Sailing in a 10 knot SE wind on a flat sea about twenty miles off the north coast of Cuba. It's about 300 miles to Miami from here.
For the benefit of all the "gonnabe" live aboard cruisers who read this log here's one more bit of knowledge you'll need out here.
We were boarded two days ago by the USCG who approached us in a large vessel called the Tampa. They hailed us and asked all the routine questions then had me standby on VHF 16 for about 35 minutes. When they got back to me they said they were going to send a boarding party and perform a "safety inspection"-rrrrright!!
They commanded that all hands show themselves in the cockpit and remain there, also they inquired if we have weapons on board or if there are any dangers to their crew, like animals.
I answered their questions and had to wonder about our safety since they had the "BIG WAR SHIP" with a complement of about 160 crew, a canon, and were sending a vessel with six guys wearing all the gear they saw on an old Cops segment with nifty little blue crash helmets with boom mic's.
The boys were polite but definitely on a mission to find anything they could to site me. During a period of waiting, there was a lot of that, (while they checked the data banks) we learned that much of the USCG emphasis now days is on law enforcement.
After they went through every hatch and locker doing who knows what inside my vessel ( the boarded are not allowed to accompany or observe their activities) I was presented a citation for a paper work issue.
I guess one would have to wonder what threat my little boat presents to the big bad USCG that could in any way justify tying up the assets they deployed for three and a half hours and the interference they posed to my pursuit of happiness.
We have these wars with high sounding names like the war on poverty, the war on cancer, the war on drugs, and than there are the other miss leading names like the patriot act, all of which seem to be miss leading and miss managed with great skill!
Plying these waters you can be approached or boarded by the Florida Marine Patrol, Fish and Game, US Customs, US Immigration, US Navy and I noticed the USAF is out here too. Wow! They all seem to play a slightly different game but they all make the same threatening fashion statement.
When you purchase your new, very expensive floating retirement home be aware, the Supreme court some years ago declared that those who's boat is their home (about a million of us) have no constitutional protections because the drug threat is greater than individual rights.
I hope to make Miami before the next strong front arrives Saturday evening. I'll rest up a bit then get ready to sail for Nassau where I will meet my first charter guest of the season on the fourth.
Mark
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