With over 2.5 per mille

Falling asleep drunk in a rubber dinghy

On Saturday afternoon, the police were called to an unusual operation in the Bavarian town of Lindau on Lake Constance, right on the border with Vorarlberg. Witnesses had observed a heavily intoxicated man trying in vain to leave his inflatable boat and get ashore.

The summer weather last weekend prompted many people to seek cooling off on and around Lake Constance. This included a 52-year-old man who decided to take a trip in an inflatable boat. However, he may have consumed a little too much alcohol in the process. 

When he tried to leave his rubber dinghy at the Oskar-Groll-Anlage on Saturday afternoon, he was unable to do so. An attentive witness observed this and called the police for help. By the time the officers arrived, however, the drunk had already given up trying to get out of the rubber dinghy - and was sleeping peacefully in his boat. After he was woken up, he finally made it back to land with police assistance.

The police officers were astonished when a voluntary breath alcohol test measured just over 2.5 per mille. As alcohol is not permitted above a certain level, even in an inflatable boat, and is a criminal offense in Germany for drunk driving, the 52-year-old was taken to the police station to have a blood sample taken. He is now facing criminal proceedings. After all measures were completed, he was able to leave the police station.