Marine Patrol, Friday Night (4rth) at Weirs

[JDeere]

I don't understand why this type of situation or ones like it generate the complaints that they do. MP have a job to do and you should be happy that they are doing it.

I think he hit the nail on the head. The posts could have just as easily been that someone saw a person without a stern light go right by MP and not stop them. Then the outcry that they are not doing their job. I think MP does a fine job.....................well...........until I get stopped for something or other.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by JDeere

I think he hit the nail on the head. The posts could have just as easily been that someone saw a person without a stern light go right by MP and not stop them. Then the outcry that they are not doing their job. I think MP does a fine job.....................well...........until I get stopped for something or other.

I agree that they have been out in full force and doing their jobs, but some of them need to learn what "NO WAKE" means. I was heading in in to Glendale at 5pm today and stopped in the broads to pick up a beach ball when an MP RIB passsed in front of me about 75' out and sent a wall of water over the front of my tritoon soaking us. He was just cruising at 10-15mph I am guessing. I had the right of way and was moving forward at idle.

[Slickcraft]

For the past 30 years we have been making regular trips from Fay's to the Glendale docks to Welch and back from April through October, passing countless MP boats along the way over the years. We have never been stopped. Then again, we do observe all of the rules.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by Slickcraft

For the past 30 years we have been making regular trips from Fay's to the Glendale docks to Welch and back from April through October, passing countless MP boats along the way over the years. We have never been stopped. Then again, we do observe all of the rules.

I am not sure if your post was pointed at me or not. To be clear anyhow, I was not stopped by them, I stopped to pick up debris and as I started to move an MP boat came by me too close, ignoring the rules that he is supposed to be enforcing.

He soaked 2 3 year olds and an 8 year old...

[Airwaves]

Originally posted by codeman671
I agree that they have been out in full force and doing their jobs, but some of them need to learn what "NO WAKE" means. I was heading in in to Glendale at 5pm today and stopped in the broads to pick up a beach ball when an MP RIB passsed in front of me about 75' out and sent a wall of water over the front of my tritoon soaking us. He was just cruising at 10-15mph I am guessing. I had the right of way and was moving forward at idle.

Did you hail the Marine Patrol on VHF 16 to complain?

I know that for some reason the NHMP boats don't carry a VHF Marine radio but HQ is supposed to monitor VHF16.

I would have hailed MP HQ and complained! Then followed up with a written report if necessary!

I have also gone through that area and been overtaken by MP boats traveling at excessive speed heading back to HQ, violating my 150' as well as the overtaking rule!

It seems that some of these folks don't believe any of the rules apply to them! In my case I did not have a cell or VHF on the boat I was operating at the time. I have since put NHMP in speed dial and installed VHF!

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by Airwaves

Did you hail the Marine Patrol on VHF 16 to complain?

I know that for some reason the NHMP boats don't carry a VHF Marine radio but HQ is supposed to monitor VHF16.

I would have hailed MP HQ and complained! Then followed up with a written report if necessary!

I have also gone through that area and been overtaken by MP boats traveling at excessive speed heading back to HQ, violating my 150' as well as the overtaking rule!

It seems that some of these folks don't believe any of the rules apply to them! In my case I did not have a cell or VHF on the boat I was operating at the time. I have since put NHMP in speed dial and installed VHF!

I did not have a VHF onboard and felt that the phone call would have gone to deaf ears. I have noticed it a lot lately though, especially in the Glendale area.

[kjbathe]

...because our annual "Complain about Marine Patrol" thread has officially begun!

I personally like the job they do, am happy when they pull intoxicated operators off the water and take actions to enforce the regulations. Sure, I wish they could bag every offender of the 150' rule, but reasonable people understand that MP can't be everywhere all the time. Some people feel MP is just out there to hassle folks, but that's an argument of convenience and one completely inconsistent with my experience. Then again, not being engaged in the type of behavior or operation that catches MP's watchful eye makes avoidance of the "hassle" a rather trivial exercise.

And for the folks complaining about the excess brightness of their lights... Our being "blinded" is not entirely unintentional. It is part of the overall system officers use to help increase their own safety. If you can't see, perhaps you shouldn't be moving.

