Coast Guard banned deaf man from his OWN boat

SeattleDeafGrl

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Found this shocking new from www.Thelog.com. Sorry it's not current news but it has to be in the current event anyway! :ugh:

California's Boating Newspaper
Sunday, September 21, 2003
By Jack Innis

A San Diego recreational fisherman was ordered by the Coast Guard to terminate his voyage Sept.9 because he is deaf. The order came after an encounter with a patrol boat in San Diego Bay.

Steve Turner, 52, of South Park, was inbound aboard his 23-foot Parker Flying Fingers, When a Coast Guard patrol boat stopped him at 7 p.m., about 200 yards west of the Zuniga Jetty. Turner was returning from a daylong albacore trip with three passengers, all deaf.

"I was entering the harbor, and there was an outbound cruise ship about three-quarters of the a mile away," said Turner in an e-mail interview. "I saw this Coast Guard patrol boat coming full speed towards me with blue lights flashing, and when I looked around, there were no other boats except me, so I began to wonder why."

The patrol boat intercepted Flying Fingers and instructed Turner to make sure he steered well clear of the cruise liner.

In response to possible terrorist threats, Coast Guard San Diego has established a cruise-ship security zone that prohibits vessels from operating within 100 yards of any cruise ship entering, moored in, or departing San Diego Bay unless authorized by the Coast Guard Captain of the Port to do so.

Turner communicated to the boarding officer that his original course on the right side of the channel would have left more than a 100-yard buffer, but he agreed to steer even farther from the ship. Turner estimates that his original course - on autopilot - would have brought him no closer than 100-to-150 yards to the cruise ship.

Turner changed course but was quickly pulled over again.

"Before the cruise liner approached, we got stopped again," Turner said. "We spent about an hour on the water, with the patrol boat bumping into my boat in the middle of the bay, while the officer in charge talked on his cell phone to what I assumed to be the main Coast Guard office.

While the boats drifted, the cruise liner passed by.

The patrol boat then escorted Flying Fingers to the Shelter Island launch ramp and issued a citation for "inability to comply with navigation rules" and "unsafe conditions creating especially hazardous conditions. Terminated use. Turner was also cited for a paperwork violation.

The boarding officer, Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Jinks, communicated by writing on a note pad that since Turner was deaf, he could no longer operate his vessel effective immediately, Turner said.

Turner asked Jinks to point out a specific navigation rule that bars the deaf from operation vessels. Jinks pointed out a section regarding sounding of horns and signals and wrote on his note pad that since Turner could not hear such signals, he had no business operating a vessel, according to Turner.

"This might shock you, like it did me as boat owner and captain for 27 years," he said. They flatly ordered me not to operate my boat Flying Fingers any more. They stated that since I have my hearing loss, I am not able to respond to navigational sounds; therefore, I have no business to operate or navigate a boat on the water."

Navigation rules are quite specific on that point, according to Coast Guard spokesperson Jamie Devitt-Chacon: "Navigation Rule 5 states, 'Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision. 'Navigation Rule 4 states, 'Rules in this section apply to any condition of visibility."

From the Coast Guard's perspective, the drama began to unfold as the patrol boat was escorting the cruise liner out of the harbor. Noticing that Flying Fingers could potentially violate the 100-yard security zone, the patrol boat attempted to hail the craft on VHF radio channel 16. When that attempt failed, the patrol boat broke off from the cruise liner to intercept the returning anglers.

"Even though Flying Fingers at no time entered the security zone, the escort boat wanted to make sure that the vessel's operator was aware he was near a security zone." said Devitt-Chacon. " The decision to terminate a vessel's voyage is never an easy one.

"The boarding officer has to determine in his own judgement whether it's safe or not. Frankly, a person could be obeying all the rules, and the boarding officer could terminate because of safety concerns. There are just too many possibilities to be covered by individual rules."

The back of Turner's citation indicates that the matter will be forwarded to the appropriate Coast Guard district commander to determine whether a civil penalty will be assessed. One reporter was told that no penalty will be assessed in this case.

