say is there's a reason why we no longer burn witches at the stake.

I have no idea why, but I do know there's a process.

As of right now no one except the driver, arresting officer(s) and District Attorney truly knows if alcohol was actually involved and indeed the reason behind this tragic event. Now people are thinking he's going to be a "flight risk" when in fact none of us truly know all the facts or better yet his character. Sorry, a text message from a friend of a friend doesn't count in a court of law or the kangaroo court of OSO.

I had a run in with the same boat two weeks prior to this devastating accident. This boat passed by my port side within 50 feet travelling at least 45-50mph. The driver actually cut between the channel markers of the Clinton river which is a very congested water way due to a large launch ramp and numerous marinas on any given weekend. The boat was chine walking and bouncing loosely over the confused waves due to the heavy boat traffic. The boat nosed dived into a fairly large wave and suddenly pulled hard to port. If it had gone to starboard, the boat would have crashed into my port side were my wife and two young sons were sitting on the lounge. The boat then regained control and roared off in front of me to avoid the congestion of two large marinas that have hundreds of boats anchored in shallow water on any given weekend. The boat had 5 occupants in total and the driver and passengers were actually high fiving and fist pumping like this was the coolest thing. I was furious with the driver and even remarked that his day was coming. Karma. Now 2 innocent people are dead. I was sick to find out that this was the same boat involved. Irresponsible boating needs to end. Mix inexperience, adrenaline and alcohol and the end result is usually tragic. Thoughts and prayers to the families impacted.

Just a sad story for all involved. And some people wonder why I refuse to have a drink with my friends when I have my boat in the water.

Any update on this?

I saw something in the paper or online, he pled guilty to a manslaughter charge and I don't think he has been sentenced as of yet (or at least that I have read).

Plead guilty in December. 2 counts OWI causing death,10 yr felony, 1 count OWI causing great bodily harm, 5 yr felony. The guy is in his early thirtys. This is his 4th DUI. Three on the road. Was also arrested in 2013 a couple of times for assault and battery, and in 2014 for drunk and disorderly. His BAC was 0.105 6 hours after accident. Michigan has now passed a law to reduce the BAC limit for recreational vehicles to match that of cars to 0.08. Was 0.1. Boat was registered in his girlfriends name, and it is reported that she knowingly allowed him to drive intoxicated. Her life is pretty much ruined as well. A senseless tragedy that should never have occured. Sentencing Jan 20th. Figuring 5-10yrs with concurrant sentencing.

His 4th DUI!!!!!
They need to bury him under the prison.
My prayers for those killed/harmed and their families.