Boarded by the Coast Guard..Terminated Voyage

[captain58sailin]

Never heard of an expiration date on a life ring or jacket. They do have to be servicable, (no rips or tears) and have to have reflective tape. Life jacket lights can have an expiration date, or at least the battery. The whistles are designed to make noise even if they are filled with water. An old gym coach whistle won't make noise very well if it has been submerged. All these items are very inexpensive. The extinguishers, while I have the required number of ABC s aboard, they are the court of last resort, it is almost impossible to clean up after them and the corrosive nature of the chemical is a disaster on electronics. I prefer CO2 when possible.Those units are getting quite expensive. I am always courteous to the boarding officers, but I don't say "yes sir" to every thing they say, and I have disagreed with them on occaision and then showed them in their own regulation book where they were wrong. It is not something I do maliciously, I just don' like being scolded when I am not wrong. I do so in a respectful fashion and never have had any problems.

[svmariane]

Originally Posted by sabray

(snip)... Your life ring and jackets probably have dated expiration. If they are expired they don't count.

Huh? Where did THAT come from???

Took me 5 mins to check my life ring, the horseshoe, and all our life jackets and not a single date to be found anywhere. All items bear USCG approval notices.

[sabray]

You need Type 3 or lower unless you wear the type 5. You can have type 5 and not wear them if you have type 3 or lower on board. Need to have a type 4 over 16 feet .

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by psneeld

Where I am..(hopefully still trained from when I was ops officer)..they board you right in front of a marina where those types of items are easily replaced right in the ships store then off you go...just doing their job.

Like back in the '90's in Mexico at checking in with Immigration.
"How many copies of your papers do you have?"
"X"
"No, you need X [+ 1]. Go see my brother who owns the copy store next door."

Same scam, different time and $$ amounts.

[sabray]

Originally Posted by svmariane

Huh? Where did THAT come from??? Took me 5 mins to check my life ring, the horseshoe, and all our life jackets and not a single date to be found anywhere. All items bear USCG approval notices.

From memory I think my type 4 has a date. I might be really wrong though. I apologize try not to feed the fodder. my type 5 does but your right checking the type 3 it does not. The type 4 is date stamped. I can't read what the date refers to. I think that is where I got the idea that these are dated in their use. Sorry guess I might be wrong. My life sling is not dated. So you are right and I am wrong enjoy the popcorn.

[markpierce]

So far (in the last 2.5 years since purchasing my recreational trawler, and I rarely saw their presence in the 1960s and 80s during my sailboat decades), the USCG boats pass by quickly without any interest in boarding.



I see them frequently as the local CG station is only a quarter mile from our berth.

[Ocean Girl]

The life vests, were any type I ?
Are the inflatables vests CG approved devices? Aren't they type III?
Ski vests are Type V, which are for specific activities, like skiing, since you were not skiing you did not have to have those on.

Did you tell them your next port of call? And does it include open water or off shore?

[Ocean Girl]

Oops, just saw sabray's post

[ElGatoGordo]

I've dealt with both CG and HLS on several occasions. I sail weird boats, that helps. They always treated me well. One thing I found interesting in this story is they asked you to stop. I've been boarded twice, and pulled up to maybe 3 or 4 times for a few questions (Can we see your life vests please?) or compliments (WOW! Cool boat!!) and they NEVER ask me to stop. I thought SOP was boarding in motion, easier to deal with to me than trying to sit still. They just match my speed. Hosted two young guys from HLS for maybe 45 minutes once in June in the Houston ship channel while sailing 5kts or so. Very professional.

[bobofthenorth]

Our experience (in the PNW) has also been that they want our vessel to remain in motion. The last time we were boarded (June 2013) the young lady in charge marched directly up to me and announced "I need to see the lowest point of your bilge immediately". "OK .... uhhh - why?" "I need to determine that your vessel is not 'flooding' (her words, not mine) and that our lives are therefore not in danger" "OK".

So we were underway, off Port Angeles, just outside the traffic separation lanes and I found myself walking down the stairs toward the engine room thinking "this is SO STUPID I can't believe I'm actually doing it." When we got in front of the door to the head I turned to her, pointed down to the engine room access and said "there's the hatches, help yourself, we're underway, this is dangerous, I'm going back to the helm." And I did.

She was down there for maybe 5 minutes but evidently she eventually determined we were not in fact sinking. Thank goodness for that I guess.

