Clearwater Beach tour boat captain was drunk on the job, fell off boat, police say

A tour boat captain stumbled into work on Clearwater Beach, voyaged out to sea and drunkenly fell overboard, police said.

John Beckwith, 53, was arrested Friday on a charge of boating under the influence. The captain for Clearwater Fun Boat Tours had 30 customers on board, some telling police he was so impaired he fell off the boat.

Employees told Clearwater police Beckwith “arrived to work stumbling and had food all over his face,” according to an arrest report.

Officers noticed his eyes were a bloodshot and smelled alcohol on his breath. Beckwith “performed poorly” on a field sobriety test and blew a 0.118 on a breathalyzer, which is over the 0.08 level at which Florida law says someone is impaired.

Beckwith was released Saturday afternoon without being required to post bail. The incident is Beckwith’s fourth charge for operating a vehicle while impaired, records show. He was convicted twice in Michigan and again for an “extreme DUI” in Arizona.

The Clearwater Beach tour provides customers a chance to spot dolphins playing in the waves “while indulging in a delicious ice cream sundae” on a “family-friendly boat,” according to the company’s website. Last year, it was awarded Tripadvisor’s “Travelers’ Choice Award,″ the website states.

Neither Beckwith nor a representative for the tour boat company could be reached by phone for comment.