Vic, a question for you about public urination

A

AbsoLoot

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I have always been told that it is not against any laws for one to urinate or defecate directly into a river or lake, but that if one did it into a bucket and then dumped it it would be unlawful because the bucket would be a "holding tank."

I am having a discussion with a friend who claims his buddy was cited for standing up in a small craft and urinating directly into San Francisco Bay. This is common practice for fishermen in small boats and can occur when closer than 3 miles to shore.

I was wondering if you new of a code section that addressed this or if I have just been another unwitting believer of an urban legend? Any help would be appreciated.
 
I believe the charge would be indecent exposure or something like that.
 
I dont know the answer, however I would like to go on record as saying, "I believe it's the god given right of every fisherman to urinate in the body of water which he finds himself fishing in." There I've said it now I feel better.
 
I think pauld has it right.

From all that I have seen, going directly from the body into the water is legal. If the by-products have a "layover" it can almost always be construed as illegal.

Basically, "hanging it over the side" is a well used loophole in the law.
 
The law's a little goofy - if you are already in the water, you can do #1 or #2 in the water, just like any other water creature - and it's legal - just like if you're in your next-door neighbor's pool [:-bigeyes] [:-bigeyes] (remember the movie, "Caddyshack"? Snickers bar, anyone???)

But if you do it in a bucket, then empty the bucket over the side, BINGO !!!, $2,000 fine. Same with the guys standing back on the swim platform and whizzing into the water - technically, it's a $2,000 fine. According to law, you've gotta be IN the water before you can let loose legally!

Needless to say, the law isn't enforced very stringently - if at all.

Guys, if you're ever out alone on the boat, be sure to take it out of gear before heading back to the swim platform, so that the boat can't go off and leave you in the water, if you should fall overboard...
 
Put on your life jacket before stepping on the swim platform doing it over the side. A lot of bodies fished out after drowning have their flies open.
 
Thank you for the clarification Vic. I haste to get in the water to take a whiz, so I guess I'll continue to be a law breaker when fishing on small skiffs and Damn, I lost the argument/discussion with the other guy.
 
Vic,

It was a Baby Ruth bar.... much more realistic! ;)
 
As my granddaughter says, "What-ev-errrr...."

Baby Ruth, Snickers, what-ev-errrr. Hey, that was a lot of years ago, I haven't seen the movie recently. Next thing I know, you'll have me at McCormicks packing house, in their Quality Control Department, separating the flysh*t from the ground black pepper - and that's hard on the eyes!

Glad you're back Mike, you can help to get me back on the straight and narrow.
 
ok... so use a bottle and then empty the bottle overboard ! there are no laws against dumping old warm lemonade overboard, is there ?

or if your body doesn't have enough endurance, time to shorten the fishing trips ! whenver someone comes along for a long car trip (car club buddies sometimes) i always warn them that they must have at least the same range as my car... about 250miles or 3 hours. :-)
 
Vic,

Caddyshack is one of my all-time favorites! So are Baby Ruths!!!! (real ones, please).
 
Hey, Mikee - trivia question... Who was the Baby Ruth candy bar named after? And it wasn't the fat ol' home run king, either!
 
Vic, President Somebody's Daughter... now I'll do a Google and get the full answer!

OK, it is reported to be President Grover Cleveland's daughter, Ruth Cleveland and that is what the candy company cliams is fact. However, SNOPES says no but offers no viable answer. If SNOPES is saying that the candy company that produced and named it is wrong then I think SNOPES credibility is in question. This is far more than anyone needs to know about a candy bar!

http://www.snopes.com/business/names/babyruth.asp
 
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