{"id":235,"date":"2012-04-07T03:27:59","date_gmt":"2012-04-07T03:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/?p=235"},"modified":"2012-06-27T18:29:41","modified_gmt":"2012-06-27T18:29:41","slug":"why-is-the-cg-boarding-my-boat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/2012\/04\/07\/why-is-the-cg-boarding-my-boat\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is the CG boarding my boat?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know the U.S. Coast Guard can legally board any boat which is under way on any waterway under U.S. jurisdiction &#8211; without a search warrant &#8211; and perform search and seizures, or make arrests?\u00a0 They can and do because ultimately, they are the main law enforcement on water and it is there job to ensure <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/boating_safety\/boat_safety.asp\">boaters safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While there may be members from other agencies &#8211; part of the local, state, or federal authorities on board, and there may be USCG personnel on their vessels as well; the USCG has the authority under Section 89 of Title 14 of the United States Code to board boats.<\/p>\n<p>There could be many reasons for the USCG to want to board, but if hailed by the Coast Guard to \u201cpull over\u201d the operator is expected to do so or face the possibility of penalties, both civil and criminal depending on what the reason for the boarding is and what is discovered once they have boarded.<\/p>\n<p>The boarding team will expect to see the registration, whether it is numbered, unnumbered or documented.<\/p>\n<p>The top concern of the USCG is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/boating_safety\/boat_safety.asp\">boat safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While on board it is their job to determine if all <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.unitedmarine.net\/boating_safety\/Required_Boating_Safety_Equipment.asp\">required safety equipment<\/a> is on board, in good working condition and being utilized; such as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/boating_safety\/Life_Jackets.asp\">life jackets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Coast Guard can hit the operator with a fine\/penalty if they find the boat owner has failed to comply with the equipment requirements; failed to report a boating accident; failed to follow other federal <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.unitedmarine.net\/boating_safety\/Required_Boating_Safety_Equipment.asp\">regulations<\/a> or navigational rules.<\/p>\n<p>Constantly on the lookout for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/boating_safety\/boat_safety.asp\">safety issues<\/a>, the USCG will be watching for boaters, who are negligent, or possibly boating under the influence.\u00a0 There are several scenarios which constitutes \u201cNegligence\u201d such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Operating a vessel in an area designated \u00a0for swimming<\/li>\n<li>High speed around other boats or in regulated waters<\/li>\n<li>Hazardous water skiing or other water sports practices.<\/li>\n<li>Bowriding, or riding on a seatback, gunwale, or transom.<\/li>\n<li>Operating a boat while under the influence of alcohol or drugs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If it is determined the driver of the boat to be grossly negligent, the USCG can impose not only a civil penalty but upon their discretion can charge a criminal offense with fines up to $5,000, being in prison for a year, or both.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/2012\/04\/07\/why-is-the-cg-boarding-my-boat\/bac_scale\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-244\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-244\" title=\"bac_scale\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bac_scale-222x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"222\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bac_scale-222x300.jpg 222w, https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bac_scale.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px\" \/><\/a>It is against the law to operate a boat inebriated.\u00a0 It is dangerous and a federal offense.\u00a0 If the blood alcohol level of the operator is .08 or higher, that person is subject to civil penalties which could include a $1,000 fine, along with a $5,000 criminal fine, or one-year in prison.\u00a0 It is also possible to be cited not only by the USCG but also by the local authorities and the operator can ultimately lose their driver licenses as well.<\/p>\n<p>The USCG can end the boat trip for the day if they determine the situation to be dangerous for anyone either in the <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.unitedmarine.net\/\">boat<\/a>, other boaters, or swimmers in the area.\u00a0 Once this determination has been made the boarding crew will decide if the operator can drive the boat back to port, if the USCG will tow the boat back, or if the boarding crew will drive it back.\u00a0 There are different reasons for ending the voyage according to the USCG:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Not enough life jackets or PFD for each person on board or they are not being worn<\/li>\n<li>Insufficient fire extinguishers<\/li>\n<li>An overloaded vessel. (Any vessel exceeding its U.S. Coast Guard indicated weight or persons on board limit. Even if you are under the limit for persons on board, if your vessel exceeds the weight limit you will be directed to return to port. The Coast Guard may direct you to a port of shore for a weight check of your vessel<\/li>\n<li>Displaying of navigation lights incorrectly<\/li>\n<li>Improper ventilation of fuel tanks and engine spaces<\/li>\n<li>Fuel leak or accumulation of fuel in bilges<\/li>\n<li>Inadequate or missing backfire flame control<\/li>\n<li>Operating in regulated boating areas<\/li>\n<li>In the thirteenth USCG District: Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington operating in times of predetermined adverse conditions may result in being directed to return to port and\/or criminal fines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is also required to fill out a report concerning any accidents which may occur, and giving assistance to anyone in need in the water.\u00a0 Failure to do these things can result in the operator having penalties, charges placed against them.<\/p>\n<p>Remember if hailed, you must comply and allow the USCG to board your boat, failure to do so will at the very least end the day\u2019s activities \u2013 not to mention the possibility of getting arrested and fined.<\/p>\n<p>Your <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.unitedmarine.net\/\">boat insurance<\/a> company will not look lightly at incidents such as these, either.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know the U.S. Coast Guard can legally board any boat which is under way on any waterway under U.S. jurisdiction &#8211; without a search warrant &#8211; and perform search and seizures, or make arrests?\u00a0 They can and do because ultimately, they are the main law enforcement on water and it is there job [&#8230;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[241],"tags":[8,10,13,63,152,154,9,32,120,4,153,68],"class_list":["post-235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-on-the-water","tag-boat","tag-boat-insurance","tag-boat-safety","tag-boat-safety-equipment","tag-boating-insurance","tag-boating-laws","tag-boats","tag-insurance-on-your-boat","tag-required-boating-equipment","tag-united-marine-underwriters","tag-uscg-boat-boardings","tag-uscg-regulation-requirements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":446,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions\/446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitedmarine.net\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}