MSD Boarding in Florida

[Captain Bill]

Over the years I have been safety checked twice and the USCG attempted to board me once but decided against it. Both safety checks were by wildlife officers alone in their boat and they just wanted to do a life jacket/flare/etc check. I assume since they were alone they weren't really interested in getting on my boat to do a potty check and was done very professionally. The USCG boarding was attempted in the Pamlico sound on a day when we were having our typical 3-4 foot square waves. The CG boat hailed me on the radio and told me to maintain course and speed and to standby for boarding and inspection, which I did. After about three approach attempts where they almost dumped a couple of the boarding party overboard, I guess they decided it wasn't worth the trouble and wished me a good day and went on their way. I wasn't the captain but I was on board a boat as a marine biologist off of Key West one moonless night in the early 80s when we noticed we were being followed by a boat with no running lights but you could see the wake. The captain tried hailing them but no luck. In the binos it kind of looked like a coast guard boat but there wasn't enough light to be sure and we could see it on radar and it had come out of Key West. We called the Key West coast Guard but they wouldn't answer which made us really suspicious. Finally the captain called the other boat on 16 and said if you don't back off or identify yourselves we will open fire. I bet it wasn't 5 seconds until we were blinded by the brightest spotlight you've ever seen and some guy saying this is the United States Coast Guard heave to and prepare to be boarded. We were actually quite happy it was them and not drug runners. They boarded and we had a nice talk. We didn't actually have any guns and they had really nice night vision stuff. Since the Marine Research Department was in the same department as the Marine patrol at that time our boats were painted the same way. The Coasties had looked at us with their night vision equipment and wondered what these long haired guys in shorts and Tee shirts were doing running a Marine Patrol boat at 2:00 in the morning. Like I said I was sure glad it was them.

[Brent Swain]

No law against forgetting to take in your tuna hooks, which the Coasties run their inflatables on with abandon. Slows them down a mite.

[Chief Engineer]

Originally Posted by Herbseesmoore

That is unreasonable!


"The Fourth Amendment was written directly in response to British general warrants (called Writs of Assistance), in which the Crown would grant general search powers to British law enforcement official. These officials could search virtually any home they liked, at any time they liked, for any reason they liked or for no reason at all. Since many of the founding fathers were smugglers, this was an especially unpopular concept in the colonies." -about.com

This thread could start a revolution.......................... nah!

A vessel is not a home (bricks and mortar)

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

No law against forgetting to take in your tuna hooks, which the Coasties run their inflatables on with abandon. Slows them down a mite.

Well after you snag their inflatable....you will be eating some lead from the mothership.

[sailorboy1]

What the heck is wrong with some of you! You consider these comments as responsible type of behavior? Are you listening to yourselves?

[RichH]

I think most of you are missing the real point. This is an obvious & clear legal extortion of $$$$$ for 'revenue purposes'.

This situation in Volusia County has nothing to do with 'potties'. Most Florida municipal jurisdictions are reportedly constantly receiving non-conformance citations to EPA regs. on their sewage plants and sewerage systems, etc.
Ask yourself, How is putting a 10¢ tie wrap going to prevent ANYTHING? All one has to do is cut the tie wrap, dump secretly, reinstall another 10¢ tie wrap, etc.???? A 10¢ tie-wrap, etc. stops NOTHING, but somehow by their very twisted lawyer-logic not having one applied can lead to heavy fines????? If the officials of Volusia County were HONEST and had INTEGRITY they could simply fire the waterway THUGS, install convenient and economical municipal owned and operated PUMP OUTS (and/or pump-out boats) stationed at their borders, could even be an unmanned self-service station --- but could make it CONVENIENT AND DESIRABLE that all transient boats coming into Volusia stop and pump. Would be a hell of a lot cheaper than the salaries of the 15-20 uniformed waterway-thugs, the extreme cost of their high powered 'pursuit boats' (always run at wide open throttle, even in 'manatee zones', etc. ) AND there would be no boater turds choking the waterways (which there are not) .... because its easy and convenient for boaters to do so.
As an aside, If this illogical and quite US unconstitutional Florida Law was valid, then the logical progression should be that all males in FLORIDA (residents and non-residents alike) should be required to have tie-wraps on their penis' to prevent the commission of rape, etc. ... same logic as the Florida boat potty Law apparently created and enacted by those with 'less mental prowess than mildew'.

