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I imagine but they do have the coastie on the sheriff boat now and
then. Like I said, I wonder how a court would rule if they caught a
guy with a joint in the console in the bay and the coastie turned it
up on a warrantless search.
That is not exactly the "high seas" even if the operator is high.
I know motor vehicle law is well tested on the side of the road but I
am not sure how that translates to boats. I have never actually heard
about people being "boarded" by LEOs unless they had PC they spotted
from their boat or they thought the operator was impaired. I know when
they stopped me and gave me the DUI test coming past the shrimp boats
the sheriff was in his boat and I was in mine. It was no big deal
since I was OK but I was interested in the process. He was stopping
pretty much everyone.
When the FWC guy stopped me in Mullock Creek, he stayed in his boat
too. He just had me show him I had no fish in my cooler. I ended up
showing him all of my gear but he did that in a way that I did not
feel like I was being jacked up. He was actually a very cool cop.
It was like "I really like your boat, do you keep your life jackets in
that box" sort of thing. It was just two guys talking about their
boats.