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.

[Mike07631]

What was reason they wanted to check you out ??

[smokeonthewater]

they don't need a reason... "random safety check"

[Big-G]

Originally Posted by Hal380

Saturday 7/6 went fishing in New Haven harbor. Was just drifting outside the channel, when all of a sudden - in the distance we could see a boat comming at us at a high rate of speed. As he got closer I could see it was a CG vessel. He came along side and asked permission to board. When the two petty officers come aboard and asked to see my license and other required items, everything was going nicely. Then they asked about the fire extinguisher and I told them that it didn't work. They looked at me and I explained that this was the first day out on the water, and that I had a brand new extinguisher but forgot it at home. They gave me a warning and I have to send in evidence that I have one on board. These guys were very courtous and professional. However they drew the line when I asked them if I could fire the M60 they had at the bow of their boat. I assured them that I would only fire short bursts and in a safe direction, but they were unyielding.

Anyway it was a good day, but fish 1 Hal 0

Regards to all

Hal

Coast Guard folks are not so diligent about fire extinguishers when it comes to their actual use. I reported a malfunctioning fire ext. which had C. C. approved markings on it and was not encouraged that anything could be done by C. C. about it. When my extinguisher's locking mechanism broke during an engine fire a neighboring boat gave me theirs. Same model extinguisher and same results. Had to use a screw driver to engage the extinguisher. As a member of the C.C. Aux. I was not happy with the C.C.'s response which was to do nothing.

[bradford]

Don't get me started.

[bgreene]

Too many lunatics flying around on weekends probably contributes to officers being wary.

V-20's are too pretty to get " pulled over " but I suppose a boat is a boat.

And of course................V owners drive responsibly.