Can I Be Stopped in International Waters ?

[alibaba.e]

Originally Posted by nickkutzko

i was just wondering if i was going from the east coast of canada into int'l waters down to the caribean can i be stopped in int'l waters. Also when im in the caribean can i be stopped by the USGC, dont they just have jurisdiction in american waters. Also what would be the best method for avoiding detection from a route from canada to the caribean. this is all hypothetical of course

I have the greatest respect for the USCG. They have came to my rescue many times. They spend more time rescuing or assisting vessels then boarding for inspection. Treat them with the respect they deserve and you won't have any trouble. Take care
Allen

[wolfenzee]

I have alot of respect for the USCG when it comes to rescue, safety, education etc....my only complaint is where Homeland security/The Patriot Act has tarnished all they stand for.

[Brent Swain]

They tend to use inflatables. Just bolt a few bits of 6 inch long ss reddi rod thru your bulwarks. That will take the wind out of their efforts.
If you have to sue your government for violating your charter rights, the federal minister responsible is a good target, being ultimately responsible. Do it just before an election.
The Canadian government tried to force the Canadian coastguard to act like the US coastguard. The Canadian coasties refused, and threatened to hit the picket line if they forced the issue. They said it would put lives at risk, as people would be reluctant to call until things became desperate.
When friends recently asked the Canadian coastguard for assistance, they asked if they do law enforcement. The Canadian Coast guard said "No way. We are here to save lives. If there is any law enforcement to do, we bring a mountie along for that."
Vive le difference!

[Chief Engineer]

Horses Swim?

[wolfenzee]

Sadly this is one of the main reasons that unless I am just out for a day sail I am sailing in BC waters (I am just on the other side of the San Juan's). The USCG once was in the buisness of saving lives but has become water police on an ego trip trying to make up for decades of being considered a powerless "step child" of the navy.

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

They tend to use inflatables. Just bolt a few bits of 6 inch long ss reddi rod thru your bulwarks. That will take the wind out of their efforts.
If you have to sue your government for violating your charter rights, the federal minister responsible is a good target, being ultimately responsible. Do it just before an election.
The Canadian government tried to force the Canadian coastguard to act like the US coastguard. The Canadian coasties refused, and threatened to hit the picket line if they forced the issue. They said it would put lives at risk, as people would be reluctant to call until things became desperate.
When friends recently asked the Canadian coastguard for assistance, they asked if they do law enforcement. The Canadian Coast guard said "No way. We are here to save lives. If there is any law enforcement to do, we bring a mountie along for that."
Vive le difference!

[Chief Engineer]

They used to be called the Revenue Cutter Service

Originally Posted by wolfenzee

Sadly this is one of the main reasons that unless I am just out for a day sail I am sailing in BC waters (I am just on the other side of the San Juan's). The USCG once was in the buisness of saving lives but has become water police on an ego trip trying to make up for decades of being considered a powerless "step child" of the navy.

I hope you never have to get airlifted off a boat....or use your EPIRB...wouldn't want those egomaniacs coming out for you, eh?

[wolfenzee]

I am a strong supporter of the USCG when it comes to the job they were set up to do...my only complaints lie with where Homeland Security has twisted that.

Originally Posted by Chief Engineer

They used to be called the Revenue Cutter Service



I hope you never have to get airlifted off a boat....or use your EPIRB...wouldn't want those egomaniacs coming out for you, eh?

[Chief Engineer]

It was the Customs Service or ICE?

Originally Posted by wolfenzee

I have only been boarded once and it was by Customs Homeland security, they didn't even know that Port Townsend, WA (my home port), Friday Harbor, WA and Anacortes, WA were official ports of entry.

[wolfenzee]

It was U.S.Customs/Homeland Security (that is what it said on the side of the RIB). The reason they boarded me was quite clear (it actually dates back to the rum running times). I was traveling just inside the US Border in "Boarder Straits" and about 5knots paralleling the border with my radar reflector up, I was a slow moving blip on the radar (I am not sure if it makes a difference but I have not been boarded in those waters while not flying a reflector). They came up behind me really fast, didn't know they were there until they were on top of me, and told me they were going to board and search me while climbing over the stern. I had been sailing in some rough weather, the boat was a mess and I hadn't had it cleaned up, they kept looking in the same places over and over again but missed most of the storage places on the boat.

