Boarded by Coast Guard

[Sugardog]

I understand the CG safety checks, they are the ones going in harms way to save our sorry asses when we screw up, but this armed invasion of our boats is not a safety check. Goes for LEO also. What ever happened to the “Peace Officer”?

 

[OldDan1943]

I understand the CG safety checks, they are the ones going in harms way to save our sorry asses when we screw up, but this armed invasion of our boats is not a safety check. Goes for LEO also. What ever happened to the “Peace Officer”?

Sugardog, the USCG is part of the US military. I am not offended when boarding me, they are armed.

 

[diver dave]

I've had numerous border crossings. By car, I've been intercepted 100% of the time. By air, I've been intercepted 100% of the tries. And, trusted traveler doesn't make that go away. By boat, its been about 2%.

I'm hearing a lot of WHINING about this 2%. What is the option? No inspections? build a wall around the US beaches/coastlne with cameras?

 

[jleonard]

Sugardog, the USCG is part of the US military. I am not offended when boarding me, they are armed.

Me neither.
The one safety boarding I had they were more than polite. They boarded us on the fly so were not detained. I could not have stopped anyway as I was between the break walls on the CT river on an outgoing tide.
I was boarded one other time, but that is because I asked for their help when I temporarily lost my engine (due to a fuel issue) and was anchored in the Harlem River. I had just gotten t running 20 seconds before they arrived, and they came aboard. Again they were very polite and since I asked them to "dog" me until I got t Hell Gate in case I lost fuel again they were happy to oblige.
My only other encounter was when I was crossing the Thames River outside of Groton, Ct and I saw a submarine in the distance heading home. I knew I could cross the path well ahead of the sub, but suddenly the CG inflatable put on the lights and charged toward my boat at WOT. When they got there they simply asked me to turn the boat and face away until the sub passed by. At that point we were only about 100 feet from it's path but they said that was fine. We got some nice close up sub pics. But once again, very polite.
Never saw a mounted machine gun on a CG inflatable.
Only holstered sidearms.

 

[78puget-trawler]

i understand the cg safety checks, they are the ones going in harms way to save our sorry asses when we screw up, but this armed invasion of our boats is not a safety check. Goes for leo also. What ever happened to the “peace officer”?

this!

 

[OldDan1943]

Originally Posted by sugardog View Post
i understand the cg safety checks, they are the ones going in harms way to save our sorry asses when we screw up, but this armed invasion of our boats is not a safety check. Goes for leo also. What ever happened to the “peace officer”?

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Where does it say the USCG are peace officers? They are a member fo the armed forces.

 

[danderer]

Coincidentally I was boarded this week. First time in <too many> decades on the water.

The whole thing took perhaps 10 minutes. They looked for:

• My ID
• Boat registration/documentation
• Fire extinguishers
• Flares (they were fine w/my electric one)
• PFDs
• Horn
• Trash placard
• Oil placard

No muss, no fuss.

 

[Group9]

Originally Posted by sugardog View Post
i understand the cg safety checks, they are the ones going in harms way to save our sorry asses when we screw up, but this armed invasion of our boats is not a safety check. Goes for leo also. What ever happened to the “peace officer”?

---------------------------

Where does it say the USCG are peace officers? They are a member fo the armed forces.

They're both really. The federal courts have ruled, for instance, that Coast Guardsmen whose duties include boardings, are law enforcement officers as defined by the Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act (LEOSA).