La Jolla Rough Water Drink Regulations – Albert Conforms
Written by mac meda on September 14, 2009 – 4:43 am -The Official Mac Meda Rough Drink started in the early 1970s (sorry exact date is a tad fuzzy) and for about 8 years it grew until lifeguards, police and the Coast Guard, banned boats from being X miles from the La Jolla Rough Water swim. Well, drinking also had a major role.
The first Drink, two boats collided and sunk. The famous picture (we are trying to get it now) shows a guy standing on the bow, with beer in hand, as the boat slowly sinks. The next year, T-shirts were made with the logo of just the arm holding a beer and the words La Jolla Rough Drink, and the year.
Now Coast Guard regulations for safe boating require that each recreational boat be equipped with an appropriate life jacket for each person on board and a requirement for the maximum number of people on a vessel based on the size of vessel. Okay …
Boats less than 16 feet long and all canoes and kayaks must have the following safety equipment:
- A U.S. Coast Guard approved wearable life jacket for each person aboard.
- Proper lights displayed sunset to sunrise.
- One Coast Guard approved fire extinguisher of B-1 or larger unless boat construction doesn’t allow explosive or flammable gases or vapors to be trapped and blab blab blab …
The Coast Guard Regulation for number of people in a boat is based on the following formula: The vessel length in feet times the vessel width in feet divided by 15.
Mac Meda Rough Drinks regulation are a little different then Coast Guard regulations for safe boating. There are only two regulations
- Get as many floating devices as possible, that includes, but not limited to boats, rafts, surfboards, boogie boards etc etc.
- Cram as many people and beers as you can in them and still float!!!
So lets make captains Doug Moranville’s (Stocker) and Pinky’s (Wood-i, the green boat) the perfect example of how Mac Meda conforms to their rules.
The Stroker is 12 feet long, about 5 feet wide, the capacity according to the formula is 4 people, but Moranville has about 12! Good job Doug!
And check out Pinky’s lobster skiff, that’s required to carry 9, but I think the count is around 25. Now check it out when it taxied a ton of people; the rails are about 2 inches out of the water, but we must not forget, that included the lobster boxes which were transformed into coolers and packed with beers, which added a ton and the reason why it is riding so lowwww heading to the event. Way to keep on top of regulations!!!
Well Albert’s Captain followed regulations when he cruised the event in a 18 foot Whaler with two other people. The captain figured, gorillas probably did not like to swim.
And out of the hundreds of people, the ONLY person that has a life vest was Thomas Hendricks, that’s because he had a neck brace for a broken neck … but we will let this slide…
Hummm, beside Thomas and Albert, do you think for one second that any of the other Rough Water Drink captains conformed to Coast Guard regulation?
I don’t think so ….
Photos by Doug Moranville
Tags: events, Rough Water Drink
Posted in Rough Water Drink | 10 Comments »
By doug. m on Sep 14, 2009 | Reply
2 things: I should have never shaved the beard and that was the last time I ever drank straight tequilla!
By Dan Dameron on Sep 19, 2009 | Reply
I understand it was Rakestraw who offered you the nickname LaMont
By Lisa Spoon on Sep 21, 2009 | Reply
Anne, Karena, Leanne and I bought a 6 man raft back then and christened it the “Sea Pussy”. Crazy times at the Drink! I also no longer drink straight tequila–that was not a good thing there. Dangerous results(lacerated the bridge of my nose). Great website
By Barbi on Sep 21, 2009 | Reply
Great Picture Doug….
Those were some good times!
By Ginny on Sep 26, 2009 | Reply
I remember still attending the Rough Water Drink in the early ’80s….boats, beer, water balloon launchers and all….when did it end? late ’80s???
By Dennis Downie on Oct 28, 2009 | Reply
I remember one Rough Drink, I drank a whole gallon of Red Mountain out on one of the boats. When the Drink ended I somehow swam to the Clam, climbed up the cliff and made it to my car. I had to take a leak so bad. With hundreds of people walking by my car I sat in the car and pissed into my plastic gallon water jug. What a relief ! The next thing I remembered was waking up in the sand @ Sea Lane that nite. I made it home, slept a few hrs and got up at 7 AM to go to 1st day of classes @ SDSU. Wow, I was so sick. Driving down the street with the car door open, I laid a continus wavy line of vomit half way to SDSU. I was late getting there so I had to park far off campus. Upon existing from parked car, I decided to rinse out that vomit taste from my mouth. I swallowed a small amount of water and then with a mouth full of water and the water jug above my face I suddenly remembered why the water looked a bit yellow !!!! Needless to say I vomited for thirty minutes straight. I neved drank to puking excess ever again.
By the way, where and who made up the phrase” to shoot bird” .
By mark dameron on Oct 29, 2009 | Reply
SOMEBODY told me his brother Jim, my brother Rick, Bill Decker, and maybe one other guy were ” hunting” in Carmel Valley,when an unfortunate bird landed nearby. They ALL opened up on the poor bastard (with .22 cal. semi-automatic rifles)… when the smoke cleared , all that was left of it was some blood, some feathers, and some goo. This resembled vomit. Thus the term “SHOT – BIRD”. It’s a good story, true or not.
By Dan Dameron on Oct 29, 2009 | Reply
Hey Mark, I think the guy who you are thinking of was a guy in my class at LJHS (1968), tall guy, I think he played basketball….Dennis Something…Where you living now?
By Dennis Downie on Nov 5, 2009 | Reply
Dan, it was not me
By John Frager on Dec 20, 2010 | Reply
Photo of the gorilla throwing the girl off the boat. Boston Whaler owned and driven by Dan Mulvihill (cardioligist now). I was in the gorilla suit and the girl being tossed off the boat was my sister, Gina (Frager) Hixson. I’d guess that was 1977 or 1978.