We are boarded!

Saturday, 11-14-2015, 0830, Wind N 5 knots. 46 degrees F. strong out-going current.

After the ever so satisfying two cups of coffee we weight anchor and head down the beautiful Waccamaw River, past incoming creeks and sloughs, through the Cypress Swamp, past Butler Island and finally to the Waccamaw’s confluence with the Great Pee Dee River, forming the Winyah River.

And on this stretch, just past the Lafayette Fixed Bridge, it finally happened.

We were approached by a U. S. Coast Guard patrol boat. As they got closer we could see five crew members carrying side arms and, just like in the movies, radios, whistles, flashlights, mace and unidentifiable digital devices. They all looked to be in their late twenties, early thirties. All spiffy, spit shinned and fiddle fit.

They pulled abreast on our starboard side and requested permission to board. Professional, pleasant and polite as pie they were.

What to do? I momentarily thought about refusal but also had a sneaking suspicion that that would be a loser.  I did not know specifically at that moment but the Fourth Amendment does not mean squat to the U. S. Coast  Guard, whose mission is, first and foremost, to protect our borders. Drug interdiction is a big part of that.

As it turns out (I’m paraphrasing), Title 14 section 89 of the United States Code authorizes the US Coast Guard to board your boat any time they want, and look anywhere they want, without probable cause or a warrant. They can do this on the open sea, or while you’re asleep aboard in your marina at midnight. They can look through your bedsheets, in your lockers, in your bilges, in your jewelry box, or in your pockets. They can do it carrying just their side arms, or they can do it carrying assault rifles. They can be polite about it or they can be rude, but mostly they’re polite.

I granted permission and aboard they came. Three of their crew, one of which identified himself as a U. S. Customs official, adroitly stepped onto our gunnel and joined us in the cockpit. I was at the helm and Emily was standing on the companion way ladder.

The leader explained that this was a routine boarding and asked to see our documentation and identification, which we gladly handed over. The skipper called that information in to confirm and, you know me, I started asking questions. While we waited for confirmation we found out that one guy was from Savannah, the customs official from North Carolina and the last from Wisconsin. They all agreed that their choices to join the armed services was the best decision they had made for themselves. Before you know it, we were buddy-buddy. But they were still carrying side arms.

The only other ‘formal’ question, besides those for identification, was whether we were carrying any weapons. The answer of course was no. No questions about illegal drugs or safety equipment or our sanitation system.

Once their dispatcher confirmed our identities, they wished us a pleasant and safe day. Their boat pulled up and they stepped off as adroitly as they had come and slowly motored off. As they pulled away they smiled, waved and, I’m not kidding, bowed ever so slightly.

I’m sure glad they did not do a search and discover the ton of marijuana in the bilge and cache of automatic weapons in the forepeak.

So there you have it. Our first Coast Guard boarding.

After that, and after calming down a bit, we got under way, past Georgetown, down the Winyah and into the Esterville Minim Creek Canal, crossed Santee Bay, the North Santee River, through Four Mile Creek Canal and the South Santee River. 

We passed through a very shallow section in McClellanville area, with a few grounded boats, but worked our way through successfully. 

Finally anchored in twelve feet on Awendaw Creek, one of our favorite spots. 

A beautiful sundown in calm weather. But brrrr, brrrr cold!