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Old 04-03-2014, 02:34 PM   #41
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I still have the records, boat bought in '98, kept in a marina all of '99 and most of 2000. All electronics were new and purchased by us from WM or direct from the manufacturer, no ebay items. All I was looking for was for someone to say sorry, we made a mistake.

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Old 04-03-2014, 02:56 PM   #42
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>>>While I see all of it as a very disturbing situation and your wife's injuries unnecessary, I don't see the "harass, intimidate, bully" part.<<<

The fact that nobody up the food chain ever admitted that they had made a mistake, apologized for our scrapes and bruises or the dirty paw prints all over the boat makes me think it was out and out harassment. The folks on the cutter were obviously bored so they decided to play games at our expense. Turning us loose after dark to find an anchorage was downright irresponsible.

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Old 04-03-2014, 03:39 PM   #43
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That is an unfortunate occurrence and I certainly wouldn't want to go through a secondary inspection while at sea either.

I can't speak for the Coast Guard, but the part of the world you were boating in is ripe with crime and violence. Quite literally in a constant state of war and much of law enforcement operates at a heightened state of alert.

Law enforcement agencies gather most of their drug and criminal gang intelligence information from past arrests/contacts, witness statements and informants. Very little of it is electronically obtained in advance and even less from any wide information net (like the NSA or CIA might employ). All this intelligence ends up in several law enforcement data bases which then attempts to associate all this data into something meaningful. Sometimes witness statements and informant information is wrong. I suspect that was what happened too you!!

I had a friend who's fathers nickname was Bud. For his birthday, his son gave him personalized license plates for his Dodge Durango that read "MR BUD". Every time he crossed the U.S. - Canadian border, he got sent in for a secondary inspection. Finally when they started lifting seats and door panels, he had had enough of it and got in the Customs officers face, which caused him more grief. But looking back on it, understanding that "Bud" is a term associated with Marijuana and it turns out that "Mr. Bud" was the nickname of a known drug smuggler in this area. When he entered the border check point, the license plate scanners read the plate, queried the LEA database and up popped an association with "Mr. Bud" the drug smuggler.

PS: If you really believe everything and everybody in the world is monitored electronically. . . Then why can't they locate Malaysian flight MH 370??
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Old 04-03-2014, 04:45 PM   #44
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While at the Multnomah Channel Yacht Club St. Patty's cruise, the USCG Aux was there and I asked them to inspect my boat. As I don't have the USCG documentation numbers yet, he accepted my "traveling letter" as proof of ownership. Out of 25 orange life vests, 5 failed. He looked at my pollution and garbage plan plates, checked lights, horn and then wanted to see my navigation rules book. He looked at my electrical panel and noticed I had a macerator breaker switch. He told me he couldn't issue me a sticker until I safety wired it to prevent it from being turned on. Funny he didn't check batteries or my pooper "Y" valve. He got stuck on the switch. Passed and got my sticker.
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Old 04-03-2014, 05:00 PM   #45
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My guess is a case of mistaken identity...if the boat was in texas and another boat with the same ID was involved elsewhere...some bad guy was doctoring boat IDs maybe.

As far as the USCG being bored...I severely doubt it...their life often is so much harsher than many civilians..it's sometimes hard to understand how someone can complain of mistreatment after a lot they have been through.

No...the USCG are not civil servants....if you think I like the word "servant" used in my title for risking my life for this country and putting up with all I did...and all the long hours.... for over 20 years..."ya gotta nother thing comin' to ya."

EVERY situation I was ever in...even prisoners got treated with respect and reasonable treatment...most coasties would demand no less of their subordinates....and most are giving souls anyway.

For the one time you are treated poorly by a government agency that usually enjoys a pretty good rep for being extraordinarily professional on the water...remember all the times you were mistreated by some civilian that had far more to gain by treating you nicely than the average Coastie.
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Old 04-03-2014, 05:02 PM   #46
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my guess is a case of mistaken identity...if the boat was in texas and another boat with the same ID was involved elsewhere...some bad guy was doctoring boat IDs maybe.

