I think everybody agrees that the USCG goes a great job.


What they can do ... They sure seem to be spread pretty thin.
I saw the coasties for the first time in well over a year the other afternoon
(3 guys in an RIB) and I spend ~400 hours a year on the water.

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 18 Sep 2004 05:24:16 GMT, (Bob) wrote:

On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 12:27:58 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

I need to whine a little.



In the midst of all this madness, I was spotted by the Coast Guard and
deemed to be a clear threat to homeland security. I was pulled over for
a
safety check.

anybody see the contradiction here?

he wasn't stopped for security, as he admits. he was stopped for a
safety check. and that is part of the CG's mission. if you disagree
with it, get the law changed. don't complain about the CG. they're
just doing their job.

Don't get up in arms - there was lot of tongue-in-cheek in that post.

I think everybody agrees that the USCG goes a great job.

Later,

Tom

Thanks for noticing the tongue-in-cheek. Apparently, Bob had a bad day
before he wrote his message.

Went to the CG station today to clear up the situation. I brought photos of
the boat's interior, and they agreed that a fire extinguisher was, in fact,
not required. But, three guys came to the desk and brainstormed about places
I might consider putting one anyway. Finally, I asked "If you were in this
boat and the engine caught fire, how many of you would play with a fire
extinguisher, and how many of you would throw on a vest and go over the
side?" The consensus was "Hmmmmm...good question". Personally, I'd swim.

"If you were in this
boat and the engine caught fire, how many of you would play with a fire
extinguisher, and how many of you would throw on a vest and go over the
side?" The consensus was "Hmmmmm...good question". Personally, I'd swim.


You could probably roll the boat, put the fire out and crank back up and go
home.

Doug Kanter wrote:
Went to the CG station today to clear up the situation. I brought photos of
the boat's interior, and they agreed that a fire extinguisher was, in fact,
not required. But, three guys came to the desk and brainstormed about places
I might consider putting one anyway. Finally, I asked "If you were in this
boat and the engine caught fire, how many of you would play with a fire
extinguisher, and how many of you would throw on a vest and go over the
side?" The consensus was "Hmmmmm...good question". Personally, I'd swim.

Well, I'm not arguing with whether or not the law *should* require a
fire extinguisher. Clearly you're OK.

But the fact is that they can come in very handy. Would you rather
abandon your boat or consider trying to save it with minimal damage?
What if you happen upon another boater with a fire?

Fair Skies
Doug

"DSK" wrote in message
. ..
Doug Kanter wrote:
Went to the CG station today to clear up the situation. I brought photos
of
the boat's interior, and they agreed that a fire extinguisher was, in
fact,
not required. But, three guys came to the desk and brainstormed about
places
I might consider putting one anyway. Finally, I asked "If you were in
this
boat and the engine caught fire, how many of you would play with a fire
extinguisher, and how many of you would throw on a vest and go over the
side?" The consensus was "Hmmmmm...good question". Personally, I'd swim.

Well, I'm not arguing with whether or not the law *should* require a
fire extinguisher. Clearly you're OK.

But the fact is that they can come in very handy. Would you rather
abandon your boat or consider trying to save it with minimal damage?
What if you happen upon another boater with a fire?

Fair Skies
Doug


Agreed ("another boat"). The problem has been that no matter now much I've
fiddled around with finding a good spot for the thing, it's always in the
way, sometimes with semi-dangerous consequences. In the stern, it tends to
get ropes tangled around it at docking time. In the bow, it gets slammed by
the anchor. In between, people slam their knees on it.

On CG guy had an interesting thought. Each of the 3 bench seats are sealed
aluminum boxes, filled with blown-in floatation, and topped with some sort
of heavy duty wood. He wondered about removing one wooden top, cutting it in
half, hinging one half, cutting out a little metal (and floatation
material), and creating just a little bit of storage - enough to stash a
small extinguisher and perhaps the hand held radio and a camera. My only
concern about this is that although the aluminum's pretty thick, I still
don't like the idea of riveting hinges to it. Wait...I just crushed my own
concern: I'd be inside the metal anyway. Nuts & bolts would work.

|Finally, I asked "If you were in this
| boat and the engine caught fire, how many of you would play with a fire
| extinguisher, and how many of you would throw on a vest and go over the
| side?" The consensus was "Hmmmmm...good question". Personally, I'd swim.

Number one rule of boating.. Safety First..!! I'm not sure where you do
your boating, but even a boat disabled by fire is better than spending a
cold night in the water, or on a beach soaking wet freezing your tookus
off.. Not to mention, God forbid that someone else in the boat should catch
fire too.. Sounds like you've got an answer with the seat modification..

"DSK" wrote in message
. ..
| Doug Kanter wrote:
| Went to the CG station today to clear up the situation. I brought photos
of
| the boat's interior, and they agreed that a fire extinguisher was, in
fact,
| not required. But, three guys came to the desk and brainstormed about
places
| I might consider putting one anyway. Finally, I asked "If you were in
this
| boat and the engine caught fire, how many of you would play with a fire
| extinguisher, and how many of you would throw on a vest and go over the
| side?" The consensus was "Hmmmmm...good question". Personally, I'd swim.
|
| Well, I'm not arguing with whether or not the law *should* require a
| fire extinguisher. Clearly you're OK.
|
| But the fact is that they can come in very handy. Would you rather
| abandon your boat or consider trying to save it with minimal damage?
| What if you happen upon another boater with a fire?
|
| Fair Skies
| Doug
|