What To Do If You Get Stopped And Boarded
You’re driving along on the highway and you see those familiar flashing lights come on behind you. Your heart sinks as you realize the patrol car is following you. You hear the officer over his PA speaker telling you to pull over. Yup, you were snagged - for speeding.
Remember what the person who taught you how to drive told you about getting pulled over? Keep your hands on the wheel. Have the other occupants sit with their hands in plain view, and quietly.
Be nice to the officer, give him or her the documentation they want, and if you’re lucky, and because you’re nice, they will be nice to you.
Well, now we’re on the water, zipping along, jumping wakes or speeding in a 5mph zone and all of a sudden….you guessed it! You hear a siren and see those familiar blue lights (blue is the only color that signifies an emergency vessel on the water). What do you do?
Well the officers, be they the local bay constable, marine patrol, state police or Coast Guard will ask you to heave to. This means: Stop your vessel! Ask them if they want you to cut your engine and drop an anchor.
Take out some fenders (even though most law enforcement vessels will have their own handy) as well so they can tie-up without damaging your boat.
Now what do you do? Well, if you took a safe boating course in the last several years, some of the information you got about being stopped and boarded has changed. In years gone by, the only agency that could stop your vessel and board it without a search warrant was the Coast Guard. Well, this isn’t exactly so anymore.
Several states have signed compacts with the Coast Guard in this post 9/11 environment and the Coast Guard has delegated some of their Federal powers to some states. Specifically, the rules now allow state law enforcement (and those state powers flow down to the local law enforcement officers) to board vessels.
So, now that we know that a non-Coast Guard officer is mostly likely allowed to board our vessel (check with your state), what do you do as the vessel’s captain? The same exact things as you would do as the driver of a car.
You keep your hands where they can be seen. You assemble your crew and guests above decks so law enforcement knows where everyone is and how many persons are on board.
You provide the documentation requested, and understand that a vessel safety equipment check will be done. This will be the same vessel safety check the Coast Guard Auxiliary provides for FREE, and without penalty. But this time, it will be done for you by the law enforcement officials—with a penalty should you not pass!
If you fail the vessel safety equipment check, the law enforcement official has several options they can pursue.
1. They can issue you a warning (boy – you were lucky!)
2. They can issue you a ticket (ok, not so lucky)
3. They can issue a “termination of voyage” order, which means you will need to return to your most recent place of embarkation where any and all violations will need to be cured (fixed) before your voyage can continue.
After the vessel safety check come any tickets and/or more severe penalties for the offense that caused you to be boarded in the first place (like speeding, operating under the influence etc.).
So, what’s the best way to not get boarded? Follow the local laws and the Rules of the Road, and get a Vessel Safety Check by the Coast Guard Auxiliary (see http://www.safetyseal.net) or other partners in the VSC program. Remember, the Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies do have safety check stops—you’ll survive one if your boat and equipment are up to date. However, if the Coast Guard sees your VSC sticker on your port side window, more than likely they will either do a perfunctory check or let you continue on your voyage. Why? Because you have taken accomplished a VSC and are more likely to keep or have all the required safety equipment on board. Another great reason to have a VSC this season!
So, let’s run through the rules if you get stopped once again:
Heave to
Have all passengers and crew topside
Be cooperative and courteous
Being stopped and boarded is something we’d all like to avoid, but when it happens, and it will, the process can be painless and instructive. After all, the goal is to make boating a safe activity for eveyone.