I admittedly never read that first post.

Per case law, the actual standard for any stop is reasonable suspicion and not probable cause. It makes no sense how any State Agency is allowed to circumvent this.

Water Patrol at LOTO does not do stops for safety checks, but they will do a safety check if they stop you for a reason.

When the USCG patrols LOTO a few times a year, they are legally allowed to stop and search any vessel without any reasonable suspicion per Federal Law.

ICDEDPPL Other side of pond from you and Ole Gretchen has us eating cage free eggs governor orders..... Probably took the water patrol and training for the Egg Police.

Pulling over pontoons running at night with thier docking lights on would keep them plenty busy! I remember back in the days of party cove, we could pick out who would be getting pulled over as one of the passengers would be sitting on the seat back when going through the no wake. I bet in the afternoon, 25% of the drivers got arrested after being pulled over.

Same in my area. The last time I got approached (in a no wake zone) the authorities said to keep moving as they approached...they just wanted to see/hear the motors!

I can’t even risk visiting Michigan anymore because of the possibility that Witch might show up on a TV screen somewhere and trigger my PTSD

I got stopped here in FL once for a safety check by the county police. I had my CG safety sticker.

After the check he gave me a "STATE" safety sticker, I asked basically WTH is this? He said put it in front of the Reg sticker (my boat is COG) and I can not get pulled over for a safety check again.

About a week later a friend in Ft Myers got pulled over and asked the CG about it and they confirmed, once you have the state sticker they will not pull you over.

Only issue is unlike the CG that you can call out and have a check done, the only way for the state one is for the local law to pull you over. Kind of BS but for the most part on this side they don't bother us much. Unless you are speeding in a manatee zone.

I've been pulled over on so many boats and so many different bodies of water, lakes, rivers, ocean, Gulf of America; I can't even count anymore. Most of those were safety checks. It's a part of boating; especially in our types of boats.

It does pale in comparison to the number of times I've been pulled over on the road, though.

They're welcome to stop me all they want. Love to see them leaving disappointed my ducks are in a row.

I am for for it. At our lake place in Idaho, you KNOW your gonna get pulled over for some BS at least twice a year. I have never gotten a ticket, but I bristle when they come up with some sort of lame ass excuse like "we couldn't see your registration sticker" (on the other side of the bow) or "we couldn't ready your vessel number" (printed perfectly clearly on the the front). But the cops gotta look like they are out there actually doing something other than just hanging out on the lake all day I guess.