An Average CG Day
This response is from Mac, an avid sailor who is also a member of the USCG (PERSONAL OPINION does not reflect anyone’s opinion other than the authors!): Average Day in USCG Source: G-IPA Each day, the men and women of the 35,000 plus active duty Coast Guard, 8,000 Reservists and 32,000 Auxiliarists provide services over 3.4 million square miles of Exclusive Economic Zones... (NOTE: The entire USCG has LESS people than the entire City of New York Police Department) • Conduct 109 Search and Rescue Cases. • Save 10 lives. • Assist 192 people in distress. • Protect $2,791,841 in property. • Small boats are underway for 396 sorties/missions. • Aircraft fly 164 missions, logging 324 hours, of which 19 hrs are flown off patrolling cutters. • Law enforcement teams board 144 vessels. • Seize 169 pounds of marijuana and 306 pounds of cocaine worth $9,589,000.00. • Seize 1 drug smuggling vessel every five days • Cutter and small boat crews interdict and rescue 14 illegal migrants. • Marine Safety personnel open 8 new cases for marine violation of federal statutes • Process 238 Seaman licenses and documents. • Marine Inspectors board 100 large vessels for port safety checks. • Vessel examiners conduct 20 commercial fishing vessel safety exams and issue 11 fishing vessel compliance decals. • Pollution investigators respond to 20 oil or hazardous chemical spills totaling 2,800 gallons. • Investigate 6 vessel casualties involving collisions, allisions or groundings. • Buoy tenders and Aids to Navigational Teams service 135 aids to navigation. • Vessel Traffic Service controllers assist 2,509 commercial ships entering & leaving U.S. ports. • Icebreakers and buoy tenders assist 196,938 tons of shipping daily during the Great Lakes ice season. • International Ice Patrol sorties provide ice safety information to facilitate the 163,238 tons of shipping during the North Atlantic ice season. • Auxiliarists conduct 377 vessel safety checks and teach boating safety courses to 550 boaters. Now multiply those numbers by 365 days in a year. Mistakes may occur but the extremely low percentage considering the total amount that is done is way below any average of any other similar type agency both in the US and in the world. People who complain about this are the same people who complain when the get robbed and state that the police department should have stopped it (next time maybe schedule your robbery with them so they know to be there), and also complain about the fire department not being there when their house catches on fire (again maybe calling and scheduling your fire in advance may help this). If you would like more service then PLEASE contact YOUR Congressman and Senator and ask them to provide more funding to the USCG so they can do more! But the bottom line is that since man (and woman) first set upon the seas it is a very hazardous activity even in today’s time. People are responsible to ensure that THEY are properly trained and prepared BEFORE beginning any boating activity. Because it is first the INDIVDUALS responsibility to protect themselves and their vessel. There are only so many rescuers (USCG, local Police, Marine Patrol) and they can only do so much. So if you have a problem and they are already rescuing someone else at the same time (remember you are not the only person on water at any given time) then you may not get help as quick as you like. Also about the cell phone calling USCG. Local Notice to Mariners and published guidance clearly states the only proper way to contact a USCG Watch Stander in an emergency is via Ch 16 on VHF! The phone you may be calling may be in a back office where no one gets to it till Monday morning. So use your radio to contact the USCG in an emergency (oh yeah that would fall under be properly trained and prepared). ----- Sailor's were meant to be on ships, ships were meant to be at sea, land is nothing more than a mere hazard to navigation.
Happy holidays! Don