And just because it was a great weekend -- RAH RAH RAH!!! GO MP!!!

[sa meredith]

[QUOTE=kjbathe;75263]...because our annual "Complain about Marine Patrol" thread has officially begun!


As the starter of this thread, I went back and re-read my post. I can't find a complaint or anything like one in it. I just had never seen MP jumping from boat to boat like I did Friday night. And I was wondering if this is an acceptable/ common practice.
I actually think it is probably a good idea. Drinking and boating at night is a recipe for disaster.

I guess I see you point though, kjbathe, reading thru about the blue lights and so forth.
I think the MP have a fairly difficult job.

[SIKSUKR]

Yesterday I was floating on my PWC south of Welch Island and a MP boat pulled up to me.I thought,he's going to do a safety check so I started getting my certification Id out.He pulled up and asked if everything was ok and when I said yes,he waved and moved on.

[pmj]

I personally am glad they are doing their job . Think of it this way..If any of those checkpoints resulted in one life being saved, just one..was it worth it?? You bet it was. Sure, its seen as an inconvenience, but safety is number one priority.

I posted this on another thread but here is an incident that made me happy that the MP are present on the lake:

We were once outside of Wolfeboro Bay on our 21ft sailboat when some strong gusts started blowing through. I went up on deck (with life jacket on) to take down the main. Right about the same time, an MP was trolling about and slowed down, obviously watching us, then just idled. Once I had the sail down and all lines secure I retreated back to the cockpit. We had the motor on by that point and headed towards home. The MP waved and continued on his patrol. I was pretty impressed at that. I think he was just making sure we were safe and didn't get into any trouble taking down the sails.
pmj

[jrc]

In this country and state, the courts decided how our rights against illegal search and seizure are applied to many different situations, including being stopped in a boat by a marine patrol. You may be willing to give up those rights for a extra safety but a lot of people are not.

I hope the MP did everything by the book. From what I've learned from Skip, that means they must have articulatable suspicion before stopping. Now you might say that having a checkpoint is worth it if just one life is saved. But if the checkpoint turns out to be illegal then all the evidence found is gone. So all the people that could be fined or jailed could go free.

I'm all for the MP making visible presence and stopping even small infractions to check for drunks. I just don't want overzealous people to make illegal stops. That doesn't do anyone any good. It violates our rights and risks letting guilty people go free.

[VtSteve]

I'm sure they are very sensitive to the public's concern over the latest boating accident, and the "unconfirmed" reports derived from it. I'm not against it at all, and I hope it does act as an overall deterrent, but just sayin ....

[Mr. Moyer]

I must agree with jrc on this matter. I for one am very pleased with the MP on Winnie, but have to admit that I am not for eliminnating my rights to random checks. As mentioned in my last enry, I did deserve to get pulled over, due to a safety light which was burned out. I deem this a reason to be pulled over and well they are discussing the infraction, to pull the saftey check, registrataion pull and the such. The one thing I am against is unannounced bui checks and random stops. This a major deterent yes, but can serve a greater harm to the community.
We have discussed on numerous threads how the local economy is hurting. I ask any retail/ restaurant business owner to answer honestly if they want dui/bui/safety checkpoints in front of their establishment. The obvious answer is no. This will deter customers from coming. Yes I agree that the drunk patrons are not needed by any establishment and in my opinion anyone operating drunk on the lake should be ashamed of themselves knowing the dangers. The problem is those law abiding citizens, who go out for a beer or dinner and just don't want to be hassled, by random stops or the consequential safety check.

I'll give an example. Last week I was going to go to lunch in Wolfboro both days. After the first day, I was approached by someone at the docks and was told be careful, MP was doing random safety checks all weekend. Since I wasn't sure if my fire extinguisher was charged or that all of my safety equip was up to date, I hottailed it out of there and decided not to risk it the next morning. Turns out it was a voluntary safety chech from a helpful group on the lake and not MP, but the point is that I didn't go back and spend $75-$100 at the dock area the next day, we stayed at the cabin instead.
It turns out from my MP stop the next weekend that all of my info was up to date and my extinguisher was charged.
This is a factor that I haven't seen mentioned by anyone. I'm assuming no one owns a retail business where theyre have been a history of DUI stops or even police in the area. There was actually a lawsuit in FLA around a routine weekend dui stop that put a restaurant out of business. Don't have the link, but something to think about. As mentioned earlier, I would think there are so many great stories about the MP on this lake. They seem to get it, I think the reason for this thread was to alert anyone to the concerns of random stops on numerous fronts. just my 10 cents worth.

