boarded by the Coast Guard

[RidgeRunner]

Memorable stop by the FL Marine Patrol. My friend Wesley and I in his dad's 17' Chrysler Trihull/50 hp Johnson. Stopped in the rain with the sun setting fast. We had been shark fishing as evident by the 7' blacktip draped across the front deck. The boat would not get on plane with the extra weight of the shark so getting home was taking longer than expected. We started filling up with water and no bilge pump. Officer finally got the message when I started bailing water out of ours and putting it in his. Not before writing us a warning for a missing letter on the port side and no running lights. I was thinking to myself what a PITA, we wouldn't need running lights if we weren't stopped here getting the safety lecture. I was 13 yrs old. I complained to the owner of the marina about what happened. Don't know what good that did but the officer apologized a day or two later after following my mom and me to the house in his cruiser. We eventually became friends. Having friends in Law Enforcement paid off many years later.. Free towing and Glen would always stop us, mainly to talk, he rarely checked our catch. LOL! That was particularly convenient on more than one occasion. Good memories. He passed a few years back. I don't play the cat and mouse game with his replacements.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by RidgeRunner

Memorable stop by the FL Marine Patrol. My friend Wesley and I in his dad's 17' Chrysler Trihull/50 hp Johnson. Stopped in the rain with the sun setting fast. We had been shark fishing as evident by the 7' blacktip draped across the front deck. The boat would not get on plane with the extra weight of the shark so getting home was taking longer than expected. We started filling up with water and no bilge pump. Officer finally got the message when I started bailing water out of ours and putting it in his. Not before writing us a warning for a missing letter on the port side and no running lights. I was thinking to myself what a PITA, we wouldn't need running lights if we weren't stopped here getting the safety lecture. I was 13 yrs old. I complained to the owner of the marina about what happened. Don't know what good that did but the officer apologized a day or two later after following my mom and me to the house in his cruiser. We eventually became friends. Having friends in Law Enforcement paid off many years later.. Free towing and Glen would always stop us, mainly to talk, he rarely checked our catch. LOL! That was particularly convenient on more than one occasion. Good memories. He passed a few years back. I don't play the cat and mouse game with his replacements.

Ridge, that's a great story. Sorry for the loss of your friend. People like that are hard to find.. even more so if they are in Law Enforcement. I had a friend like that when I lived in South Toms River.. not maritime, just a land shark, but it was nice to be able to talk to him on a regular basis and not have to worry about getting the occasional speeding ticket. We lost touch after I moved and then he moved out of state. I hope he's doing well wherever he is.