My guess would be that, as it was the 4rth of July, what was happening was similar to a State Police "Checkpoint" on the raod, where cars are stopped randomly to check for DWI. Can someone tell us, is this an acceptable practice?
My guess is a violation took place that you may not have observed, IE: registration violation, greater than headway speed within 150' from a dock, etc. In order for an officer to conduct a traffic (automobile, boat) stop, they must have at the least articuable suspicion or probable cause that a violation took place or was about to take place in their presence. Without A.S. or P.C. the officer would just be pulling over random citizens for no reason, thus violating the 4th ammendment of the US Constitution or Part I Article 19 of the New Hampshire Constitution; illegal search and seizure.
Just an FYI., "checkpoints" that are conducted randomly, in NH have to be advertised in advance prior to them taking place due to the NH Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional to stop people at random, lacking A.S. and P.C. I hope this information has helped answer your curiosity. I have been stopped by the Marine Patrol a few times. Usually for picking up my boat from the marina and the marina folks neglecting to put on my decals.
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