Harrassment by marine patrols in Michigan?

[bgallinger]

Oh heck c'mon. We paid our taxes to set these outfits like DEA etc up so they need something to do! You never know who might be sneakin' across from poor old Canada!
My issue with these guys (MI State Police, DEA, Coast Guard etc.) is boarding me in Canadian waters!

[Ramblingman]

...but you could be sneaking in that awful cold arctic air. We keep hearing complaints about acid rain but the US has had to deal with Canadian Clippers and Arctic Air for a lot longer. :P

[Richard_W]

Originally Posted by bgallinger

My issue with these guys (MI State Police, DEA, Coast Guard etc.) is boarding me in Canadian waters!

Interesting ... has this happened to you?

I had a close encounter with black clad people on grey boats with some sort of US emblem while I was on clearly registered Canadian boat in Canadian waters on Saint Lawrence River. The two boats approached us at high speed from 2 o'clock, slowed a bit and turned maybe 60 feet from our boat, and went by our starboard. It was weird. I was concerned about possible collision and too stunned to take pictures.

Since then I wonder what I would do if they would attempt to board?

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Ramblingman

...and most of them were elected last Fall.

Normally I try to keep my political opinions out but the Constitution has been seriously under attack since 9/11 and more so in the past 4 years. People wonder why I am getting a second passport and preparing to move all of my family and what little assets we have out of the US and on to some friendly third world dictatorship. My family has been on US soil since the mid 1600's, we are vacating in a few years.

As to the topic - we had a rampant issue a few years back here in MD too, now the state appears more focused on ALPR's than boaters. The MD DNR Police are usually boaters at heart. Hopefully the phase in MI will fade soon for you.

Yea all of these "friendly 3rd world countries" cant wait for you to bring what little assets you have to them..trust me you will be a lot better off somewhere else,just remember to not ever call the US embassy if you need any help,just call up that friendly "dick-tater" and tell him your problems,all Dick-taters in 3rd world countries love to help people that have fled and forsaken there home countries for better grazen in another country..They fill like they can trust you to be "loyal" to there country since you were so loyal to your home country..Works everytime..

[Nicholson58]

We Sail out of Muskegon. Lake Michigan central east coast. I think there are several places you migh bubble the winter away in a slip. Your problem always is what to do if you have a problem? Work boat can't get to you & you can't get out of the basin. I figure - go for indoor heated storage and live aboard very quietly.

We always get a courtesey inspection and post the sticker in plain sight. We are documented and my wife & I both are GreatLakes Masters. We wear floatation underway always. Safety gear hangs from the transom. We Have AIS so the real cops - CG and homeland security, know who we are at 60 miles or so etc. I hail them VHS on approach using their AIS data and arrange passing. We observe all navigational and speed restrictions, rules of the road. I signal entering blind channels. They never bother with us. The closest encounter was on approach to the channel at Drummond Island for a North Channel cruise. The black & gray HS boat covered with guns and young men came out of nowwhere and asked us our intentions. In the end, they just advised us to remember to check back in at a disignated entry point. The Canadians checked us in by phone at Meldrum Bay. Very civil bunch.

On Muskegon Lake the police types zero in on the obvious targets. If you see a patio boat with 28 people including kids, no life jackets, angeling for the state park beach you can be sure they get stopped for a lifejacket count, overload check and booze inspection.


It used to bother me that every weekend we could count on sombody in a power boat doing something incredibly stupid arond us. I just chalk it up to entertainment now. That the police pay more attention to small power boats is nothing but going with the probabilities. I think that the police recognize that the sailboaters generally represent a great deal more experience and capability than the average trailer launched power boater. The problem that really shocks you is then one of the completely incompetant ones gets enough money to buy a 60 foot diesel sucker and drives it like a skiff.

[sailcruiser]

Very strange to read these encounters. I haven't been on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan but I did meet the fast gray boats on Lake Huron where they pulled into he state run marina we had docked overnight. We had a very friendly chat about nothing DHS/BC related as he walked the grounds and I walked my dog. I was buzzed by a few gray boats with something like 900hp on the back a few times on the St.Clair and Detroit rivers. I waved and they returned the courtesy. We also wear flotation aids, have safety equipment visible on the rail and never drink under way. I feel it's a safety matter if the SHTF. (My personal philosophy only.)

I do fiercely protect what is left of my rights but I have none on a documented boat aside from personal and that is subjective with the Patriot Act. Maybe I was lucky or perhaps I look benign. I would guess some amount of stereotype they look for and apparently I'm to it.
SC

[cadteach]

We have liveaboards in our marina in Michigan, and a number of boats that bubble all winter rather than haul out. They get by, cold though it must be. It's not impossible, just unusual (maybe uncomfortable, although I've never been aboard in winter).

I'm not on Lake Michigan, but on the sunrise side.

