[sailingdog]

Be aware that there is a legal difference between allowing them to board your boat with your consent and allowing them to board your boat. If you consent to allowing them to search your boat, anything they find on a search is allowable for use in court as evidence. If you consent to them boarding but do not consent to the search, you do not give up your Fourth Amendment rights. From an article on vehicle searches:

The Consent Search

An officer may have suspicion of something criminal during a traffic stop. He may not be able to articulate that suspicion specifically. Without that there is no probable cause, and the officer cannot legally search the vehicle. He may ask the driver for consent to search the vehicle.

An individual has no obligation to give consent and may refuse consent. The officer may insist on searching. Someone desiring to refuse consent should be polite, but unequivocal. There should be an unmistakable statement. For example: "I am not giving consent to this search".

Firm repetition could be useful in court in the future. Often encounters between police and public are recorded both by audio and video. Clear denial on tape would be strong evidence.


After a driver makes clear the desire that the car not be searched, the officer’s instructions should be followed. Failure to do so could possibly lead to other criminal charges. If, after a clear denial of consent an officer proceeds to conduct a search it is unwise to interfere with the search or touch the officer.

While, you do not have the right to refuse the search or boarding, it does not mean that you have to consent to it.