rammed:by the customs & border patrol

[RichH]

US Coast guard has agreements with most Caribbean and most S. American countries, and many 'overseas' countries. probably except Cuba and now Venez.

The prime commission of the USCG is/was interdiction of smuggling of contraband and 'revenue' avoidance, only added lifesaving as a prime directive with the absorption and inclusion of the US Life Saving Service in ~1890s.

USCG was under the Treasury Dept. until the recent change to administration by the Dept of Homeland Security.
Can, or used to be, available to be 'transferred' to Defense Dept. (Navy) during war time.

If US flagged, a vessel can be boarded 'anywhere' by Navy or USCG.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by Capt.aaron

I belive him. The boardings are a lot more frequent in border states, ie: Fla. Texas. It's hard for bay sailors in the middle states to fathom what it's like down here sometimes. It's a different world. And I get boarded frequently at night or at least aproached in the lower Key's, they alway's ask you to maintain course and speed, we were boarded 100 miles south of the Caymans in the middle of night by a coast guard group stationed on a navy destroyer, we still were asked to maintain course and speed. There are people actually out there traveling around in small sail boat's,I think 2bb should stand for 2 big balls, looking forward to part 2.

Are you sure it wasn't the punctuation patrol?

[Capt.aaron]

Originally Posted by MarkSF

Are you sure it wasn't the punctuation patrol?

Well, I'm on a tug boat. I run down and check sailnet, and run back up on deck to do something, run back down to the galley and have a look on the computer again when I get a chance. Sometimes my spelling and punctuation fall by the way side in my haste to post. I usually try and come back and edit later. In any case, I see The Mohawk and other Coast Gaurd Cutter's all over Central and South America, as well as U.S. Navy with a small Coast Gaurd Troop stationed on board. Most Times they just hail you, sometimes they come over and have a look. Writing in stream of conscious, gives me a little poetic freedom to puncuate the pauses of salty speak. I'll try to pay more attention in the future, so my point is not lost on the anal. It is possible Small boat lover's writitng style has rubbed off on me a little as well.

[Sal Paradise]

2b&b

Personally, I would love to hear about your trip to Belize.

Sal Paradise

[2belize&back]

sal par, i'll try to get her done 2day or 2moro.am going to be on the road after that,maybe have access to another puter.the next and final? thread will be titled ; warning: do not try this at home!

[vega1860]

Originally Posted by bljones

Boarded ELEVEN TIMES in 4000 miles?
I'd be asking myself, why am i attracting unwanted attention and how do i stop doing it?

That's what I was thinking. We have never been boarded at sea.

[Capt.aaron]

Originally Posted by vega1860

That's what I was thinking. We have never been boarded at sea.

Do you sail along heavy drug and human trafficing routes, in and out of seedy harbours on small single handed sailboat's with no engine at night? Do you sail in and out of Port Antonio Jamaica and Cartegenia? Do you sail through Angle Fish Creek in North Key Largo at night or along the South Texas coast? Or along the north coast of Cuba, riding the counter current just outside the reef,? If so, you've just been lucky.

[vega1860]

Originally Posted by Capt.aaron

Do you sail along heavy drug and human trafficing routes, in and out of seedy harbours on small single handed sailboat's with no engine at night? Do you sail in and out of Port Antonio Jamaica and Categenia? Do you sail through Angle Fish Creek in North Key Largo at night or along the South Texas coast? Or along the north coast of Cuba, riding the counter current just outside the reef,? If so, you've just been lucky.

No we don't. And why would we? We avoid areas where we know we will be hassled. We avoid big cities with high crime too. We live on an ocean going sailboat that can take us anywhere. Why on earth would we want to sail into an area like that? Given the choice, and we all have a choice, why would anyone?

[Capt.aaron]

Because that's where we live, The Key's, I have a House in Guanaja Honduras, and I deliver boats all over the Caribbean, Been living here my whole life, working commercial tug's, sailboat's, dive boat's. I work harbour tug's in and out of Miami the Bahama's. That's why I supose. Funny thing is your avitar is a happy pirate shooting a cartoon cannon.

[hellosailor]

JonB, there used to be some serious and longstanding inviolate separations between 'administrative agency" "police" and "military" in the US. I say used to be, because after the nonsense of 9/11, the so-called Patriot Act, the creation of DHS...what we've got now is a true disgrace that some ofus would call outright treasonous because of the way it tramples our laws.

As Rich said, the USCG used to be a unique "dual purpose" organization. They were an administrative agency in time of peace, and only after a formal Congressional Declaration of War could they be transferred to the USN to become a fifth military agency.

Among other things, this allowed the USCG to perform domestic duties (as in after Katrina) when the US military forces were arguably banned from doing so, by law. Thta law was quietly (one might say furtively and secretly) modified in 2007 to the extent of being practically repealed. So once again...Aw, you don't really want to know what a *ing quagmire our leaders have made of things down here.

Short version of it? "US zero, Al-Queda Won."

Ain't the US of A anymore.