As a Canadian flagged vessel we're not actually subject to any legal requirement to comply with USCG regs vis a vis fire extinguishers, flares, PFDs, etc. We need to comply with Canadian regs and often there are parallels between the regs but they are by no means identical. Gray Hawk is in pretty good repair and we carry an excess of all the safety stuff so its not really an issue. I'm sure if the USCG found something that was a legitimate safety concern they would figure out some way to stop us but I don't expect to ever experience that.

We've been boarded before with Homeless Insecurity personnel part of the boarding party. This time it was just Coasties. I believe there is now a joint US/Canadian initiative underway whereby you may be boarded by a joint US/Canadian party. In that case the Canadian officers would have the authority to enforce Canadian requirements on Canadian flagged vessels. I suppose from a law enforcement standard that would be an "improvement" but as a Canadian taxpayer I am skeptical.

[Krogensailor]

If I hear the refrain, "since 911 we have to do it this way", I'm gonna scream. BS! And it's unpatriotic or un American to complain. More BS. We are having our freedoms and libertys and rights removed from us and we almost like it. It's crazy. I live in a relatively affluent city and the police here are like storm troopers. It's unnerving to get pulled over by a guy who has body armor on as he rest his hand on his weapon. All for me making a turn on red. And I don't feel safer in the least because he and folks like him are patrolling our streets, in fact I feel frightened. Remember that feeling as your driving down the road and suddenly you see a cop right behind you? Fear. All of us experience the same response, and that is a bad thing. We don't employ these people to be the authority in the community, we hire them to protect us. Not to intimidate us, cause us to cower in their company. This is all way out of control and the only way it's going to get better is if we make it better. If I feel I'm being mistreated by an officer of whatever stripe I perfectly non aggressively ask to have the officer on duty, watch commander, Capt whatever called to mediate. I never argue with the officer. The officer never likes the request, but at the same time things begin to go by the book immediately. And if there is no real infraction going on, after some chest swelling and glaring, I'm on my way. The calmer I can be about this the better. And if you scoff and say you would never do such a thing, then you live in a police state! And you cosign that situation. And things will only get worse. My wife and I were accosted on the ICW by a boat full of armed Marines near the Camp Lejune base. I ask them to please not point their weapons in the direction of my wife and I and to call the OIC. They did and we went our way. They work for you. They have authority over their heads who want to cover their own ass's. They have a job to do, and it isn't puffing up their chest and menacing the citizenry. This event happened a number of years ago. Now a days, if one disagrees/argues with the officer you are non violently resisting arrest and can be taken in. WTF. If you feel dissatisfied with an encounter with your employees, it is critical that you do something. Call the CG, Police station whatever the case may be and talk to someone in charge. It need not be a witch hunt or retribution, but it sets in motion the possibility of someone setting some checks and balances. To do nothing at all is to surrender your liberty. Because you are afraid. The worst reason of all. And enough with the 911 refrain. Its like Pearl Harbor. It happened, we responded, move on. Have the annual ceremony, and move on. Lets not make a way of life out of it, or a career. Let go and live in your land of the free, your home of the brave. Let's be responsible as Americans.

[svBeBe]

I have one comment:

Don't you realize that the CG folks that visited your boat read forums such as this...and have friends that read these forums. It could be that your next inspection will be completely by the book...know what I mean?

[Hudson Force]

I hope they do read these forums. Board me! Board me! We'll serve hors d'oeuvres! Why would I be intimidated by those that we pay to serve and protect our cruising opportunities! Why would I feel inconvenienced to have an authority confirm that I and others follow safety regulations? We sometimes anchor off the Coast Guard station at Cape May, NJ and enjoy hearing their early morning drill actiivities. It seems to me that these trainees are working toward honorable careers. I've never felt that I have lived in a nation of people that have cause to fear authority. So, be my guest and inspect my vessel anytime! If something is amiss, I'd like to be informed on board the only US documented vessel with the name AYTHYA on the transom.

[Jd1]

Originally Posted by bobofthenorth

I believe there is now a joint US/Canadian initiative underway whereby you may be boarded by a joint US/Canadian party. In that case the Canadian officers would have the authority to enforce Canadian requirements on Canadian flagged vessels. I suppose from a law enforcement standard that would be an "improvement" but as a Canadian taxpayer I am skeptical.

I can confirm that ... I was boarded last Thursday by a joint US/Canadian party.

[scoobert]

i never planned to give the CG any grief what so ever.
HOWEVER if they try to tell me to return to the dock because my 6 fire extinguishers do not have a special sticker, i shall tell them where to sticker it.