Sword fisherman BEWARE!!!!!!!

[FishGuyDave]

Originally Posted by fastgas

... I always
run my radar so I can pick em up but the ones that bother me are the
cutters that sit off you when you are set up. we don't have as many boats
down here and I'm not always sure its a cutter and I can't pick up and run
if I need to. Not a comfortable situation. ...

I've had the same thing happen to me a couple of times with a big USCG cutter off the lower Keys, a few years ago while working on a longliner. They'd sit there, blacked out and not responding to the radio, about 1/2-2/3 mile off your beam. When you tried to move, they'd move with you. DEFINITELY not a comfortable situation, especially in those waters.

Look, I'm all about protecting our borders/seas, and as a former member of the U.S. Army, I'm all about supporting our military. What's going on here is just stupid. If they need training, let them do what we did in the military or high school football, and get their own practice squad. Playing with real boaters (many of which have real weapons, in part based on this nonsense) on real seas is going to have a bad outcome sooner or later. I hope that the local USCG Commandant realizes that it'll be his/her head when that happens under their watch.

I think what bothers me the most is the unspoken presumption now that -- as someone on the water -- you're guilty unless proven innocent. That's just un-American. I also didn't know that my duty as a U.S. citizen now included serving as an involuntary training tool for the Coast Guard. It's pretty simple: If you think I've done something wrong, then stop me and I'll be happy to talk with you about it. If not, then leave me alone.

[quack quack]

I think they use boats they know are just fishin for a little training. I guess they should just be careful how they do it to.I know some guys that have night vision equipment and they look at the CG looking at them with the equipment.They just start waving and the CG waves back.

[iriesoul]

Just glad to see others know whats going on out there. people putting there lives and ours in danger!