Comments on: A Visit From The Coast Guard

By: Coast Guard rescue 2 from grounded vessel in San Juan Islands

Coast Guard rescue 2 from grounded vessel in San Juan Islands — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:13:26 +0000

[...] my pals from the USCGC Sea Lion were involved in this one! [...]

By: Coast Guard Online Presence Expanding | Navagear.com

Coast Guard Online Presence Expanding | Navagear.com — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:07:30 +0000

[...] its blog. They’ve got lots of interesting content over there. Hint for my local heroes: My post about being boarded is one of Navagear’s most-read pages. Apparently boaters want to know what to expect! You [...]

By: Required Equipment for your Boat | Sailing the Northwest

Required Equipment for your Boat | Sailing the Northwest — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:39:57 +0000

[...] Don’t think you’ll ever be boarded on Puget Sound? Check out this story about a recent Coast Guard boarding at Point No Point on Navagear, and then re-read this list to make sure you have the latest required gear on your [...]

By: Tim Flanagan, Managing Editor

Tim Flanagan, Managing Editor — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:39:04 +0000

It’s good to be missed!

You would be amazed how disruptive a kitchen remodel can be.

BUT, I do have a remodel-related problem requiring a boat-related and gear-related solution. I’ll try to write that up shortly!

By: Dan Corcoran (b393capt)

Dan Corcoran (b393capt) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:53:23 +0000

Ah Tim … just one post in 12 days ?? .. and it’t didn’t cover any gear!

Can we have more before the week is out ?

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:44:18 +0000

Great post. I was stopped after having turned mistakenly in to a restricted shipping lane in a 35 foot express cruiser in the cape fear inlet area in NC. It started with me thinking “this doesn’t seem like the right direction” followed by blue lights turning at numerous different points on the somewhat near horizon. I knew my mistake right away and thought better of turning and powering hard out of there. So I killed the throttle and waited for my greeting. They were just as polite as your experience and very understanding. Although there was a manned (40 caliber?) machine gun on the deck that made the experience a little more “real” for me so to speak. As we parted ways one of my passengers said “you know that guy was dying to fire that thing right?”. Yeah, probably so…

By: Dan Corcoran (b393capt)

Dan Corcoran (b393capt) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:18:20 +0000

I miss the days were you can bring your sailboat right up to a cruiser, destroyer, or other military ship moving slowly underway or at dock, without being chased away. I had an awesome time sailing next to an Aegis cruiser some years ago while chartering in San Diego … clearly if I ever did that again it would earn me warning shots or worse.

By: John

John — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:14:56 +0000

A little bird told me that not only can they turn AIS off but they can massage the data once on.

By: Carl

Carl — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:40:19 +0000

I thought I would be stopped and boarded right around the same area! A couple months ago I was heading to Port Ludlow myself from Edmonds when I came around the mouth of the Hood Canal from Admiralty Inlet and happened upon a US Navy submarine being escorted out of the canal by a US Coast Guard cutter. I don’t have AIS, but apparently it wouldn’t have helped. I was uncomfortably close to the sub. It was an awesome sight, but I kept thinking that I needed to show that my attentions were honorable. I turned up the volume on my radio (channel 16) and immediately stopped and just waited for it to pass. Had I continued toward the submarine, which was directly in my path to the Port Ludlow harbor, I’m sure I would have been persuaded to change directions.

I expect it is just a matter of time before I am boarded. I hope the Coasties are as respectful and polite as the ones you encountered. I’m sure your attitude toward the encounter helped set the tone.