Took my newly built 20' Tolman Skiff out today to test new instruments.
Hauled her from N. Tallahassee down to St. Marks River where there
were already about 30 other boat trailers parked.
As soon as I got out of my truck, this older guy walks up in a sorta
blue uniform that said U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and asked if I
wanted a free "courtesy safety inspection". Being proud of my boat and
knowing she is in excellent shape and sorta wanting to show her off I
said "OK". He did say he was not empowered to issue any tickets for
anything. It turns out that he goes to the same church my wife attends
so he sorta knows us. However, during the short "inspection", I
started to feel kinda put-off by it. It was all very friendly and he
did give some good advice on problems with the launch area but I really
began to feel odd about the whole thing.
My boat was still on the trailer so I wonder about his authority and in
reality NOBODY would refuse to get such an inspection. After all, if I
refused he coulda radioed to someone on the water to give me a ticket
for something. Mostly the inspection was insignificant and didnt tell
me anything at all but he made a big deal about paperwork. He wanted
to see my title and since I dont think anybody has such a right except
for law enforcement types and he had no cause to ask I was sorta
put-off. Even worse, he was confused by the lack of a vessel ID number
on a home-built boat and fact that the title did not look like a
standard one.
He gave me a sticker that he insisted on putting on my new paint saying
I had been inspected and said something about this preventing me from
getting stopped by the CG (Really?) What really got me was he
paperwork he filled out with my name, vessell ID stuff and other
things; what the hell is all that for?
It was all very friendly and it was not till I got home later that it
began to gnaw at me that it seemed very weird to be forced to do this.

Frogwatch wrote:
My boat was still on the trailer so I wonder about his authority and in
reality NOBODY would refuse to get such an inspection. After all, if I
refused he coulda radioed to someone on the water to give me a ticket
for something. Mostly the inspection was insignificant and didnt tell
me anything at all but he made a big deal about paperwork. He wanted
to see my title and since I dont think anybody has such a right except
for law enforcement types and he had no cause to ask I was sorta
put-off. Even worse, he was confused by the lack of a vessel ID number
on a home-built boat and fact that the title did not look like a
standard one.
He gave me a sticker that he insisted on putting on my new paint saying
I had been inspected and said something about this preventing me from
getting stopped by the CG (Really?) What really got me was he
paperwork he filled out with my name, vessell ID stuff and other
things; what the hell is all that for?
It was all very friendly and it was not till I got home later that it
began to gnaw at me that it seemed very weird to be forced to do this.

no, we can't force anyone to get an inspection. the reason the
paperwork is filled out is because we have to turn this in to the USCG
base that conrrols our flotillas. they keep track of how many
inspections we do so they know how effective the program is. the USCG
wants to ensure boaters have the opportunity to get an inspection.

the CG does not track anyone's boat nor make the records available to
anyone as a result of this inspection. however, if the active duty CG
inspects your boat they DO keep records and they WILL track this info,
especially if they find violations. since the CG and not the aux has
enforcement authority, there is no way the aux can 'tell' the CG to
issue a citation. the mechanism doesn't exist for this to happen. and
local authorities cooperate with the aux, but since the aux has no
enforcement power, if the aux DOES call law enforcement, it's the same
as any other citizen doing so.

as to getting stopped by the CG with the inspection sticker, the CG, as
a law enforcement agency will stop you if they see you doing something
unsafe, and yes, the sticker will probably reduce your chances of
getting boarded since they know your boat has already been inspected.
they have better things to do than randomly stop boats to do
inspections.