U.S. Coast Guard boarding experience (not typical i dont think)

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by FamilyVan

I'm enjoying your drug testing line. In Canada, the CCG can't even test its own Coast Guard sailors for drug use because it would be an infringement on their constitutional rights and privacy laws.

I don't care what the USCG does with US citizens, but I do find the US war on drugs entertaining.

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pretty much the same here.

None of the yanks have supplied an answer. There all hung up on the boarding issue which personally I don't have a problem with.

Did you ever watch that wonderful show with your President Jed Bartlett? He questioned if the drug cartels have 100 times the budget than the DEA has, then why are we doing this? His chief of staff responded, 'because you want a second term Mr President'

I'm not sure how I'd feel about being swabbed, just because I'm in a boat. Would the USCG make non US citizens submit to random drug swabbing?

[crpcrp]

Is this just an issue of flag registration in that the yacht was US registered, or in international waters is any national coast guard/Navy entitled to do this?

It seems to me to video the whole process is very useful as in rare cases of incorrect behaviour there is some record, although I can imagine some personal wanting to stop you videoing.

I can understand to some extent checking ships papers and in the case of USCG checking compliance with safety equipment (If US flagged). I can also understand checking for physical drugs on board, especially given the sea area concerned. But testing all crew with swabs (is to me) a violation of human rights when not within the legal water of the US and in international waters. Its just too far.

Not sure what maritime law they rely on.

Overall, I agree that some of the process is warranted but the boundaries have gone to far for me. Nothing to hide, just against big brother getting bigger and bigger.

They do of course a great job and if in the area and your concerned about a possible attack, or have some other issue (medical for example) they can assist, which is comforting to some extent.

[capt ric]

so what happens if i invited my daughter and some of her friends aboard to cruise the fla keys and the uscg come aboard and find some recreational maryjane.....would i lose my boat ,slap on the wrist??? anyone have an experience to share...i dont even get them wasting time with sailboats, it not a go fast drug runner...and the swobbbing is way out of line...im in oregon and its legal here i hope the feds start to realize there not helping the war on drugs by hasslying regular people...theres enough drug offenders in our prisons already but thats another thread that doesnt belong here at cf....also i thought about the diversion thing ... that would make sense...they dont go looking for you without reason normally....good to have ais so you say your there i think

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by capt ric

so what happens if i invited my daughter and some of her friends aboard to cruise the fla keys and the uscg come aboard and find some recreational maryjane.....would i lose my boat ,slap on the wrist??? anyone have an experience to share...i dont even get them wasting time with sailboats, it not a go fast drug runner...and the swobbbing is way out of line...im in oregon and its legal here i hope the feds start to realize there not helping the war on drugs by hasslying regular people...theres enough drug offenders in our prisons already but thats another thread that doesnt belong here at cf....also i thought about the diversion thing ... that would make sense...they dont go looking for you without reason normally....good to have ais so you say your there i think

Coasties used to have a "zero tolerance" policy re drugs. Dont know whether they do now or not, but I have a zero tolerance policy aboard my boat because in many countries you can not only lose your boat, but end up in a third-world jail until they extort enough money from you. Not a life experience I want to have.

Sailboats are used for drug smuggling. I am a few hundred meters away from an impound area here in Panama which contains a variety of boats: commercial fishing vessels, skiffs, and yes several sailboats.

[Dave22q]

Several experiences with the Coast Guard, some routine but twice was my bad. Their boots will not hurt your deck and everyone I encountered was polite and professional. In my humble opinion if they want to board it, you should heave to and make it as easy as possible. They are doing a job for all of us and a little gratitude is not misplaced. There is a huge difference between a traffic stop on land and a Coast Guard approach starting with the quality of the people and their supervision.

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by Dave22q

Several experiences with the Coast Guard, some routine but twice was my bad. Their boots will not hurt your deck and everyone I encountered was polite and professional. In my humble opinion if they want to board it, you should heave to and make it as easy as possible. They are doing a job for all of us and a little gratitude is not misplaced. There is a huge difference between a traffic stop on land and a Coast Guard approach starting with the quality of the people and their supervision.

Yes yes yes, but what about random swabbing for drugs?

