Aurora – As law enforcement officials across the state target drunken drivers over the holiday weekend, rangers at Colorado state parks are also stepping up patrols on the water to keep boaters safe.
“Drinking affects your ability to make good choices – including your ability to operate a boat,” said state park ranger Michelle Seubert at Cherry Creek Lake in Aurora on Sunday.
Most boat owners said they liked the idea of rangers watching out for them.
“I’m glad they do it,” said Jerome Harris of Aurora.
He said people drink and drive, and pointed to a man with a beer can in his hand who was tying his boat to his trailer.
Within 20 minutes of leaving the dock Sunday, rangers cited one operator for failing to register his boat, and another for having nine people in a seven-person boat. Each received a $50 fine.
Seubert said rangers had cited one boater over the weekend for boating under the influence, a misdemeanor.
Last year, 9 percent of all boating accidents statewide involved alcohol. Colorado law enforcement officials cite about 25 people per year for boating while intoxicated, Seubert said, adding that rangers arrest five to seven people per season for BUI at Cherry Creek Lake.
When Seubert pulled up next to Chris Jablonski’s boat Sunday, she went through her routine: “I need to see a current registration. Do you have life jackets for everyone on board?”
He did. But because he didn’t have his registration, Seubert instructed him to meet her at the landing. Seubert cited Jablonski and told him he was done boating for the day.
Jablonski said it was his first time out this year and he was disappointed.
“They need to do their job,” he said, “but the fact that the boat isn’t registered isn’t that big an issue.”
Staff writer Joel Grostephan can be reached at 303-820-1201 or jgrostephan@denverpost.com.
