As the August 5-7 long weekend draws near, Royal Canadian Mounted Police are teaming up with the Canadian Safe Boating Council to launch year five of an initiative called 'Operation Dry Water'. 

Drinking and boating accounts for nearly 40 per cent of boating fatalities on Canadian waterways. The goal of Operation Dry Water, is to reduce alcohol related boating deaths. 

"So far this year," said Ian Gilson, Director of the Canadian Safe Boating Council. "we've had 58 boating related fatalities nationally, which is 20 over what we had last year at this time. We had 38 last year so we're not trending in the right way. It's such an important initiative because too many people are dying in what we classify as preventable deaths."

Operation Dry Water will focus on the potential risks of impaired boating and remedies that currently exist to discourage it.

"People we find, that when they get out there and are drinking, they do things that are risky that they might not normally do were they not impaired and they might not be paying as close attention. If you're in a crowded anchorage and you say it's time to go home, and you don't see swimmers in the water, and you've got spinning propellers, that could be tragic."

Whether or not your craft is motorized, you can be charged with Impaired Operation of a vessel if your blood alcohol level exceeds the .08 threshold. Though there is currently discussion going on in courts as to what legally constitutes a vessel.

During Operation Dry Water, marine enforcement will saturate high traffic areas on lakes and canals throughout the provinces, intensifying efforts to detect and apprehend boat operators who are operating under the influence of alcohol.

Impaired boating is a criminal offence that could have repercussions far beyond the loss of your boating privileges.