All of you may have seen this by now, but in case you missed it.... be careful out there. Bob Otten Cheoy Lee 50 Iron Wind Coquina Harbor, SC N O R F O L K , Va., May 27 - The Coast Guard wants boaters to know that > safe boating this summer means more than a life jacket and distress horn - > it means staying away from warships and potential terror targets, or they > could get blown out of the water. > > The Coast Guard has drawn up new rules establishing protection zones > around Navy ships and power plants as a precaution against terrorism. > The new restrictions say recreational boaters must slow to minimum speed > at 500 yards away from a ship, and stay at least 100 yards away unless > they are granted special permission. > > "Before you get too close, we'll try to raise you on the radio," said Jim > Karr a senior U.S. Coast Guard officer. > > If need be, the Coast Guard and Navy are authorized to use lethal force > against a boat that gets too close. Before Sept. 11, that was > unimaginable. Now the Coast Guard says it is not. > > But crew on board ships have just seconds to make that call. > > "A vessel traveling 35 miles per hour - in 24 seconds he will be in the > 100 yard zone. And six seconds later the commanding officer of that naval > warship has to decide whether or not to use deadly force," said Karr. > > A New Era > > The rules went into place after Sept. 11, for the first time since World > War II. Before that there were occasional security zones for certain > events or ships. > > "We are not going to respond and act the way we did before 9-11," Vice > Adm. James Hull of the U.S. Coast Guard told ABCNEWS. "We are going to be > more aware, we're going to know what our vulnerabilities are. Recreational > sailors can't do everything they did before." One boater, asked if he knew > how close he could get to a Navy ship, shook his head and laughed. "Not > close," he said. > > Not just Navy ships are off limits. There are more than 100 safety zones - > around nuclear power plants, cruise ships and military piers. And boaters > can no longer anchor under bridges or in channels. They can be fined or > arrested. > > As the boating season officially gets underway, the estimated 70 million > Americans who will take to the water this summer will have to get used to > the new rules - rules designed to prevent terrorist attacks.

When Sanderling had the USCGA courtesy inspection last weekend (we cruised up the Wicomico River to Salisbury, MD), the inspectors told us about the "new rules" as part of their little briefing. They'd obviously just been to "inspection school" and were putting all their knowledge to use! I thought it strange that anyone on a boat with a radio might not have heard about the rules, since the local CG broadcast info about the new rules for quite awhile after September 11th. It was sort of humorous, actually. As we were pulling into the Port of Salisbury Marina with the dockmaster showing us where he wanted us to go, three USCGA folks with clipboards in hand were there ahead of him asking if we'd like a courtesy inspection. I had to put them off until we had the lines, fenders, and fender boards secure, then invited them to come aboard and inspect away! Actually, I was happy to see them, since I'd been trying to arrange a convenient inspection in Solomons prior to moving Sanderling to Florida and to a marina that requires that all boats have a courtesy inspection! SSIRONWIND@aol.com wrote: > > All of you may have seen this by now, but in case you missed it.... be > careful out there. -- Bob McLeran mailto://rmcleran@ix.netcom.com M/V "Sanderling" Docked at Point Patience Marina Hailing port: Wianno MA Solomons, MD Hampton 35 Trawler