As far as the USCG being bored...I severely doubt it...their live often is so much harsher than any civilians..it's sometimes hard to understand how someone can complain of mistreatment after a ot they have been through.

No...the USCG are not civil servants....if you think I like the word "servant" used in my title for risking my life for this country nad putting up with all I did...and all the long hours.... for over 20 years..."ya gotta nother thing comin' to ya."

EVERY situation I was ever in...even prisoners got treated with respect and reasonable treatment...most coasties would demand no less of their subordinates....and most are giving souls anyway.

For the one time you are treated poorly by a government agency that usually enjoys a pretty good rep for being extraordinarily professional on the water...remember all the times you were mistreated by some civilian that had far more to gain by treating you nicely than the average Coastie.
Hear hear!!!
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Old 04-04-2014, 09:14 AM   #47
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Last year a good friend was coming home from a summer cruise in the Gulf Islands. One of his brand-new oil lines failed and dumped about four quarts of oil all over his engine room before his alarm sounded. It' swingy and the seas are pretty rough, his wife is at the helm and he is sucking up the oil in the bilge with a toy water sprayer, and putting the oil in pots and pans. They call Customs in Friday Harbor, explain the situation and ask for a pass on docking at Friday Harbor. Customs answers NO.

They offer to limp home to Edmonds, WA on one engine and stay on the boat until a Customs Officer can visit. NO. So they come into Friday Harbor, have an exciting landing on the dock, have to wait 30 minutes to be boarded, and a young guy walks over to their boat and tells them they can leave.

My friend says no way, you made me come here for an inspection, get yer @ss on board and inspect it! He wouldn't let the kid leave until he had crawled through the oily engine room. After getting home my friend lit up the phone lines and a few days later had a personal apology from all involved, along with a telephoned apology from a senior Customs official.

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Old 04-04-2014, 09:39 AM   #48
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I get what you are saying and I agree that 99% of coasties are respectful and helpful. Thank you for your service.

That said, when treated poorly by a civilian I walk away. If you are being detained by the military that isn't an option.

In this case a simple explanation, even after the mistreatment would have gone a long way. Being secret about it only served to cause mistrust.
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Old 04-04-2014, 10:45 AM   #49
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I get what you are saying and I agree that 99% of coasties are respectful and helpful. Thank you for your service.

That said, when treated poorly by a civilian I walk away. If you are being detained by the military that isn't an option.

In this case a simple explanation, even after the mistreatment would have gone a long way. Being secret about it only served to cause mistrust.
If it's part of an investigation they have to be secret sometimes. Let's say for a moment it relates to the previous owner. They don't know your relationship with that owner. Should they have assisted in a way no one was injured? Yes. Perhaps they should have said, "Sorry we had to detain you. Hope you can still have a nice day." But I imagine at that point they could see by your face and hear in your voice that a statement like that was more likely to get ire than peace.

I once was waked at 3:00 AM by a loud knock on my hotel door and yelling my name. When I opened the door, their were guns drawn on me. They had apparently had a car similar to mine stolen and I still had temporary tags. This was in a small town. The thought of checking the VIN apparently didn't cross their minds. They asked for my paperwork, which was of course in the car. So I had to dress and then go out with them. There was no apology, just "We had reports of a car like it stolen." I wanted to call them idiots and ask why they didn't check the VIN and all the other things but they were just the type of good old boys who would have turned anything into more. So I just let them go and went back to my room. Checked out of there immediately and hit the road at 3:30 AM. Oh and as they walked away they were laughing away. I'm sure at the look on my face or something like that. Who to complain to? Probably everyone in town was brothers or cousins.

Some do abuse their power, but if I'm not really hurt by it, I just accept and go on. If I was harmed in a significant way, then I'd respond differently.
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Old 04-04-2014, 10:51 AM   #50
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......I had a friend who's fathers nickname was Bud. For his birthday, his son gave him personalized license plates for his Dodge Durango that read "MR BUD". Every time he crossed the U.S. - Canadian border, he got sent in for a secondary inspection. ........
Someone (I think on this forum) asked if my boat's name "HIGH COTTON" was some sort of drug slang. That was a first for me but I suppose if that's where your mind is you can read what you want into just about anything.
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Old 04-04-2014, 12:00 PM   #51
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Ron... isn't HIGH COTTON the second part of this expression? I used to hear the expression, TALL COTTON...
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Old 04-04-2014, 12:22 PM   #52
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Walking in high cotton means you are doing well (your cotton crop is growing well).