[Petrel]

As a father of a Coast Guard bording officer I'll remind my son to remove his boots when he is out in 30' seas trying to rescue your sorry butt when your yacht is being torn apart".....I just can't believe some of you "yachtsmen"?

[Pelagic]

Just curious with all the legal eagles on the thread.

In this USCG scenario and your yacht is registered in Colorado or Washington State.

What happens on boarding if they find some Alice B Toklas fudge?...

Edit...her recipe

Bake one teaspoon black peppercorns, one whole nutmeg, four average sticks of cinnamon, one teaspoon coriander. These should all be pulverized in a mortar. About a handful each of stoned dates, dried figs, shelled almonds and peanuts: chop these and mix them together. A bunch of Cannabis sativa can be pulverized. This along with the spices should be dusted over the mixed fruit and nuts, kneaded together. About a cup of sugar dissolved in a big pat of butter. Rolled into a cake and cut into pieces or made into balls about the size of a walnut, it should be eaten with care. Two pieces are quite sufficient.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Petrel

As a father of a Coast Guard bording officer I'll remind my son to remove his boots when he is out in 30' seas trying to rescue your sorry butt when your yacht is being torn apart".....I just can't believe some of you "yachtsmen"?

That's a very different scenario than boarding in international waters in the middle of the night


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[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Just curious with all the legal eagles on the thread.

In this USCG scenario and your yacht is registered in Colorado or Washington State.

What happens on boarding if they find some Alice B Toklas fudge?...

Where is the boat located at time of boarding?

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Where is the boat located at time of boarding?

International waters

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Petrel

As a father of a Coast Guard bording officer I'll remind my son to remove his boots when he is out in 30' seas trying to rescue your sorry butt when your yacht is being torn apart".....I just can't believe some of you "yachtsmen"?

Classic example of a Straw Man argument. I must file that one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

[Olde Chief]

So it is now Mary Jane, we are worried about. if you are stopped and boarded by the USCG, and you have MJ aboard you will probably be removed from your boat, and you and your boat will be taken to the nearest boat station, as MJ is still on the Federal No-No List, So let us hope it is the local Sheriff that finds her, and he is from a State that allows for personal use, rather than the USCG, who still has a Zero tolerance. If the local Sheriff is from a state that still has a Zero tolerance the result will be the same as if the CG found it...

[natraps116]

Originally Posted by Olde Chief

So it is now Mary Jane, we are worried about. if you are stopped and boarded by the USCG, and you have MJ aboard you will probably be removed from your boat, and you and your boat will be taken to the nearest boat station, as MJ is still on the Federal No-No List, So let us hope it is the local Sheriff that finds her, and he is from a State that allows for personal use, rather than the USCG, who still has a Zero tolerance. If the local Sheriff is from a state that still has a Zero tolerance the result will be the same as if the CG found it...

Just want to throw this out there. The Coast Guard does not have a zero tolerance policy towards weed. Any amounts up to an ounce they leave alone in international waters and wont bother doing anything to you. SOURCE - The boarding party told us exactly that before they swabbed us.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by jreiter190

They didn't do a very good job in the case of my ship, Westchester County LST 1167. She had two limpet mines attached to her Waterline while anchored at the mouth of the Mekong. 26 killed . If I had still been aboard, one of those killed would have been me.It was the compartment I lived in. R.I.P. SHIPMATES

Tragedy struck on 1 November while Westchester County lay anchored in the vicinity of My Tho, Vietnam. Two giant underwater explosions ripped Westchester County, killing 25 men. The enemy mines had been attached to the hull about mid ship on the starboard side causing ruptured berthing compartments as well as fuel and storage tanks.

When the final casualty figures were tallied, they showed that 17 crew members of Westchester County had been killed in the explosions; five 9th Infantry Division soldiers died in the wreckage of the troop compartment. Also killed in the attack were one sailor from River Assault Division 111, one South Vietnamese Navy sailor and one South Vietnamese ‘Tiger Scout’ interpreter. Twenty-two crewmen had been wounded. The 25 KIAs lost in the mining of Westchester County represent the U.S. Navy’s greatest single-incident combat loss of life during the entire Vietnam War.

➥ LST 1167 - USS Westchester County Association

➥ USS Westchester County: Attacked During the Vietnam War