News & Views for Southern Sailors - Southwinds Magazine

water when they went past me. They threw it in reverse
hard just to tell me I had better row that thing in. Then they
proceeded to threaten me with a ticket, and to impound my
boat and throw me in jail if they saw me out here. I replied
that I had just yesterday got it titled, tagged and a motor on
it. I even pulled out my flare kit and showed them the new
sticker and went on to say that today I was going to go into
the marina and buy letters and numbers to put on the boat.
That was not good enough for them. They continued to
threaten me with my three-year-old daughter standing right
there, who is freaking out by now. It was really scary! In a
rash attempt to make them leave us alone, I ripped the back
of the sticker off and smacked it on the side of my boat, and
said, “You happy now” The last thing they said was, “You
have been warned!” They said nothing more and just drifted
away slowly, staring at us.
That menacing encounter was the first of many to follow.
And it was almost a year ago when this happened: One
morning, I was awakened by my wife, saying, “Hey, hey!
The sheriff is out here.” It was all I could do to get a pair of
shorts on, get out, and just as I did, the sheriff’s bow was
hard into the port side of my ship. Wow—what is going on
An FWC officer boards my ship. Now all this was happening
as I just turned the corner. He landed midships, and said
he needed to see the head. Since I had nothing to hide and
was out of it from just waking up, I showed it to him. First
off, he had no clue how to even work it, or what line was
what. This also could not have been a worse time, because
the night before, my little angel flushed something and
clogged the line to the tank. I explained the problem, and
that it was the first thing on my list to do today. He was nice
about it and said he would be back by noon to make sure I
had fixed it. He asked me for my papers, and I gave them to
him. He left, but made it clear he would be back, and it
would be real soon.
Rather than trying to unclog the line first, I went to
West Marine, got a new hose and replaced the whole line
that was about a year old—if that. I then went to the FWC
website and downloaded the full law! I was going to be
ready for him this time and inform him of not only FWC’s
laws, but the boarding laws, since he never asked to board
me, so if he had given me a ticket, it would have gotten
thrown out of court. Needless to say, he never came back. I
also think that when he was talking to me, he knew I was
telling the truth, that I was sincere and would fix the problem.
And I did—ASAP!
In another instance, there was a ship that was abandoned
here at anchor, broke loose in a storm and crashed
into a sea wall. The next day, all of us sailors got together
and decided to “police ourselves a little” and go help this
ship out. After an hour or so, we managed to pull it free and
anchor it away from the wall. My rib and anchors did all the
Escape —
And Enjoy a little freedom with a New Catalina
It’s a great way to decompress!
ESCAPE MACHINES:
Catalina 250 MKII
Catalina 22 Sport
Catalina /Capri 22
Catalina 18
Catalina 16.5
Catalina 14.2
Expo 14.2
Expo 12.5
Catalina 250 MkII
DECOMPRESSOR!
See the new Catalina 250 at your local dealer or check it out online at www.catalinayachts.com
BOATERS EXCHANGE
Rockledge, FL
321-638-0090
jerry@boatersexchange.com
DUNBAR SALES
St. Simons Island, GA
800-282-1411
sales@dunbaryachts.com
MASTHEAD ENTERPRISES
St. Petersburg, FL
727-327-5361
masthead@
mastheadsailinggear.com
SNUG HARBOR BOATS & CO.
Buford, GA
866-266-7422
ann@snugharborboats.com
The Closer
You Look,
The Better
It Gets!
TIKI WATER SPORTS
Key Largo, FL
800-726-2102
bob@tikiwatersports.net
News & Views for Southern Sailors SOUTHWINDS November 2011 9