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rammed:by the customs & border patrol

30K views 165 replies 57 participants last post by  canucksailorguy 
#1 ·
In cruising,you are bound to be checked out by the authorities,and i did not mind at all.they are professionals doing the job of protecting the waters,infrastructure and other boaters, ect.. in my @4000 mile trip, i had 11 encounters.; 1-sheriff, 1-harbor police, 2-parks & wildlife, 3- coast guards, & 4- customs & border patrol zodiacs.sometimes a full search & records check is made,others just a welfare and to make sure all the required safety gear is on board.my last contact was in belize city with the coast guard.while docked there for a week,we became good friends,and was given a tour of their zodiac,"a gift" from the u.s.( $ 500.000.00) in u.s. dollars.anyways,the encounter, i will not soon forget, occurred on my way back through galveston. i was moving right along well heeled over on a reach,when a c & b patrol boat approached from astern;"we are going to board you" they yelled.i nodded my head in affirmative,gave them the "ok"sign, and waved my arm with a "come on" gesture.they came up to the highside starboard quarter and one guy jumped onto the c-22's bench seat.then their zodiac hit my corner and spun me 90 degrees to starboard instantly.a combination of the zodiacs momentum pushing on my beam,and my keel acting as a brake,made theirs ride up onto and roll mine over,so that a huge amount of water came over the port rail.the guy that had jumped into my boat was now scrambling back onto his bow,thinking that my boat was going down.just as quickly as this had happened,they got theirs off of mine and she righted herself and i got back on course and to speed,whilest the scuppers drained.and again they approached,"we are going to board you",i gestured and yelled " come to the portside,low side".they did,two guys jump on ,we shake hands and smile.they ask me to slow the boat down, i release the jib and the search was on...and then they were gone. 2 b cont...
 
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#125 ·
I've never felt threatend when the coasties come around, I've never seen any m-16. They have side arm's. Often they ask permision to board and chose not to. They are polite and unabtrusive, They respect my privacy and normally are just checking flares and life Jacket's registration and they run your name. It's the way of the High Sea's. If you don't like it, don't go to sea. People like Cherev, usually have an imaginary idea of what a boarding is like. I don't particulary care for the Coast Scout's administratve or law enforcement branch, But I understand the rules of the sea, and also the age we live in, with drugs and people smuggl'n, so I allow them to carry out their duties and go on their way.
 
#126 ·
I think the most scary thing I've seen with the USCG and their weapons was some years ago, way pre-9/11, when a 44(?) went flying up NY's East River past us, near the UN. With the machine gun on the port side MANNED and UNCOVERED.

I don't care if it was Martians, narcoterrorists, of the whole damned Soviet Army they were anticipating, there is simply no safe way to discharge machine guns when the background is Manhattan Island downrange of the muzzles.

So, strangers with guns? Uniforms are nice, but I don't like seeing fingers near triggers when I don't know who they are or what they're up to.

Of course it doesn't help that the NYPD enjoyed a reputation for some of the worst firearms discipline in the nation...ask any gunsmith why Glock offers an "NYPD trigger job" on their pistols now. After nine NYPD managed to literally shoot their own feet while drawing their weapons some years ago.
 
#127 ·
I see the Coast Gaurd all day every day zooming past our tug in Miami Harbour with a kid on the bow manning the big machine gun. They escort the Cruise Ships. It makes us feel safe, sitting there on a loaded fuel barge, they are the first line of defense out here. iIve never been boarded by a boat with that gun on the bow. Travel around Central America, and the guy pumping gas has a pistol grip shot gun, the guy delivering pepsi has the same. The guy standing near the atm has an m-16 with duck tape on the magazine, You don't see this so much in the suburb, non border states so I guess it's shocking for some when they venture out of the safe confines of Americaville and get out on the front lines.
 
#128 ·
"an m-16 with duck tape on the magazine"
That would be, Duck® Brand Duct Tape on the magazine. I didn't know they exported to the overseas market. (G)
I don't remember if it is the Uzi or the Galil that actually has a bottle opener built into it. Aren't we fortunate that pop-top cans have made that obsolete.

In some places, sure, guns are normal. Fingers on the trigger, not so normal.

