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Drunk or sober, river floaters cut loose: The Naughty
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A little apprehension foreshadowed this project, as public disclosures of law breaking are hardly my cup of tea; however, the purity of my experience drunk on the river makes this a little easier – even if the heat and the booze makes the whole thing a little hazy.
Word on the street was that water bottles or certain sports drinks were the best vessels to hide my spirits in – although spirits were already high on the sweltering day – so half a bottle of vodka in some orange juice later, my team of cohorts and I were ready to go.
We pre-funked mightily on the bike ride to Barber Park, so by the time we arrived, the five of us were all fairly boisterous, obnoxious and a little impatient with the gaggling line of youngsters flitting around the air-pumps for our rafts. But after much yelling and wrestling as we waited, we finally hit the river, our secret booze hiding on the floor of our rafts.
After floating a number of other waterways of more dangerous classification and drinking freely, it seemed strange being limited on alcohol while floating the downtown Boise River – a mild river, packed with long and mellow stretches of calm water.
There are faster sections of the river, and these do get rather deep, so I understand the alcohol ban may be purposeful in this regard. A drunk would undoubtedly have a harder time in these powerful sections. But in truth, a little libation didn’t do much, if anything, to us. We mostly just laughed and got rowdy in our rafts. It was particularly funny when, jumping from bridges into the icy depths, one of our boatmates’ top fell off.
The alcohol adds a sense of urgency to the rather mundane activities of the river (bumping into other rafts, steering around bridge pylons, sunning your pasty side, etc). The air of danger and rebellion has simultaneously been added to the basic river float through the inclusion of Boise Police patrol boats.
In sighting one of these law enforcers, the heart twitters and the truly brave swig from their incognito-mixed drink water bottles. There wasn’t much hassling done by the officers as far as I could see. The police presence limited raucous behavior – especially that of the law-breakers – but was basically a non-issue. It’s like how people never speed when driving near a police cruiser.
The conclusion? There isn’t much to be said for drinking on the river. Sure, as a student, it’s always fun to throw back a few.
But honestly, I’m not sure why it’s a big deal to wait a few hours before having your next drink. The risky may still want to take their party onto the river – I say the rest of us can wait.
ALBERT JAMES SHAW
Special to The Arbiter