The group Alabama had a big hit song with that name.

That was the name of the boat when we bought it and we liked it so we kept it.
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Old 04-04-2014, 12:35 PM   #53
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Ron... isn't HIGH COTTON the second part of this expression? I used to hear the expression, TALL COTTON...
A southern expression. Same as "High on the Hog." Means doing well.
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Old 04-04-2014, 03:44 PM   #54
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Originally Posted by Robster_in_edmonds View Post
Last year a good friend was coming home from a summer cruise in the Gulf Islands. One of his brand-new oil lines failed and dumped about four quarts of oil all over his engine room before his alarm sounded. It' swingy and the seas are pretty rough, his wife is at the helm and he is sucking up the oil in the bilge with a toy water sprayer, and putting the oil in pots and pans. They call Customs in Friday Harbor, explain the situation and ask for a pass on docking at Friday Harbor. Customs answers NO.

They offer to limp home to Edmonds, WA on one engine and stay on the boat until a Customs Officer can visit. NO. So they come into Friday Harbor, have an exciting landing on the dock, have to wait 30 minutes to be boarded, and a young guy walks over to their boat and tells them they can leave.

My friend says no way, you made me come here for an inspection, get yer @ss on board and inspect it! He wouldn't let the kid leave until he had crawled through the oily engine room. After getting home my friend lit up the phone lines and a few days later had a personal apology from all involved, along with a telephoned apology from a senior Customs official.

The prettiest bureaucrat can do more to make you miserable than the richest person in the country.
Obviously never had your credit score screwed up by some 2 bit civie....

Talk about secretive and trying forever to get straight answers...and there's no criminal investigation with "gag orders" in it like a "military" (which it wasn't it was LE)...or a Law Enforcement operation.
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Old 04-04-2014, 05:48 PM   #55
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For a brief moment in time, I considered naming my boat FREE BEER. I immediately came to my senses when I figured I'd be asking for trouble from the authorities... and every cheap mooching yahoo on the water.
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Old 04-04-2014, 05:57 PM   #56
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Old 04-04-2014, 06:52 PM   #57
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"Tall Cotton" Know the song well... popular in GA also.. the inference is spot on... great name for a boat.
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Old 04-05-2014, 05:32 AM   #58
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Folks that would like to meet dozens of Coasties or local LEOs should purchase any boat that was on the >drug boat suspect< list , even if it was 25 years ago.

A friend did , and as he had ALL the boarders sign his log , it makes a fantastic read.
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Old 04-05-2014, 09:15 AM   #59
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Folks that would like to meet dozens of Coasties or local LEOs should purchase any boat that was on the >drug boat suspect< list , even if it was 25 years ago.

A friend did , and as he had ALL the boarders sign his log , it makes a fantastic read.
Yes, easy enough to do, just go to one of the auctions. Or go to National Liquidators. They have contracts with the Department of Justice and Homeland Security in addition to other federal and state enforcement agencies.

And if having law enforcement after you isn't scary enough, try this one on. How about one that was taken by US Marshals as part of Witness Protection so was actually the boat of the one who turned state's evidence against some mobsters?

Seriously, in getting a title search it might be wise also on a boat (and on houses in some areas) to get a complete history search.
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Old 04-07-2014, 03:41 PM   #60
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Hello All, I certainly appreciate all of you who took the time to share your experiences and comments regarding boardings.

As I got no definitive answer as to the "why", and perhaps, more likely, there is no simple answer, I do not exactly feel comforted. The idea of having someone's wife dragged over a seawall and forced to stand against a wall is, frankly, scary.

Probably going to rethink this whole ICW thing. Perhaps touring the East Coast by auto is the way after all.

Thank you all,

D.
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