SA Merideth you are spot on. a forum member was pulled over in the stops at Weirs. I was one of the boats who got pulled over coming out of the weirs on the 4th. I had gone to the NASWA with 2 of my friends and needed gas on the way home. Both gas stations in the channel were closed, so I had to go to the Weirs. It was around 7:55 and approaching dusk, so I turned on the nav lights. Since it was still somewhat light out, and my 360 white was working, I didn't notice that the bulb had burned out. Needless to say, MP did. They came over and stopped me and asked the typical questions, like registration, boating license, where the sfety stuff was (lifejackets, throwable, horn etc) they also asked if I had been drinking at all, and for once my answer was the right one. I had made a conscience effort knowing we would be travelling close to dusk, to only have soda/water at the Naswa. (no beers since the 1pm celebratory beer for finishing the cabinets in the cottage). Also, the lake was choppy and crowded, so I wanted to be on my toes, since I have a 21ft bowrider and I was coming from Alton. I have to say the MP officer was as polite as possible while still being firm to the rules. We had to go back to the station and buy a replacement bulb, since by the time we were done the stop it was getting pretty dark. All things worked out well, and we were treated to excellent fireworks shows across the entire lake for the ride home.
I for one am completely against the stopping of all boats regardless of an infraction, I personally think it is an invasion of rights, but I didn't give them a choice, since my lights weren't working properly. Fortunately, the MP officer wasn't a hammerhead.
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