| Thanks,
Coasties... Report from the bar last evening, at the end of the first race the committee boat is hailed by the Coast Guard to immediately remove the plethora of boats than are in a restricted zone or prepare to be boarded and charged with the infraction. This all happened with 70 ft. boats trying to finish in a bout 2 minutes. It took a bit of time for the Committee boat to realize it was them that was being hailed. After hailing back with "Do you mean us?" type response they are under the gun of a US Coast Guard. Some quick thinking salvaged the race as the racing boats chased the committee boat from station. While the Coast Guard spoke angry and pointed guns at the committee on the boat, a find R33 flipped directly being the Coasties...did they even look at the men in the water? NO. Did they help them? NO Did they motor away? Yes, with a capsized boat directly astern of them. The race was filled with the Coast Guard as it should have been, one mark was a turning buoy in the shipping lane and that was the restricted zone that caused guns to be deployed. The Coasties had that race course chart and did not say anything. All those race boats would have provided access to any Coast Guard activity and they spent less than minutes in the restricted zones all told. I would have let them shoot - that would have hit the LA Times and would have made a good story, bullets rip through committee boat at during regatta striking a capsized boat beyond. Love what budget and paranoid power has done to the Coasties, nice what they are teaching these folks at the academy, perhaps they should all have to do one race committee duty at the academy so the officers have some clue. The freedom that drove our immigrant families to flee oppression has followed us to the new worlds so where do we go next...back to the country they left? Flame me I do not care, Action like this is over the top, dangerous and just plain waste of our money. Comments? 06/26/06 |