Hello Fellow Mariners, Yesterday on our return trip east from Lake Okechobee on St. Lucie waterway, the bridge attendant at Old Roosevelt Bascule Bridge Stuart FL refused to open the bridge then threatened to contact Coast Guard to fine us $5,000 because he felt we could clear the bridge. Based on WWG stats clearance is 14 feet. Our boat air draft is 15 feet. There were two boats motoring east. A 40 foot main ship with about a 14 foot clearance and us. Since the main ship was lead boat he asked first and was refused. We then radioed requesting an opening. Bridge attendant responded with "what's your air draft clearance?" My husband said 15 feet. Bridge attendant said you can clear it. Bridge clearance is 15 feet. I then radioed back saying "board shows 10 feet at water line, no other posting on clearance, WWG says 14, our boat needs 15 feet, so you need to open the bridge!" That's when things got ugly. He opened the bridge reluctantly but then began berating us with the intent of having us fined. Never in our 4 short years of requesting bridge openings have we encountered such arrogance and rudeness from a bridge attendant. Once in port I called the Ft. Pierce Coast Guard Station asking if this was protocol. The officer I spoke with answer was "No." and if it should happen again to contact the Coast Guard on channel 16 to request assistance with bridge opening. Just sharing an experience. Ann Sent from my iPad

Wow, that's discouraging. Makes a fun trip a little bit disheartening. Hope tomorrow is a better day! Cheers! Michael Jurlina Captain, Boeing 777 American Airlines-DFW 214-695-1733 mkj777@flash.net > On Apr 7, 2017, at 13:07, Ann Prete <annprete@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hello Fellow Mariners, > > Yesterday on our return trip east from Lake Okechobee on St. Lucie waterway, the bridge attendant at Old Roosevelt Bascule Bridge Stuart FL refused to open the bridge then threatened to contact Coast Guard to fine us $5,000 because he felt we could clear the bridge. > > Based on WWG stats clearance is 14 feet. Our boat air draft is 15 feet. There were two boats motoring east. A 40 foot main ship with about a 14 foot clearance and us. Since the main ship was lead boat he asked first and was refused. We then radioed requesting an opening. Bridge attendant responded with "what's your air draft clearance?" My husband said 15 feet. Bridge attendant said you can clear it. Bridge clearance is 15 feet. I then radioed back saying "board shows 10 feet at water line, no other posting on clearance, WWG says 14, our boat needs 15 feet, so you need to open the bridge!" > > That's when things got ugly. He opened the bridge reluctantly but then began berating us with the intent of having us fined. Never in our 4 short years of requesting bridge openings have we encountered such arrogance and rudeness from a bridge attendant. > > Once in port I called the Ft. Pierce Coast Guard Station asking if this was protocol. The officer I spoke with answer was "No." and if it should happen again to contact the Coast Guard on channel 16 to request assistance with bridge opening. > > Just sharing an experience. > > Ann > > > Sent from my iPad > _______________________________________________ > http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com > > To modify your Great-Loop subscription options (change email address, > unsubscribe, etc.) go to: http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/options/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com

That's not right and the Martin County transportation authority should be made aware of. Hopefully the marine radio on the bridge is recorded. On 2017-04-07 19:42, Michael Jurlina wrote: > Wow, that's discouraging. Makes a fun trip a little bit disheartening. > Hope tomorrow is a better day! > Cheers! > > Michael Jurlina > Captain, Boeing 777 > American Airlines-DFW > 214-695-1733 > mkj777@flash.net > >> On Apr 7, 2017, at 13:07, Ann Prete <annprete@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Hello Fellow Mariners, >> >> Yesterday on our return trip east from Lake Okechobee on St. Lucie waterway, the bridge attendant at Old Roosevelt Bascule Bridge Stuart FL refused to open the bridge then threatened to contact Coast Guard to fine us $5,000 because he felt we could clear the bridge. >> >> Based on WWG stats clearance is 14 feet. Our boat air draft is 15 feet. There were two boats motoring east. A 40 foot main ship with about a 14 foot clearance and us. Since the main ship was lead boat he asked first and was refused. We then radioed requesting an opening. Bridge attendant responded with "what's your air draft clearance?" My husband said 15 feet. Bridge attendant said you can clear it. Bridge clearance is 15 feet. I then radioed back saying "board shows 10 feet at water line, no other posting on clearance, WWG says 14, our boat needs 15 feet, so you need to open the bridge!" >> >> That's when things got ugly. He opened the bridge reluctantly but then began berating us with the intent of having us fined. Never in our 4 short years of requesting bridge openings have we encountered such arrogance and rudeness from a bridge attendant. >> >> Once in port I called the Ft. Pierce Coast Guard Station asking if this was protocol. The officer I spoke with answer was "No." and if it should happen again to contact the Coast Guard on channel 16 to request assistance with bridge opening. >> >> Just sharing an experience. >> >> Ann >> >> Sent from my iPad >> _______________________________________________ >> http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com >> >> To modify your Great-Loop subscription options (change email address, >> unsubscribe, etc.) go to: http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/options/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com > > _______________________________________________ > http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com > > To modify your Great-Loop subscription options (change email address, > unsubscribe, etc.) go to: http://lists.trawlering.com/mailman/options/great-loop_lists.trawlering.com