Of course, my swiss army knife managed to travel all over the world without hijacking any aircraft. Don't know how that happened, everyone tells me they're SO dangerous now.
 
#131 ·
I have only been boarded once by a wildlife officer while duck hunting in a motor boat. Not nice, but professional in all other regards. I can't imagine being boarded while underway in a sailboat heeled over?? Why in the world would BOTH parties not prefer to drop sails, and safely board? A ship underway, ok....a small sailboat heeled over? WTF?
 
#135 ·
Funny you should say that. I was thinking to myself "What's the name of his boat?" On a tour of a boat impound yard I noticed that a significant number of the boats had names like "Weed Bandit" and other such names that might not be so wise.

Real suppliers do not advertise. CG just hassling to justify their lives/budgets.

Sharp fish hooks hanging around the stern deflates the egos, etc of those in zodiacs. Watching where they are going is their responsibility.



?????? What are you trying to say???
 
#136 ·
In Canada, everyone needs a search warrant to enter a boat. Sure glad I live in a freer country, and not the US!
Those who don't want to impose themselves on others, wouldn't join a police organization, on a matter of principle. So who does that leave?
 
#138 ·
In Canada, everyone needs a search warrant to enter a boat. Sure glad I live in a freer country, and not the US!
Yup, you guys are freer. Fully hands off. Congratulations. These interviews took place a few months prior to 9/11.

Is Canada A Safe Haven For Terrorists? | PBS - Trail Of A Terrorist | FRONTLINE | PBS

Those who don't want to impose themselves on others, wouldn't join a police organization, on a matter of principle. So who does that leave?
I only have a problem with the perceived tone that LEOs are, therefore, all joining in order to impose themselves on others. I fully disagree, at least in the US. Most are joining to protect, not impose. There are bad apples everywhere, even on sailboats. I do agree that you can't do the job as an LEO, unless you are willing to impose. Just like you can't be a school teacher either. You must be willing to tell Johnny to sit in his seat and listen, whether he wants to or not. But, that's not why you took the job.
 
#137 ·
>Those who don't want to impose themselves on others, wouldn't join a police organization, on a matter of principle. So who does that leave?<

Amin. However, in Second and Third World countries, the only way to both defend one's family from violent 'authority' and also have access to 'confiscated' wealth is to join the thugs. Regardless of the country, some may join simply because their father and uncles were in a police force, and they're just following a 'family career' that may be easier for them to enter.
 
#140 ·
H3L|IoN - Haven't I seen you around someplace? Like CruisingOutpost.com?

And the hate speech hereabouts hardly qualifies for banter, since the least infraction may get some -but only some- banned for 'life'.
 
#144 ·
Like the Sphinx, time and the desert fear me, and seek to bury me.
You think way too much of yourself if you believe time fears you or is trying to bury you.
If you were to ask me, I believe time simply wants to ignore you, than again I can't speak for time like you can, I can only speak for myself.
 
#153 ·
You think way too much of yourself if you believe time fears you or is trying to bury you. If you were to ask me, I believe time simply wants to ignore you, than again I can't speak for time like you can, I can only speak for myself.
Time seeks to bury us all. It is as inexorable as Gravity.

But I was merely being allusively playful with what Egyptian Arabs say about the pyramid complex at Giza. "Man fears Time, but Time fears the Pyramids."

It was indeed time, heh, for the thread to return to the OP and his fate.
 
#151 ·
#155 ·
"What Uncle Sam is saying, when he calls Canada a "Safe haven for terrorists" is he doesn't want an example to how much more freedom and"
Nonsense. Unless Canada has tightened up the borders, the reference to it being a safe haven for terrorists comes from the way Canada would allow anyone to walk off a plane and say "I'm a refugee!" and then let them go off and disappear.
That's got nothing to do with weapons or human rights. Whether someone is or isn't a genuine refugee and in fear of their life, you don't just let a stranger in with no ID check and no way to see where they fall off the radar.
Here in the US, we make them swim or hike through the open spaces, so they have to sneak in. No easy airline trips right into the big city.
Which isn't a whole lot more impressive, is it?
 
#164 ·
Not a single successful terrorist attack on the United States has originated in Canada.
Not one.
For example, both WTC attacks, OKC, were perpetrated by US citizens or legal resident aliens. In fact, they received their training via the US military (McVeigh) and US flight schools (9/11 gang).

