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Random Quote: I'm sure glad I'm not getting all the government I pay for
and it wasnt even me. it was my buddy in a trophy that only goes 32mph running alongside his friend in a big block jet boat en route to seward park. mercer island trip 275 patrol RIB. they did not issue the ticket. marine units need to make money this year, lets be careful!!!!!!
__________________ Top Gun 1992 Donzi 22 Classic 454 King Cobra
Now that Mercer Island has their new SAFE Boat they are going to have to make a lot of contacts to justify the funds the city had to match to get that boat. Quite a few VERY small departments used Homeland Security grants to get SAFE boats in the last few years. One purchase that stands out is the Port Orchard police department who has about 20 officers and I think 10,000 residents, who bought a $350,000 31' safeboat with trips in 07.
Now that Mercer Island has their new SAFE Boat they are going to have to make a lot of contacts to justify the funds the city had to match to get that boat. Quite a few VERY small departments used Homeland Security grants to get SAFE boats in the last few years. One purchase that stands out is the Port Orchard police department who has about 20 officers and I think 10,000 residents, who bought a $350,000 31' safeboat with trips in 07.
Bob
Yup that's are lovely little town. I think they gave it to the Kitsap Coutny Sherriffs though and have a 22 ft open boat. Sherriffs have two safe boats (22 with twins and a biggun (27-30ft with trips) and a big hard top custom hard top (28 NR Seahawk with twin ETECs)
PO's marine officer is a dip stick though. I launched my 21 NR Seahawk last year and he was going to make me load it on the trailer because it does not have a capacities plate. He about arrested me when I called the USCG on channel 16 for the patrol boat to settle the dispute. I didn't get the ticket and got to fish but man the Chief from the USCG was tearing him up about not knowing the rules when I left.
Same guy buddies boat. Portable gas tank. No fire extingisher as not required by the USCG. He had to go to court and prove it to get the $100 ticket dismissed and was not allowed to fish that night.
Is a "SAFE" boat a manufacturer or just what the type of boat is called?
*Edit* Quick jump on Bing and my question was solved http://www.safeboats.com/default/index.php I've wondered what type of boat the USCG and other agencies use, now my question is solved.
__________________ Chris
Last edited by bstnsportsfan; 06-10-2009 at 06:39 PM.
Yup that's are lovely little town. I think they gave it to the Kitsap Coutny Sherriffs though and have a 22 ft open boat. Sherriffs have two safe boats (22 with twins and a biggun (27-30ft with trips) and a big hard top custom hard top (28 NR Seahawk with twin ETECs)
PO's marine officer is a dip stick though. I launched my 21 NR Seahawk last year and he was going to make me load it on the trailer because it does not have a capacities plate. He about arrested me when I called the USCG on channel 16 for the patrol boat to settle the dispute. I didn't get the ticket and got to fish but man the Chief from the USCG was tearing him up about not knowing the rules when I left.
Same guy buddies boat. Portable gas tank. No fire extingisher as not required by the USCG. He had to go to court and prove it to get the $100 ticket dismissed and was not allowed to fish that night.
Yup 20 guys who own Port Orchard.
Your right, boat over 20ft are not required to have cap plates/stickers. Portable fuel tank, no FE... That sounds just like the NJMP. God forbid you let them try to bring their boat up to yours... I usually tell them sit tight and I'll come over to you..
The real surprise here is how many of us northwesterners this thread pulled out of the woodwork. Usually I feel kinda lonely among all the Florida and New Jersey guys.
Hard to tell why they were pulled over without more details, but...
They can pull you over just for a safety inspection, so pulling someone over and inspecting them and telling them they were picked because they were "racing" is completely legit for them to do.
The Mercer Island marine patrol is one of the less friendly ones around in my experience. They also contract with Medina and a few other small cities for enforcement within their limits. Not co-incidentally, the portions of the lake they take primary responsibility for have a "no wake" zone next to shore instead of the 7 knot zone nearly everywhere else on the lake. Kind of ridiculous given how many big wakes there are bouncing around on lake washington from big boats. Seems like they are revenue driven...
They have a _strict_ interpretation of no wake as any white water visible from the bow or stern.
They have pulled me over in a 15' open bow ski boat going around 4 knots under the 520 bridge for violating the no wake zone... the fact that the lake on the other side of the bridge was a confused mess full of wakes that would swamp the boat if I didn't keep the bow up a little didn't matter to them one bit.
The Seattle Harbor Patrol, on the other hand, are generally great. They are out there a lot and pull over lots of people doing stupid shit, but aren't generally on a mission to mess with people just because they can. Plus they have 24 hour staffing and can get a boat to you in a hurry if you do need help.
There is no ticket for "racing" issued by the coast guard. They can issue you a Negligent Operations Violation, or a Grossly negligent operations Violation, but not a ticket for racing.
Example of Neg ops would be you operating your boat at a high rate of speed in an area with heavy boat traffic.
Example of Gross Neg. Ops. is if we tell you to stop and you go right back to high speed travel or if you purposely ran a jet ski or jet boat right up to someone swimming in the water arnd cut the wheel at the last minute to get them wet by the wall of water. Thats a big time no no.
pulled over for racing on lake washington 
