Harshing the Buzz
‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ was a landmark 1980s movie. In addition to introducing adolescent boys like me to Phebe Cates, the film also starred Sean Penn as stoner-surfer Jeff Spicoli. When a friend advised Spicoli to get a job to earn some money, he simply replied, “All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I’m fine.”
That may be true, so long as he’s not in Korea.
Starting on June 21st, 2025, it will be illegal to ride a surfboard in Korea with a blood alcohol content of 0.03 or higher. While this is the same BAC limit for drunk driving in Korea, it is significantly lower than the rest of the world, where the limit is typically .08. Surfers found to violate the new law could face a fine of 1 million won (about $685 in U.S. dollars).
Apparently, impaired surfers have become a recurring nuisance in Korea. The new measure is aimed at improving safety in Korean waters, where operating a boat or jet ski is already illegal. The new law extends the drinking restrictions to operators of non-motorized crafts, including surfboards and kayaks.
“The Coast Guard pushed for the revision amid a rise in accidents involving drunk riders,” the Korea Times reported. “Experts say drinking alcohol before surfing or kayaking could increase the risk of accidents as it numbs the senses and negatively affects the rider’s judgment and reaction time.”
According to ‘the Handbook! of Wisconsin Boating Laws and Responsibilities,’ which is approved by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, we have a similar rule here. The pamphlet says, “Wisconsin law prohibits anyone from operating a motorboat or manipulating water skis or similar devices while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”
The handbook states that “alcohol and drugs cause impaired balance, blurred vision, poor coordination, impaired judgment, and slower reaction times.” As a result, the book explains that “it is illegal for a person to operate a motorboat or use water skis, a surfboard, or other device if he or she is under the influence of an intoxicant or a controlled substance or has a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or greater.”
This seems a bit inconsistent with the Wisconsin Statutes, however. Section 30.681 says that “no person may engage in the operation of a motorboat while under the influence of an intoxicant to a degree which renders him or her incapable of safe motorboat operation.” As with automobiles, that limit is a BAC of 0.08 or more. In addition, it is illegal for anyone to operate a motorboat having “a detectable amount of a restricted controlled substance in his or her blood.”
The Wisconsin Statutes define a motorboat as “any boat equipped with propulsion machinery, whether or not the machinery is the principal source of propulsion.” A “nonmotorized boat” is defined as a boat “which is designed and constructed to be used as a boat for transportation of a person or persons on water.” This would include canoes, inflatable boats, rowboats, rafts, kayaks and surfboards. A sailboat with a motor on it, however, would still be considered a motorboat.
There is a Wisconsin law that states that “no person may operate or use any boat, or manipulate any water skis, aquaplane or similar device upon the waters of this state in a careless, negligent or reckless manner so as to endanger that person’s life, property or person or the life, property or person of another.”
A DNR agent apparently stopped a man for suspicion of boating while intoxicated. He failed the field sobriety test because he couldn’t spell kayak backwards.
Reg P. Wydeven
Latest posts by Reg P. Wydeven (see all)
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