Quote Originally Posted by Judy View Post
Your example on the boat is about drinkers, not pot smokers. What's up with that? Alcohol is legal.
NOT WHEN YOU ARE OPERATING A BOAT, A CAR, AN AIRPLANE, A BICYCLE, A GOLF CART, A FARM TRACTOR, OR JUST ABOUT ANY OTHER PIECE OF EQUIPMENT. EVEN WALKING WHILE DRUNK CAN BE ILLEGAL. EVEN SITTING IN A CAR DRUNK CAN GET YOU ARRESTED.

Quote Originally Posted by Judy
So were you the sober guy that couldn't get the engine started? Why did the engine quit to begin with?
Dirt in the carburetor.

Quote Originally Posted by Judy
Why did you need a drunk to work with a screw-driver to get your engine started?
He was more familiar with the engine.

Quote Originally Posted by Judy
You were probably out of gas and a screw-driver won't help you.
Well, technically, that's what happens when dirt clogs the jets.

Quote Originally Posted by Judy
That's the primary reason a boat motor "quits". Been there, done that.
We had that too, on another trip.

On this trip, it happened on our way back to the mainland. In the afternoon the winds pick up and the sea gets real choppy. So if the world is already weaving all over the place, being inebriated only adds to the handicap.

On the other trip, we took two boats. One diesel powered and one gas powered. We towed the gas powered one from the Ismas to Avalon when it ran out of gas and got more gas. But on our way back it broke down. In those days we had no radio. Our boat had a radio finder. So in the dark we headed for an LA radio station. Because of the wind drift, we ended up in Newport Beach instead of Long Beach and had to trek back up the coast. Now days, everybody has cellphones, if nothing else. In those days, you were on your own out there.

On another occasion, a couple went out to the Breakwater and tied up to a fishing barge. After drinking they went in the cabin to sleep it off. While sleeping, the wind changed. They hadn't tied down both ends of the boat. So it turned around, breaking off the rear transom and breaking the exhaust pipe. That woke them up and they headed back to port. En route, the pipe came off leaving a 4 inch hole. When they slowed coming into the harbor, the water came in. He got the boat near the levy and his wife got off. When the Harbor Patrol got there, only the bow was above water. "Helping out" the Harbor patrol, he threw them the Bow line, then opened the front hatch to give them more rope. That let the air out of the cabin and he was left holding a rope to a boat totally under water.

If he had been sober, he wouldn't have opened the hatch. Maybe he would have tied the boat down properly in the first place. But, as you say, "Accidents happen!"