(Okay, there was also the would-be "millenium bomber", who didn't have much of a plan and even less English, who was promptly caught by US Customs at the border, who provided much of the information on Al Qaeda that the US intelligence services had until Sept., 2001, and didn't act on.)

yes, Canada has tightened it's immigration regs- it is not as easy to make a refugee claim as it was 10 years ago, in part thanks to the embarassment of the millenium bomber fiasco. More still needs to be done. It is a disgrace. We have our own terrorist black marks- the Air India bombing, which occurred in large part because our RCMP made numerous mistakes handling intel. That was the last major terrorist attack based in Canada...
and that was in 1985.

That doesn't change the fact that Canada is not a "terrorist threat" to the US.
Looking at recent experience, you are your own worst enemy, when it comes to accomodating and training terrorists.
 
#156 ·
Seems thousands of them have no problem swimming or crossing open spaces into the US every year. With the US having caused many a refugee problem in Central America by supporting mass murderous, genocidal regimes, it's high time they started paying for such crimes, in terms of supporting their innocent victims.
Refugees often don't have the option of having ID. The US is a state of the bureaucrats, for the bureaucrat, by the bureaucrats. No wonder they tell refugees "Kiss the ass of your bureaucrats, or die."
The US campaign of disinformation about our health care system was an example of how worried they are about having a better way of doing things on display, right next door, and how much money they are willing to spend to undermine it..
 
#158 ·
When Clinton tried to give you health care, a steady stream of ******** disinformation and anti public health care propaganda was put put out by your media, crossing the border in US media programing. They still fund advertising against the maintenance of our public health care system, with well paid for disinformation campaigns, and insisted on the extension of drug patent laws as a pre condition of NAFTA, which continue to undermine the affordability of our public health care system.
 
#159 ·
So some nebulous claims about media and advertising and patent rights become an attack on your helathcare system? Um, no, Canadians include some big boys who can make up their own minds. And the major Canadian pharmaceutical houses can make all the drugs you need. Patent laws treat everyone the same, if you don't like the prices you have to pay for drugs owned by US pharmacies, either withdraw from the patent conventions, or spend your own money on other drugs. That's what everyone else has to do, that's not "undermining" anything in Canada.
Undermining would mean our government was literally attacking your healthcare system. that's what you said, that we're spending money on destroying your system. We could do that, we could easily send in people to set fire to your clinics, or buy out all the drugs from the pharmacy shelves. That would be undermining.
But complaining about international licensing terms and advertising? Put on the bigboy pants.
 
#160 ·
Just like the US we have a lot of people gullible enough to buy the misinformation campaigns .You're an example of that. Public health care is dependent on public support. They wouldn't spend mega bucks on advertising if it didn't work.
Go change your diapers.
 
#162 ·
The sheeps of US...funny how they link economics and freedom......If you want economic power gotta sacrifice your freedom....ya 'bout that...bite me.....

As far as I am concerned the only reason for the increased police state tactics of the US is only about money...economics....simple as that......If you cannot see that in order to justify their existence they need to hassle even those who in spirit try and follow the law get screwed. Papers/blogs are full of stories of where the po po exceed their authorized duties. Now that the legislative branch of the government has given broader non-constituitional power (backed by the supremes who think corporations are people) well...guess what??? Peeps are gonna start to make waves and become "terrorists" You want to know how easy it is to get on the "no fly" list?? For oppositional/difference of opinion reasons only??
America is only about the money, has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with any ideal other than economic supremacy. So yes, the C.G. is gonna stop Joe under 40 footer riding the waves but I have yet to see them stop anybody bigger than a 50 footer......

The US is a senile country undergoing decline. With enough money, you can "break" any law with in the US. It is always about the benjies......At least the poor people of the US are not even so stupid or deluded to believe otherwise.
 
#163 ·
"When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." Benjamin Franklin

The US is a senile country undergoing decline. With enough money, you can "break" any law with in the US. It is always about the benjies......At least the poor people of the US are not even so stupid or deluded to believe otherwise.
Yes, the poor people of the US are that stupid and are the demise of this nation. They finally wield the power to run this country into the ground.
 
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