Hi Chuck,
You make some very good points. I agree that one should know the
laws of a country you are visiting as
a foreign yacht. I come from a country where I am not required to
register any vessel under 10 horsepower.
Even if I have a 40 foot boat, as long as it has under 10 hp..........
no registration or licensing of any kind is
required. I saw nothing wrong taking my dinghy through the locks and
was having a great day until
two bully's came along and were so incredibly rude that I could not
believe they were real "peace officers".
I was abiding by all the rules of my foreign country and it didn't even
cross my mind that what I was doing
was illegal. You know, there are just too many laws. My huge
complaint was the attitude of the officers.
I am smart enough not to antagonize most officers but these two were so
bad I asked them to take me to
their leader. I also requested that I speak to the Canadian Consulate
office in Seattle to get this matter
settled. They let me go. Just as well.... I was really
drunk...(kidding....)

Your law enforcement system in the U.S. needs some serious attention
before it is too late to stop it.
I have seen the U.S. coasties board pretty much every vessel in
Bellingham Bay on a Sunday afternoon.
I have also seen them board almost every boat that left Friday Harbour
Wa. on a Sunday afternoon.
This is well before 9/11 so I can't even imagine what life is like down
there now for boaters. I'll never know
personally. I have been boarded by the US coast guard numerous times
and the black marks they left on
my deck are still visible. I mentioned to them at the time that I
would never let anyone on board my vessel
with boots like that. I wasn't rude but just stating a fact. It is a
subtle form of bullying but........

Chuck.... I have to ask you... do you think American boaters who
violate WG are treated differently
from Canadians who stray..... Most of the active WG time is American
generated it seems so maybe
they do nail you harder for that reason. I have only heard of a few
Canadians who have gone to court in that area but one of them jumped on
a U.S. submarine......... he got his photo in the papers.

I wish I could remember the VHF channel but I have read somewhere that
the U.S. authorities monitor
some channel that is restricted in the States but used in Canada for
nothing special. If they hear you using
this channel even way up in Canada, you can get charged even though
Canadians use the channel for BS.

Your very right about Granville Island being hard on boaters who
overstay the 4 hour daily limit. There used
to be a night watchman there many years ago who would let out of town
boaters overnight one time at that
dock but those days are long over. It is the attitude of many law
enforcement officers that is running amok.
Being woken up from a sound sleep after anchoring with a bull horn and
50 billion candlepower of spotlight
with an angry guy at the controls is totally unreasonable and you get
written up in newsgroups.

Thanks for getting me all straightened out.. I enjoyed your writing
style too. You come across effectively
without being condescending.

If fact, I think I'll go down to the boat tomorrow and head off to
Friday Harbour for the weekend......not.

cheers j