Impound !

[Khagan1227]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

I hate to jump in on the wrong side of a passionate thread but...

- the harbor guys work for a wage. When they get their dinghy out they follow some instructions from someone or they follow a rule book
- the rent was late. An admitted mistake
- if it was land and the car was getting hooked up to a tow truck you'd have no luck in not getting towed
- I am sure OP wanted to pay his rent and would have done so before leaving, but what about the guy who leaves without paying?
- i am truly sorry this happened to op but maybe next time pay the rent on time

Lesson learned, move on...

Once any cop/meter maid starts writing a ticket, they aren't going to stop. In many cases, they have no choice.
Sorry the OP got chained to the mooring ball, but that is no different than a city using a boot on a illegally parked car.
I attended college in NYC, you parked illegally, you got a ticket or got towed. As a (poor) college student, I learned to park legally or find the pink laundry hanging under my windshield.

[maytrix]

The city doesn't boot your car right away though, that's for repeat offenders.

I think a simple ticket would have been adequate and also a lot quicker for the police. I'm sure they could also check and see that they did pay previously a well.

[hellosailor]

People throw tickets away. And collecting on them against out-of-towners who may simply go home to another state, is impossible. OTOH arresting the vessel is actually quite normal and traditional maritime law, and it sure as hell gets folks motivated to pay up and resolve the matter at once.

Kinda alienates the tourists, but sometimes that's the exact intent.

If you've ever been to Newport, Rhode Island, via the bridge? The old bridge was deemed inadequate and in need of replacement. The design team for the new bridge said it needed to have more lanes to relieve the congestion. The town fathers actually said no thanks, we don't want any more lanes, that would encourage more visitors. You know, the cheap kind that drive in cars.

Some folks, they just don't want the riff-raff cluttering up the streets. Or the harbor. "Fair" has got nothing to do with it.

[ogalili]

Originally Posted by Tellie

Yeah they do. They think more government is the way to stop more government.

You probably prefer local militia that can just through you out of your boat for $3 that's say you need to pay.

This has nothing to do with government. It has all to do with locals trying to prevent their view disrupted by outsiders

[hellosailor]

"You probably prefer local militia"
Actually, except for Florida which has the excuse of coming from Spain instead of a proper British commonlaw tradition, militia service is compulsory in most states and compulsory on the US federal level. You've got no choice about it, although the feds exempt certain necessary personnel like mail carriers and shipworkers IIRC.

The local militia, in the US, are typically your friends and neighbors who live around you. Whether in or out of active service, they're likely to be on your side. And quite surprised when they get their call-up notices.

[abh]

If officials would behave this way in my country, the better know how to swim.

[RabidRabbit]

Am I the only one who might consider cutting the lock and slippping away? I dont have evey little detail. But I have very little patience for unreasonably high fees/fines and bully cops (most). To someone with money $150 is nothing big, to a budget cruiser its food for a week or a gallon of bottom paint. I carry a grinder and bolt cutters, I just dont have the ability to listen to every authority figure who needs to control me. I relize if you over stay in a hotel or parking lot you need to pay for services rendered, but refusing to take payment and adding fines is what throws me into urban anarchist mode. On the other hand maybe the OP was a pain in the ass and super rude to the cops. Even my anti goverment stance knows to treat every cop with a smile and respect.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by RabidRabbit

Am I the only one who might consider cutting the lock and slippping away? I dont have evey little detail. But I have very little patience for unreasonably high fees/fines and bully cops (most). To someone with money $150 is nothing big, to a budget cruiser its food for a week or a gallon of bottom paint. I carry a grinder and bolt cutters, I just dont have the ability to listen to every authority figure who needs to control me. I relize if you over stay in a hotel or parking lot you need to pay for services rendered, but refusing to take payment and adding fines is what throws me into urban anarchist mode. On the other hand maybe the OP was a pain in the ass and super rude to the cops. Even my anti goverment stance knows to treat every cop with a smile and respect.

I think you might find yourself at the wrong end of an assault weapon from the USCG. While I agree $150 is outrageous and their attitudes out of line for "public servants", the days of slip and run are over. They seem to love drama and I would not want to test there level of incompetency while they held guns on me.
Best to pay the fine and talk smack about them at the next campfire with other like cruisers.

[Danosimp3]

Originally Posted by RabidRabbit

Am I the only one who might consider cutting the lock and slippping away?

bolt cutters, $30; Impound Fine,$150; Additioanl fines and fees, $300; becoming an outlaw and sticking it to the man, Priceless!

[sailorboy1]

bigger fine, imprisonment, etc at your next port of call ............. well you earned it!

[abh]

While everybody just pay and shut up, we cannot expect improvements.

[RabidRabbit]

I'm not sure the USCG spends time or tax payers money chasing cruisers who get ripped off by water cops. It would cost way more than $150 to send a cutter out and I dont think they really care. I try to beleive their not like the corrupt cops everywhere. Sounds like some of you just want hand the guns over and surrender. And I get pegged as a radical.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by RabidRabbit

I'm not sure the USCG spends time or tax payers money chasing cruisers who get ripped off by water cops. It would cost way more than $150 to send a cutter out and I dont think they really care. I try to beleive their not like the corrupt cops everywhere. Sounds like some of you just want hand the guns over and surrender. And I get pegged as a radical.

Do you really think that someone can cut a chain of an impounded vessel, essentially stealing it from law enforcement and is on an electronic file sourced by all law enforcement and any division of Homeland Security (USCG), that they would not be stopped by USCG if the local police wanted them? The USCG spends tax payers money stopping daysailors for drug and safety checks to train their personal.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by RabidRabbit

I'm not sure the USCG spends time or tax payers money chasing cruisers who get ripped off by water cops. It would cost way more than $150 to send a cutter out and I dont think they really care. I try to beleive their not like the corrupt cops everywhere. Sounds like some of you just want hand the guns over and surrender. And I get pegged as a radical.

Actually they do care. They get off on it. The cops just feed the boats info into the data base and HLS puts it on their watch list. They're all connected now!

If you get out your binoculars when the USCG is passing by, you'll see them spying all around them just looking for trouble. I've seen them go out of their way just to get the name off my boat. But I'm glad they're out there, and not just on day cruises sipping their coffee.

[S/V Alchemy]

Next time, visit the First World. Half the U.S. states are bankrupt or nearly so, and cruisers are stones from which blood can be squeezed.

Freedom isn't free, after all.