"Get Out Of Jail Free Card"

     Yesterday was another first for the crew of Big Run.  After spending another night on San Domingo Creek south of  St. Michael, MD, Sharon and I decided to head over to Cambridge, MD.  About 2 hours into the cruise I looked over to the port side and noticed a United States Coast Guard Vessel 30 feet off of our port beam with its blue lights flashing. It was one of those small 24' RIB with a crew enclosure, enough room to shelter four coasties.  After a nod of the my head to acknowledge them I returned to my duties of piloting the boat knowing very well what their intentions were.  Later I looked over and one the crew was hanging on the side trying to contact us.  I grabbed the microphone of our VHF radio and indicated that they should contact us by radio.  The following is a brief history of the VHF radio transmissions:

       Coast Guard:  Big Run, Big Run this is the United States Coast Guard 22589 on channel 16

       Big Run:  Coast Guard 22589, this is Big Run

       Coast Guard : Big Run, please switch to 22 Alpha

       Big Run:  Coast Guard, this is Big Run, shifting to 22 Alpha

       Big Run:  Coast Guard, this is Big Run on 22 Alpha

       Coast Guard:  Big Run, when was the last time you were boarded?

       Big Run: uh, Never!

      Within 5 minutes, 2 young Coast Guard serviceman were on board Big Run without us having to stop or slow down.  For the next 15 minutes we were given a safety inspection and had our documentation checked.  Needless to say we passed with flying colors.  We were given a "certificate" to show we were boarded and passed our inspection.  We were also informed that the certificate was valid for 6 months to 1 year, just in case we were stopped for another inspection within that time frame, we could use that certificate as a "get out of jail free card".