Originally Posted by rognvald

Geezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz OscarParsons, I would love to know where you are a liveaboard sailor on Lake Michigan during the Winter when all the harbors from north to south freeze solid. How do you deal with the considerable snow, ice and freezing rain? Last week, our harbormaster in southern Lake Michigan did an ice sample in the harbor. It was still 15" thick. You truly must be an exceptional sailor/soul. The statement that you have never been stopped by a marine patrol as evidence of lack of harassment on the lake is analagous to a swimmer in the ocean claiming there are no sharks since he's never been bitten by one. There is no rumor mongering going on as evidenced by several respondants in this discussion and numerous reports in local newspapers ie


Branch County Marine Patrol seasonal report upbeat - Coldwater, MI ...




www.thedailyreporter.com/article/20090912/NEWS/309129973



And, in regards to your comment intimating that I have no knowledge of constitutional law is patently absurd since you cannot have any knowledge of someone you don't know or what they might do for a living. But then again, you might have developed some remarkable clairvoyance living aboard in those sub zero temperatures that remarkably transformed your inner being to the level of a Buddhist priest or a Vedic purohita. And, I never denigrated Lake Michigan as a cruising area or its sailors. What I have said is that for those of us on the western shore of the lake there is no opportunity for anchoring unless you go 200 miles north to Sturgeon Bay or cross the lake 80 miles and encounter the potential harassment that is the subject of this discussion. Contrary opinions are always welcome in serious discussions for they allow all of us to understand the subject matter and decide for ourselves where lies logic and reason. However, emotional responses with no valid support or documentation must be viewed in a lesser light and taken for what they are and what they are not. Good luck and good sailing. And,by the way, didn't our founding fathers write the U.S. Constitution while vacationing in Bulgaria? Oh, geezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, I must not be getting my facts straight.

[Moosemiester]

We boat on Western Lake Erie. Excessive harassment and boardings are out of control, there's a bill in the Ohio legislature at the moment to address the issue.

Michigan passed a similar bill.

The DHS grants were used to buy boats - because, as we know, boats are cool. Five years ago all you saw was the local Sheriff. Now you see large, fancy, expensive boats from every agency. They have to have something to do, so they stop people.

A friend of mine was stopped earlier in the season. They wanted to board, he said no. They demanded he show them all his safety equipment. On his 26' he only had one fire extinguisher, they wrote him up, sent him a letter that the fine was three thousand dollars unless he sent them a photo of a new extinguisher. Crazy.

A month ago they setup outside of the new marina at Middle Bass and stopped every single boat going in and out for the entire weekend.

We no longer go to Canada as they sit just off Pelee Island and stop every boat making the transit.

This information is all easily obtained by using "The Google" :-)

[AnchorageGuy]

Both the Ohio and Michigan bills have been discussed here
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...gs-107619.html
and here
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...al-103078.html
and since Michigan has already issued regulations making it illegal without probable cause, it should not be an issue. If Law Enforcement choose to ignore the new law, they should be taken to task for it. Chuck

[AbaftAndBaffled]

I really hope this makes it across the border. I'm all for safe boating but the marine police (and their budgets) are getting out of control. I heard someone got in trouble for not having a bailing device on a paddleboard, lol.

[rognvald]

With no desire to kick a dead horse, do any boaters on the Eastern Shore of Lake Michigan (State of Michigan) have any first hand reports of harassment, either positive or negative, by water police this Summer? Is there increased presence during sanctioned holidays or is it business as usual?

[Tonyjay]

Originally Posted by Moosemiester

We boat on Western Lake Erie. Excessive harassment and boardings are out of control, there's a bill in the Ohio legislature at the moment to address the issue.

Michigan passed a similar bill.

The DHS grants were used to buy boats - because, as we know, boats are cool. Five years ago all you saw was the local Sheriff. Now you see large, fancy, expensive boats from every agency. They have to have something to do, so they stop people.

A friend of mine was stopped earlier in the season. They wanted to board, he said no. They demanded he show them all his safety equipment. On his 26' he only had one fire extinguisher, they wrote him up, sent him a letter that the fine was three thousand dollars unless he sent them a photo of a new extinguisher. Crazy.

A month ago they setup outside of the new marina at Middle Bass and stopped every single boat going in and out for the entire weekend.

We no longer go to Canada as they sit just off Pelee Island and stop every boat making the transit.

This information is all easily obtained by using "The Google" :-)

The ohio bill passed. We have seen a marked reduction in sheriff and local police boats. USCG and CBP are unaffected by the law.

[Anonymous7500]

Originally Posted by rognvald

With no desire to kick a dead horse, do any boaters on the Eastern Shore of Lake Michigan (State of Michigan) have any first hand reports of harassment, either positive or negative, by water police this Summer? Is there increased presence during sanctioned holidays or is it business as usual?

Positive experience with harassment?....errr

Seriously though, we haven't been stopped one time this summer in Holland. The presence is the same as last year. There is always a county boat, a coast guard boat and some gray boat in the channel. We must look non-threatening.

[Buflowing]

We've spent 10 days total tooling around Grand Traverse Bay this year and have been spotted at least 3 or 4 times that i' ve noticed but never stopped. Then again we are only a 17 ft sailboat, perhaps not too interesting?

[ibekickinback]

I am sadden by the excessive police state that has found its tenicals now reaching into the great lakes. Yes they are to many "police agencies" on the lakes. The Coast Guard is great folks and need to be left to the job, the rest need to take the boats the fed bought them and laod it with fishing gear.