When can the Coast Guard board your vessel?

[Liam]

I'm with MikeC

The Coasties are the Good Guys!Equip your boat properly, operate it safely, educate yourself, do not endanger people or property, and you have absolutely nothing to worrie about.Welcome aboard, thanks for being there.

 

[dpitch65]

Coast Guard Vessel Check

Someone Wrote that they get a vessel check. I have that on my boat. In a recent boarding the coast guard said that they really don't care about that. They are checking all boats. It was funny that the coast guard (which I think was a reserve training excerices) wasn't fully familiar with the regulations for boats under 40ft. They ask if I had a bell, which I reply, not required for boat less than 40ft. (ok, its 39' and some change)However, I must admit, the coast guard was very friendly, very polite, the boarding experience was less than intimidating. (unlike being pulled over by the cops). T

 

[kendall]

coasties

I've had both coasties and county sherriffs board me and inspect, Coasties are at worse an inconvenience, heaving to etc, always been polite and very agreeable in the matter, any hassles were either mine or a passengers fault. sherriffs are a real pain in the tail, been boarded for stupid things, had them run up over my rode then complain about me not having an anchor set correctly (never knew that an anchor rode was supposed to go STRAIGHT down), been ticketed for not having a pfd on when I'm standing in kneedeep water next to a little inflatable tied off to a bush, (it was holding bait, tackle, food and a shirt) cops are a pain, but coasties are fine. I have no issues with the coast gaurd, and they are always welcome aboard, For the most part I consider what they do a needed service, but at times it is a pain, best I can say is be polite and agreeable and it'll be over with soon.  I'm not one to have controlled substances aboard so don't have anything to hide there, and personally I'd rather have a coastie tell me something was wrong with my safety equipment then to find out when I needed to use it. I get my share of hassles from the cops simply because I wear my hair long, normally wear a bandanna and realy hate shaving, so usually have a fair beard, wear old jeans because they're comfortable, and look like your typical hippy, so whenever I get stopped by the police it's almost a sure bet that they'll check out the car, bike, or boat. Have to admit the last couple times I've been stopped the police were so polite it made me uncomfortable. Ken

 

[Ray]

Coast Guard

Coast Guard - Brown water navy.

 

[Wes]

San Fran & NY unite!

Boarding a sailboat is akin to cavity searching grandma while looking for WMD.If it's a safety check, fine. But get off my skirt on this homeland security stuff. God knows that tons of anthrax are being stowed in a vessel doing three knots. Please....

 

[Louis Holub]

USCG << The Good Folks.

Thank God we have a US Coast Guard...and they check boats, cargos, etc. Sounds okay with me. Not all that floats is legal...no matter how nice lookin' or expensive the BOAT.

 

[Herb Parsons]

Homeland Security

"God knows that tons of anthrax are being stowed in a vessel doing three knots. Please.... "I'm taking an advanced navigation course put on by the CG Auxillary. I'm taking it because the captain's class I took seemed to have rushed through the navigation portion. They did it well enough that I passed, but I wanted a little more.Anyway, since it was put on by the CG Auxillary, a guy from the CG spoke at the first class for about 45 minutes. They showed a film that was basically the water version of "neighborhood watch". Part of the film clip was a re-enactment of an actual event that took place recently.A guy was on a sightseeing charter boat. Small sailboat that was also motor powered (looked like it was about a 60 foot imitation "pirate boat"). The captain noticed that one of the passengers was taking pictures (phone and video) of the underside of a bridge, rather than far off shots like most passengers did. Then he started asking questions of the captain - are people allowed around the bridge, is it accessible only by water, are small boats allowed in the are. The captain got suspicious, had his 1st mate take the helm, and called the CG. They met the boat at the dock, and after questioning him, took the "tourist" into custody. He had photographs and videos of several local bridges in the area, and a database search showed he was connected to Al-Queda.Guess my point is "last time" they did it in a way we didn't expect. I doubt that anthrax on containers is their only option. I don't mind being boarded.As soon as homeland security and/or the CG "rules out" a group of "possibles", whether it be grandmas or small pleasure boats, that's a group that can be used "safely" by the bad guys.

 

[kendall]

There ya go

The most likely way of getting away with something is to it in a way that doesn't seem suspicious, grab a 'wife' and dog, fishing poles and bait, throw some serious boomers in the hold and fish your way to some dam.  Unlikely any enemies are going to cruise up in warships with al quada flags flying.Ken.

 

[abe]

Yes Wes, and who would have thought that..

some one was going to fly an airliner into a building. Much easier to smuggle the anthrax in an unsuspecting boat than say... a fast moving drug smugling looking boat named "Gihaad".