The Coast Guard’s Operation Midnight Badger will be operating at full bells over the long Independence Day weekend. Intoxicated boaters beware, for the eye of the Badger could be upon you. Rather than celebrating the nation’s independence you could be bemoaning your incarceration.

In 2004, Coast Guard Group Milwaukee launched Operation Midnight Badger with the sole intention of removing intoxicated boaters from the water. By the end of the boating season, Badger crews roaming the waters along the western shore of Lake Michigan had nabbed 161 drunk boaters.

Captain Scott La Rochelle, Commanding Officer, Group Milwaukee wrote a recent piece for Great Lakes Boating addressing the Badger campaign. You boaters who are inclined to drink while operating a boat, I urge you to read the following account of a Badger bust. The story imparts a sobering message.

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You’re in Command

By Capt. Scott Larochelle

Slicing through the moonlit waters, the crew remains vigilant, ever watchful for a potential target. Amid a spectacular skyline backdrop of America’s third largest city, an eerie silence, save for the broken crackle of commercial mariners chattering from one of the mounted VHF marine band radio speakers in the cabin of Coast Guard boat 255058.

“I’ve got a good feeling tonight,” Boatswain Mate Second Class Jim Pierce softly speaks to the boat crew from Station Wilmette Harbor. The crew, Boatswain Mate First Class Chris Evans, Machinist Mate Third Class Matt Ladnier and Seaman Mike Rodriquez, nod in silent agreement.

“Hit the lights and siren, let’s go boys,” Evans barks out as a 32-foot go fast casts a broad wake while speeding northbound parallel to the Chicago Harbor breakwater. In seconds, Evans drops the throttle down, and powered by twin 225 horsepower engines, CG-255058 engages in hot pursuit. The chase doesn’t last long; it rarely does. The sight and sound of the blue flashing light and emergency siren emanating from the Coast Guard’s Defender Class Homeland Security boat achieve the desired effect. In a scenario that was played out hundreds of times on Lake Michigan this summer, the Coast Guard is quickly alongside, and the boarding team led by Pierce steps on board the now-idling go fast.

Upon boarding, Pierce immediately assesses the situation – two average-build men, two women, ice chest on deck, cup holders on the console containing beer cans. After determining no weapons are on board, Pierce methodically completes the safety inspection, known internally as a CG-4100 boarding, while Ladnier and Rodriquez maintain overall security of the scene.

Lifejackets, flares and other safety equipment are carefully checked to ensure compliance with federal law. Vessel registration documents and crew identification are verified. As the boat operator clumsily moves about to gather the required safety items, Pierce makes a mental note of his unsteady balance, which appears excessive given the calm sea state on this humid mid-summer night.

After the CG-4100 boarding is completed, Pierce requests the operator sit in the rear of the boat while he administers a series of field sobriety tests to determine if the operator is intoxicated. These tests nearly mirror those given by highway patrolmen to suspected drunk drivers during roadside stops. The operator fails four of six tests. The operator voluntarily agrees to a breathalyzer test, and proceeds to register a blood alcohol content of 0.13, well above the legal limit of 0.08 for intoxicated operation.

Game over. The operator and his crew’s night of fun and partying on Lake Michigan is over. About two months later, a Coast Guard Hearing Officer in Washington, DC levies a $2,200 civil penalty – a stiff fine, but less than the $5,500 maximum penalty for federal Boating Under the Influence.

“It’s 0430,” Evans replies. “Let’s go home.” And with morning twilight breaking upon a just-waking Chicago skyline, Evans turns the wheel and CG-255058 quietly begins its transit north toward Wilmette as the crew silently gazes upon the horizon.

“They’re out there,” Evans chimes in. “It’s up to us to find them.”

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Midnight Badger’s primary mission objective: remove drunk boaters off the water for their own safety, their passengers’ safety and the safety of other boaters. This mission objective drives Coast Guard boarding officers. Pierce said, “One fewer drunken boater on the water, one fewer boating accident in the making, and potentially one or more fewer fatalities waiting to happen.”

And sadly fatalities do happen. Of the 150 recreational boating fatalities in the Great Lakes region last year, 37% involved alcohol. Already into this young boating season I’m aware of 12 boating fatalities. Of those five involved alcohol.

And nothing fuels the Badger cause more than when Coast Guard boarding officers find a child’s safety put at risk by a drunk boater. Several weeks ago, Coast Guardsman Justin Klitch of Motor Life Boat Station Michigan City, boarded an18-foot boat after he observed two toddlers aboard not wearing life jackets. Michigan law requires a child six years and younger to wear a life jacket on an open boat.

Officer Klitch said: “No sooner did I get on the boat than the obvious signs of an intoxicated boater greeted me.” The male operator got testy. “I handcuffed him, and handed him over to local authorities.” Officer Klitch added, “There were not enough life jackets aboard for the six kids. The operator blew .20 on the breathalyzer.”

Boaters on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, beware. Coast Guard Group Grand Haven has its own version of Midnight Badger—I call it Midnight Wolverine. The only difference between the groups’ mission objectives is the animal namesakes. Jim Pierce speaks for all the Badger and Wolverine crews when he said, “We made a positive impact improving safety last year. But we expect to make even more of a difference this year.”

Boaters bent on enjoying the nation’s hard-earned independence this holiday weekend can assure their own independence by keeping the Badger and Wolverine at bay. Boat Smart—boat sober.

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