Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Routine Tows and BUI's



Since my last post on May 28, we have had over 6 cases/jobs, mostly routine and not much to brag about.  They ranged from a 30 ft 1988 Webbcraft taking on water at a restaurant dock, (shown in photo with bow sticking up), 3 BUI tows (Boating Under the Influence) followed by a couple of routine tows.  The Webbcraft had taken on water after being left overnight at restaurant dock, we pumped her out, towed and trailered her at nearby marina.  Sustained some damage to electronics and water was over both motors. 
BUI's - We probably get a larger number of BUI tows here then other towers, due to the way things are handled here.  When the Water Patrol makes a stop and suspects the operator is operating under the influence, they give them a field sobriety check, (on the water was reduced late last year from .10 to .08) if the operator blows at the .08 level or more, they are taken in to custody and the Patrol tries to find a "sober" operator willing to operate the boat and get it to the dock.  If they are unsuccessful or the "sober" doesn't want to be responsible for the vessel, they contact us and we tow or provide captain to take the vessel to its home dock or mooring, if there are no other persons aboard (or payment cannot be secured) we impound the vessel until the owner/operator can retrieve it.  These tows are probably our least favored as we ALWAYS come off looking like the BAD GUYS, but here, they are a fact of life and somebody has to do it.
I am sure I will unfortunately be posting more BUI tows, but we have been working hard here to reduce the number of boaters who fail to have a sober operator at the helm.  More on that local campaign later - - 

EDITOR'S NOTE:  The big "BUD" sign behind the "Webbcraft" and the BUI comments are purely coincidental  - - - - :)  "THINK BEFORE YOU SINK"

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