Drunk boater found asleep at the helm, doing doughnuts off B.C. harbour: RCMP

RCMPsay aman has been arrested for driving a fishing boat drunk, after he was found asleep at the helm with the boat doing doughnutsoff the north coast of Vancouver Island.

A statement said the man was so intoxicated, he had to be hospitalized after his arrest.

The Marine Authority first called RCMP after someone sawthe boat moving "in an erratic manner" off Port Hardy, B.C., at 9:50 a.m. PT on Nov. 29.

The vessel had sailed out of the bay by the time officers arrived. Looking through binoculars, RCMP could see the boat "just circling in the same spot" out in the open water.

A statement said the Canadian Coast Guard ferried two RCMP officers out to the boat to investigate. They saw a man sitting at the helm, but saidhe was "slumped over" and unresponsive,his shipstill continually spinning to the right.

Staff Sgt. Wes Olsen, detachment commander in Port Hardy, said the officers honked their horn to no response. A Mountieand a Coast Guard officer then boarded the vessel.

Olsen said they found the captain "grossly impaired," with an open bottle of liquor nearby.

The officer said a second, apparently drunk man was found sleeping in the hold.

The captain was arrested for impaired operation of a vessel and hospitalized. The investigation is ongoing.