[Kona Family]

Sounds like everyone agrees MP should be very active pulling over violators. However, do they still have the right to pull over any boater without reason? I know last year they could pull over any boat, any time whether you did something wrong or not and proceed to inspect your vessel, safety equipment, etc.

[kchace]

Originally Posted by Kona Family

Sounds like everyone agrees MP should be very active pulling over violators. However, do they still have the right to pull over any boater without reason? I know last year they could pull over any boat, any time whether you did something wrong or not and proceed to inspect your vessel, safety equipment, etc.

This is my understanding. If its different now, I'd like to know the details and the source - not hearsay.

Ken

[NightWing]

Marine Patrol has the authority to perform safety checks anytime. Past practice has been that a boat will not be stopped just for an inspection but every boat stopped will be inspected.

If you still question the NHMP policy, why not call them and ask a supervisor?

293-2037

[Rattlesnake Guy]

I am happy to say that we have never been stopped. Now that the boys are older and more likely to be out alone than not, I should remind them where all the stuff is that they would get asked about if stopped.

Is my list complete of what they will ask for?

Boat Registration
Boater Education Certificate
Life Vest for every passenger
Throw-able Ring or Cushion
Fire Extinguisher
Horn or Whistle

Anything else they ask for???

Thanks and safe boating

[jrc]

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Guy

I am happy to say that we have never been stopped. Now that the boys are older and more likely to be out alone than not, I should remind them where all the stuff is that they would get asked about if stopped.

Is my list complete of what they will ask for?

Boat Registration
Boater Education Certificate
Life Vest for every passenger
Throw-able Ring or Cushion
Fire Extinguisher
Horn or Whistle

Anything else they ask for???

Thanks and safe boating

If you are in a motor boat over 26'
You need two fire extinguishers, one can be fixed in the engine space
You also need a bell and a whistle, hand, mouth or powered (I think your boat horn counts as a powered whistle)

If you are in a motor boat over 40'
You need three fire extinguishers, one can be fixed in the engine space
You still need a bell and a powered whistle (again, I think your boat horn counts)

Plus they can check that the lights work. They have to work even if you never plan to go out at night.

[Mike M.]

Has anyone confirmed whether the MP can legally stop you without a reason? Any links would be appreciated.

Thank you

[kjbathe]

Originally Posted by Mr. Moyer

Since I wasn't sure if my fire extinguisher was charged or that all of my safety equip was up to date, I hottailed it out of there

I appreciate and share the concerns folks have about protecting their individual rights and making sure searches are legal, but the quote above has me shaking my head.

If you're not sure your equipment is up to snuff, then you should just check it and find out before you go out. Not going to dinner or avoiding MP is missing the point. MP and operators both have the same goal here -- to make sure you have a functional fire extinguisher on board if, God forbid, you should ever need it. That way, he gets to tow in "Annoyed but safe Mr. Moyer" vs. "Charcoal Briquette Mr. Moyer."

I guess it's just perspective. I view MP as being able to confirm what I already know vs. being out to nab me for something I may have missed. I know I'm compliant with the law, but if MP wants to spend 30 minutes to validate my ability to operate and ensure the safety of my vessel, my passengers and those with whom I share the lake, welcome aboard! I know it sounds a little odd, but it's nice to have the second pair of eyes and sanity check that things are as they should be.

[Slickcraft]

Originally Posted by codeman671

I am not sure if your post was pointed at me or not. To be clear anyhow, I was not stopped by them, I stopped to pick up debris and as I started to move an MP boat came by me too close, ignoring the rules that he is supposed to be enforcing.

He soaked 2 3 year olds and an 8 year old...

codeman: My post was not pointed at you. The original subject matter of the thread had to do with what some believed to be many questionable stops by the MP. In my case I have never observed MP making questionable stops.
I agree with you that the MP must also follow the rules.