GL: Coast Guard / vessel name and home port on dinghy bottom

[Ralph Yost]

While I agree that laws should be enforced, I disagree that a boat's
name that is obscured on its stern is an indication of a potential
terrorist activity. The terrorists who blew up the World Trade Center
with a truck bomb in the early 1990's (too many people forget this
event!) did so with a truck whose license plates were on and fully
exposed. One can presume they wouldn't want to draw law enforcement
attention prior to executing their attack. Now apply this same logic to
a boat's name and hailing port that is obscured by a dinghy.
I presume the reasoning behind the law that requires name and hailing
port to be visible on the stern of documented vessels is for ease of
identification by ALL surrounding boater's (and other observers) in the
event of either a criminal violation (ie speeding in a now wake zone) or
a safety situation (vessel on fire, etc.) and the ability to quickly and
easily identify the boat and report it uniquely.
R. 

-----Original Message-----
From: great-loop-bounces at lists.samurai.com
[mailto:great-loop-bounces at lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of
Truelove39 at aol.com

I  think it's unconscionable for law enforcement to ignore their
inability to 
 ID a boat because the name and hailing port are intentionally  covered,

especially as we are holding our breath awaiting the next 9-11.
Virtually all the 
terrorism around the world is stealthy, and there's no reason  to
believe 
that the next act or acts won't be covert as well. These laws were  put
there for 
good reason, and should be enforced, especially in today's world. 
 
Regards,
 
John
"Seahorse"