Originally Posted by Chief Engineer

It was the Customs Service or ICE?

[Chief Engineer]

Since it wasn't ther USCG I can see your point about polizei state

Chu vill cho me zee paperz!!!!!!!!!

[AK_sailor]

Originally Posted by Chief Engineer

Since it wasn't ther USCG I can see your point about polizei state

Chu vill cho me zee paperz!!!!!!!!!

I always thought it was: "Vee Vill Chek your Paperz Pleez!"

Like many agencies the USCG are tasked with many conflicting roles, and poorly funded for all of them. I just finished an interesting book, called "Rescue Warriors" by David Helvarg. He does a good job of exploring the various duties that have been laid upon the Coast Guard (SAR, anti drug, port security, fisheries enforcement, marine safety, environmental,....etc etc) and the many conflicts and contradictions that result.

While like any group there may be a bad apple now and then, all the Coasties I've met have been well intentioned guys trying to do their job. Many sailors like to bitch about getting stopped and checked for flares and pfd's. That's until they're in that cold water, and then see that helo with an orange stripe appear....

[dwightsusan]

This thread continues to fascinate me.
I believe nearly all of us want to circulate unmolested as we cruise about, and most of us believe our boat is our castle, sacrosanct and immune from interference when following the rules of the road in international waters. It seems that most nations agree, and respect what seems to be one of our fundamental rights as human beings.
In my very partisian opinion, the glarring exception is the United States, my country and a country which seems to believe it has a special dispensation allowing it to police the entire rest of the world, detaining whomever it pleases, denying legal rights to those so detained, torturing, performing extraordinary renditions, launching preemptive (and arguably unprovoked) attacks on other sovereign nations, assassinating, allowing robotic drones to coldly include innocents among the targets of their remotely directed attacks, and randomly boarding our innocent cruising boats in international waters.
I cannot direct even an iota of my rage toward the lowly personnel who are the agents of this intrusion, especially the US Coast Guardsmen, who so readily put their lives on the line anywhere and anytime to aid any of us under any circumstances when we are in peril, of either the unavoidable sort, or even resulting from our own foolish doings.
I have been one of them, crossing stormy waters in the mid Pacific in a small open boat between my USCG cutter and and a foreign flag merchant vessel to offer Coast Guard service and equipment and my medical skills to a critically ill third world seaman without regard to the peril in which we knowingly placed ourselves.
These are the good guys.
Even the soldiers, like my son serving in Helmand with the Marines. They are mostly good and honorable young men doing what they believe they must do, with inadequate training and inadequate leadership for the horrible situation into which they have been inserted.
Please fellow cruisers, direct your displeasure, hostility, anger, or rage right where it belongs, to the executives, legislators, and judges of the central government of the United States. Petition your own governments for redress. If you are American, vote these arrogant jerks out of office. Or take a more active role, peacefully protesting in the streets.
This must not stand.

[Chief Engineer]

Well Put....my friend

[AK_sailor]

Originally Posted by dwightsusan

......I cannot direct even an iota of my rage toward the lowly personnel ..... like my son serving in Helmand with the Marines. ....Please fellow cruisers, direct your displeasure, hostility, anger, or rage right where it belongs, to the executives, legislators, and judges of the central government of the United States. Petition your own governments for redress. If you are American, vote these arrogant jerks out of office. Or take a more active role, peacefully protesting in the streets.
This must not stand.

Well said indeed. May your son return home safely, and may home be a better place when he does. A long time ago, I also served with the Marine Corps in a war we shouldn't have been in.

Also, while in my previous post I referred to the USCG as "guys", I hope everyone understands I meant that as a generic term. Gals serve in all the military branches. In the USCG a number women have qualified as rescue swimmers, which is among the most arduous duty in all the services.

[Chief Engineer]

This is more fun than "How many guns should a monohull carry versus a multihull?"