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Photo by Cliff Stephan.ciously gave me permission to dress and come on deck, atwhich time he announced that he was there to arrest me andseize my boat for being illegally anchored on sovereign submergedland of the state of Florida. When he gave me hisname, I told him I had sent a certified letter to him informinghim that the DEP statute he was enforcing had beendetermined by the DEP to be inapplicable to my situation.He acknowledged receipt of the letter, but said he disagreedand that the law was clear. He made a point of telling methat I was guilty of “depriving the public of the use of theland beneath my boat.” And he was serious! I pointed out tohim that I was a member of the public to which he was referring,and that I didn’t see any other members of the publicaround wanting to occupy my spot. So, where was the rub?The space afforded me to write this article does not permitme to give a blow-by-blow description of the two-hourconfrontation that ensued between “Lt. Smith” and me. Icount it exceedingly fortunate that “Lt. Smith” was not oneof the young, hotshot breed of officers we see too often inlaw enforcement today. At one point, he told me he was agraduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, served 23 years in theNavy and had over 10 years of service in the FWC. I figuredhe was in his late 50s and almost as much an old salt as me.More than anything, I didn’t want to be arrested, or havemy boat seized. So, we took each issue one at a time (and hehad a number of them), and worked them out. While overlyzealous in my opinion, “Lt. Smith” was courteous andprofessional. I can’t fault his demeanor, just his idea of whatconstitutes a reasonable cause to interfere with a citizen whois doing nothing more than enjoying his boat and a day onthe water. The best part of the morning was watching “Lt.Smith” speed off down the river and leave me without somuch as a warning ticket.I reported this incident to the Seven Seas CruisingAssociation and the BoatUS organization, both of which Iam a member. Through their good offices, and without myknowledge, this matter was brought to the attention of seniorFWC law enforcement officials in Tallahassee. A messagewas relayed to me on their behalf expressing sincere regret,and assuring me that “Lt. Smith” would be brought up tospeed on the proper enforcement of Florida statutes. Godbless America!Note From the Editor on the FWCand Florida BoatersWe ask our readers to make sure to read theletter we published in our “Letters” sectionabout FWC police. Along with the article inthis section, we have two excellent examplesof the gulf—perhaps an ocean—betweencruisers and Florida marine law enforcement.Cruisers see flak jackets, police dogs, guns,rudeness, hull banging, assumption of guilt,paramilitary behavior, floodlights at night,etc., etc., etc.,—and almost always in thepursuit of checking up on mainly victimlesscrimes, like the lack of life jackets and whistlesin dinghies, proper registration, proper onboard safetyequipment, anchoring, etc. If we take these letters and thearticle on these pages as any indication of the government’sattitude, the police see all boaters as the same and all aspotentially dangerous criminals. Cruisers see almost all seriousboating accidents—and statistics show it—coming fromirresponsible boater behavior on powerboats and aboutnothing dangerous from cruisers, yet they feel they arebeing treated as though they are all in the same group.How about when marine patrolmen see an anchor lightout in a secluded quiet anchorage and let it go till the nextday, but when they see it on a busy route, then they dealwith it as dangerous. Or instead of checking to make surethat all sailors have a whistle on their dinghy when they go50 feet to shore, they let it go unless they discover it whileinvestigating some dangerous infraction. We don’t need menwith guns protecting us from ourselves.As for registration: Can you imagine what it would belike if the highway patrol checked out all out-of-state cars inFlorida to see if they had been here over the legal time limitor to make sure they were all legally registered? The highwaypatrol can’t do that because—basically—it would bestupid. They also can’t do it because they aren’t allowed to.FWC does it because they can. Bad excuse.How about some judgment in the field? Do we reallyneed the police to keep an eye on us, checking us out suspiciously,making sure we won’t harm ourselves? What kindof state do they call that? Use your imagination.Steve Morrell, EditorRobbie Johnson makes his home aboard his steel, gaff-rigged TahitiKetch. He is the author of a popular sailor’s cookbook, GourmetUnderway.News & Views for Southern Sailors SOUTHWINDS April 2008 37