On July 3, nine members of the Coast Guard Marine Safety and Security Team (MSST) from Anchorage joined them. The MSST trailered one of six 25-foot defender class small boats from their base in Anchorage. The boat, built by SAFE corporation, has rigid foam collar that aides in buoyancy and is non-marring. The vessel uses twin 225-horsepower outboard engines. The boat's speed was useful in pursuing and boarding wave runners, jet skis and cigarette boats that were able to out run the smaller trooper vessel.
The two teams worked together to board as many vessels as possible and cover the lake. The State Troopers can only board a vessel if they note a violation while on patrol or the members of the vessel are engaged in fishing. The Coast Guard has the authority to board any vessel for any reason, however, by having the troopers present they can levy stricter fines for things like registration violations and deal with warrants that come back as a result of background checks.
During the course of the weekend the teams boarded 44 vessels and personal watercrafts, terminated 11 vessels voyages for insufficient number of lifejackets onboard and inoperable or no fire extinguishers. One individual had an outstanding warrant and the Coast Guard turned him over to Alaska State Troopers.
No boaters were found to be operating vessels under the influence of alcohol.
The Coast Guard cutter Hickory is a 225-foot sea going buoy tender based in Homer. The crewmembers from the Hickory are trained Coast Guard law enforcement officers and were training and assisting Alaska State Troopers to keep our waters safe during the holiday weekend.
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A boarding team from Coast Guard Marine Safety and Security Team Anchorage conduct safety boardings on Big Lake during the 4th of July holiday weekend. The boardings were conducted in cooperation with Alaska State Troopers and boarding officers from the Coast Guard cutter Hickory. During the holiday weekend the two teams conducted 44 boardings and terminated 11 voyages. (Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Sara Francis)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska State Trooper Shannon Fore and Coast Guard cutter Hickory boarding team officers, Ensign Kevin Lamb and Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark MacDonald, discuss vessel registration with Ricky Hanson. Hanson, a Big Lake resident, had not registered his boat. The mistake came from changes to the state registration rules several years ago. All of Hanson's safety equipment was in good condition. He and his passengers continued their voyage. (Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Sara Francis)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Coast Guard Marine Safety and Security Team boarding officers, Coast Guard cutter Hickory boarding officers and Alaska State Trooper Shannon Fore discuss how to proceed with Cooper Wellman, Big Lake resident and repeat offender July 3. Wellman refused for years to register his wave runner. Wellman also had an expired fire extinguisher on board. He was issued a citation for not having registration and his voyage was terminated because of the fire extinguisher. The Hickory - AST team escorted Wellman back to his dock. (Official Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Sara Francis)
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