Nope, especially now in these times of 'economic depression', you can bet your arse that ALL this, and all the escalating country-wide aggressive enforcement of most (and inane) laws, is nothing more that an increased potential revenue source for these cash-strapped municipalities .... nothing more, nothing less.

I & my wife also had 'almost' the exact same thing happen in Volusia County ... the Deputy did briefly brandish his weapon when boarding, attempted (and succeeded) to intimidate the living hell out of us .... as all the while he kept 'playing' with his holstered weapon. Im a hunter/shooter and I will tell you that my sphincter was tingling through-out the whole episode; but, I also know that most 'cop-stops' nowadays are nothing but 'fishing expeditions' to make a lucrative 'bust'. Law abiding Citizens must clearly understand that they are become a prey-species for cash-strapped governments. Doesnt make any difference what the US Constitution states ... the reality is that cash-strapped 'governments' now have neither morals nor integrity anymore and citizens are definitely become a 'prey species'. Sorry to burst your pollyanna-mind bubble if you thought differently.

BTW Marathon/Boot Key FL in Monroe County ... has 'mandatory pump out boats' ... convenient, friendly, etc. and there are NO TURDS in Boot key Harbor. Boaters flock to Marathon/Boot Key and the surrounding area gets the increased economic reward. Nobody stops (nor should stop) in Volusia County unless they want to subject themselves to a possible fatal conflict with a deputy waterway-thug looking to make a $$$ bust.

Simply STAY OUT OF VOLUSIA COUNTY FLORIDA.... they only want your 'fine' money. In Volusia County, Florida transient boaters are simply the 'prey species' du jur.

Universally, citizens are now simply a 'prey species' for (broke) governments .... and the LEOs and other mercenary 'hired-guns' that they have employed are ever increasingly becoming NOTHING MORE than LEGAL THUGS - or they get fired.
FOLLOW THE MONEY. ITS ALL ABOUT $$$$$$ and NOT ABOUT 'POTTIES'.

Please pass the information of this 'incident' and its potentially dire warnings along to ANYONE you know who is traveling or will travel along the AICW. The best remedy and ultimate self-protection here for all is to STAY OUT OF VOLUSIA COUNTY FLORIDA ...... so maybe the testosterone laden 'deputy water-thugs' turn on themselves and their 'greed-opportunistic' employers. Someone IS eventually going to get shot by a deputy water-thug in Volusia County ... dont let it be YOU.

[AllezCat]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

What the heck is wrong with some of you! You consider these comments as responsible type of behavior? Are you listening to yourselves?

Are you talking about the pro-gestapo, or anti-gestapo boaters?

[AllezCat]

Well put RichH.
I will bypass this area...
Spend my money elsewhere...
I got the impression the problem was severe all over. Sounds like some of the keys will be excellent hang out spots...

[rover88]

In the late 1970s I served as a Police Constable with the British South Africa Police in then Rhodesia. At the time virtually every man woman and teenager in the country was armed with an assortment of weapons including assault rifles, submachine guns and handguns.

The EXCEPTION within this heavily armed and war torn society were the municipal (city and town) police officers, who in the tradition of the British police, exercised their duties UNARMED.

Any LEO who feels the need to draw his weapon and point it at a person not presenting an imminent threat is a COWARD and has no business in law enforcement!

The persons victimized in this report (or anyone in a similar situation) should file a complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Even a hint of police misconduct or a civil rights violation will result in a thorough investigation and there are plenty of ex cops serving time in federal prisons for both.

[SailFastTri]

I don't believe the cruiser. He was probably hiding something. There's no way he was surprised that suddenly. Nobody can come aboard a boat that's underway without the captain and crew seeing it coming.
It just takes a little common sense.

[imagine2frolic]

Originally Posted by rtbates

I bet it was all over the tv news. That's what they accomplished...

It was their bad, and not a peep on the news. I am just wondering how much was the fuel for the copter?........i2f

[s/v Beth]

For very apparent reasons this thread is now closed. If I were some of the posters I would be embarrassed, but its done and past.
Lets get on to better topics like Sailing!