[ve-l] VSC on Coast Guard Patrolled Waters

[Clarkcubed at aol.com]

Bob:
 
We should not imply any relationship between our inspections and the  
boarding possibilities of the USCG, because there is none.
 
Don Clark
D/C D 23 
 
 
In a message dated 3/26/2008 3:43:07 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
boatsafe at comcast.net writes:

 
Ahoy  VEs, 
The situation described below may  apply to Coast Guard patrolled waters in 
areas other than the one reference  below so I am sending this out to all VEs 
for  information. 
================================ 
One of the Squadron VSC Chairs in  D16 brought to my attention that he had 
reports of USCG boarding officers  possibly not recognizing the VSC decal as 
representing a valid safety review  of the boat or something to that effect. 
Prompted by his inquiry I contacted  the responsible people in the local Coast 
Guard Sector Office to make them  aware of the possible problem. To summarize the 
discussions, everyone I spoke  with agreed that the patrols should recognize 
the value of the VSC process and  the VSC Decal. However, the situation on the 
water is evolving and the Coast  Guard is trying to do more random boarding 
to improve their awareness and  training. This means that some boats will be 
boarded in spite of having a  current VSC decal. This should not be viewed as a 
failure of our VSC program  but rather a confirmation that our CG folks are 
trying to stay on top of their  game.  
Fewer boats on the water will  likely mean that any boat out there has a 
higher probability of a random  sample boarding.  
Vessel  Examiners have a role in this process. We should be  helping to set 
peoples expectations. We should advise boat owners and  operators that, though 
the decal will likely reduce the probability of a  random boarding, it 
certainly does not guaranty it. We should also be making  boaters aware that CG 
presence and random boarding will have a high  probability of increasing anytime 
the security threat increases for any  reason.  
Thanks for all you folks do to  save lives. 
Best  Regards, 
R/C Bob  Miller 
VSC  Committee 



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