Off the subject just slightly. Quite some time back, when I was still in the Navy. I went Pheasant hunting with a couple of buddys from the base. One of our group had invited his brother from out of town to go with us. When we all met the morning of the hunt, our friends brother was already completely shitfaced. In fact, he had been drinking all night with his buddy that he invited without asking anyone.Those of us who were not inebriated refused to go out with this pair of drunken clowns if they were going to be carrying guns. We managed to convince the friend of the brother to leave his gun in the car. The brother however would not leave his gun behind since he had borrowed it from his Dad (THE ADMIRAL). And what a nice gun it was, 12 Gauge side by side double made in the Soviet Union and absolutly irreplaceable. Well any way, the brother agreed to unload his gun so he wouldn't shoot anyone. Now we had a couple of preety darn good Pheasant drivers to push the brush for us. Of course, since they were not technicaly hunting, both of our heros felt free to bring all the beers they could carry. It was a pretty good day with some very nice wild pheasant bagged. After I got home I recieved a phone call from my friend with the drunken brother. He needed some help retracing our steps from the day since his brother left his dad's shotgun leaning against a tree or car or something and forgot it. We searched for hours that night and never found that gun. So I guess my answer would have to be that, yes i think it's ok to drink while you are on the river. Just make sure you buy good quality gear so I don't have to find the cheap junk.
GRUMPYR