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.