Posted by JRM on October 16, 2001 at 08:29:49:
In Reply to: San Clemente Island is Closed posted by Chris on October 16, 2001 at 03:00:11:
Yeah, but they have a funny definition of 300 yards. If you're a lobster boat, a yard is about 7.3 inches. If you're a private fishing vessel, a yard is about 7.3 feet.
While anchored in Northwest Harbor (just off the base), a good 900 yards offshore, some weenie MP finally sees us at about 8:am and starts the lights and siren on his MP truck. Then he starts on the PA loudspeaker. We were way too far offshore to understand what he was saying, and just figured that he was hailing the lobster boat checking his traps just behind the shore break. Alas, no, when they finally bothered to try the radio, he was trying to hail the "white fishing boat entering Northwest Harbor." Well, we were the only white fishing boat around, but oddly enough we had been there all night. And even more oddly, there were at least two lobster boats between us and the shore, neither of which were molested in any way.
So the weenie finally tries the radio on channel 16. Then in the midst of his whining about 300 yard closures (which we were *WAY* beyond), the Coast Guard comes on and tells him this is inappropriate traffic for the guard channel, take it somewhere else. Only the weenie MP says his marine radio only does channel 16. What a loser.
And to think, these idiots are doing this all for "our own protection."
We divers need a powerful lobby giving money to the government so we can ignore these rules like the commercial fishing guys do!!!
JRM