JR North wrote:
Apparently you are not too put-off by their Police-State tactics,
Homeland Insecurity notwithstanding. I suppose you would be similarly
accommodating if they strode in your front door at home and sat around
the dining room table going through your personal stuff, demanding to
see your furnace and water heater, and checking the batteries in your
smoke detectors. Oh, yeah, and the contents of your hard drives while
their at it.
Baaaaahhhhhh
JR


Not put off at all. Navigation is a privilege, not a right. When one
takes up "pleasure boating" it has to be done with the understanding
that vessels in a public waterway are
subject to scrutiny by regulatory agencies. The Coast Guard was once
part of the revenue service, and inspecting cargos was an intinsic part
of the duty.

I expect to be free from "unreasonable" search and seizure. Inspecting
my furnace, water heater, smoke detectors, and examining my hard drive
(without a court order based on some evidence of a possible crime)
would be unreasonable. Making sure that the guy who might be rafted
next to me along the float at Langley has a working fire extinguisher,
or that I have one myself, is pretty much OK with me.

Besides, they asked permission to board. I don't know what would have
happened if I said "no", but I'm pretty sure that life was a whole lot
less complicated because I said "yes."

It's not much different that crossing the border and going through
customs. The customs people have the "right" to take your car apart
down to the frame if they think they need to.
Folks who can't stand the thought of being inspected at customs can
avoid the experience by not traveling. Those who can't stand the
thought of enduring a safety inspection by the Coast Guard can avoid it
by staying away from boats.