"There will be no fines or further action," assured Devitt-Chacon. "All he has to do is come into compliance about watch standing."

Even though the Coast Guard plans no further action on the matter, Turner could still appeal by requesting a meeting with the agency in the matter stated on the citation, according to Devitt-Chacon.

It was not clear as of this writing whether such an appeal would address only the propriety of Flying Fingers's voyage termination, or the fairness of navigation rules that seem to prohibit the deaf from operating boats in the capacity of lookout.

"While one my crew was talking to Jinks at the launch ramp, another Coast Guardsman told me verbally - I can read lips - that I could operate my boat only if I have a hearing person on board," Turner said.

Turner is president of the 80-member Southern California Deaf Anglers Club, which was established in 1973. There are approximately 28 million deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States, according to the National Association of the Deaf.

www.scdac.org ( So.Ca.Deaf Anglers Club )
www.thelog.com ( California's Boating Newspaper )
 
thats totally ridilous (sp?) not make sense ... if they not allow deaf drive the boat on ocean since there is no traffic ... Look at the streeet traffic and compare between boat and car ... That's totally BS for that rules... maybe they should add the flag like "J88" so the guard would know it is deaf boat ... what do u think of that ??? :smoking: sorry i am laugh so hard about the idea of " J88 "I think it is totally good idea ..so they can shut up and chase and stop and explain to them that they are over zone line .. then less pain in ass ..
 
It sounds very stupid to me.. they think deaf people cant drive on boats because they can't hear anything else??? Oh pleaseeee....they can see very careful of what's going on and know what they r doing that. I am very disappointed in those kind of people who are against deaf people.:rifle:
 
IMO -- Before an all-deaf crew can actually/legally operate a boat there needs to be a form of signalling device and something that can be captioned for the Deaf captain to pay attention to -- reason is because radio is very important in naval operation -- weather news, port calls, etc is all part of boating life (especially in the ocean).

I still think the Deaf does have a right to operate boats, and it shouldn't be considered illegal to do so, but it is a matter of safety for EVERYONE. The CG can't always speed up their boats and catch up with every boat that isn't operating to Naval rules, ie the barriers between cruise ships and other boats (this is because of concerns of terrorism,... well back in the days it's also known as piravy.. heh)

I used to operate a boat in the ocean, and loved it -- but I did realize that communication is very, very important between the boat and other boats, ports, etc out at sea. So I had to have at least one of my hearing folks do that part.

Pilots have to communicate by radio too. There are deaf pilots because they have signalling devices that can substitute for those radios (such as lights/red/green, etc) So I just think they gotta have something like that for boats too!

Also, yes we have great eye sight, but what if we're stuck in a storm in the middle of the sea? Sometimes it's very difficult to see beyond (usually that's what the radio is for.. to know what's at least miles ahead, because judgement on speed, angle, and distance is very difficult to determine via eyesight alone when operating a boat -- it takes longer and it's unpredictable, because the currents changes, the wind changes, and turning takes longer when on water)
 
Another PROVEN case that Coast Guard and all dispatchers for all business using CB radios SHOULD provide a radio captioned channel!
 
I also agree with Deaf258 no matter the situation i just think its ridculoous for those deafies to be barred from something they love to do! this is ridculocus! I would LOVE to drive a boat anywhere! if i can drive a bobcat, a pick up truck a moving truck and a small motor boat then I can do anything! JEEZ! thats ridculous and i support the idea of a radio captioned channel for the deaf, so we can use it in ANY conditions such as a freight truck and trains and boats too! :roll: at those idiots!
 
I think there is more to this story that we have not been told. perhaps the deaf guy was behaving badly and the CG just threw the book at him.
 
I think it is very stupid of coast guard to ban Deaf man for operating his own boat in the ocean. Oh, please.. what about GPS on the boat? Even though he might not able to use CB radio system, maybe GPS can help resucers to pinpoint the wherever his boat is located if he is lost.

Simple as that. Overall, no offense, hearing people are narrow minded coming to Deaf issues like this!
 
That's totally bullshit! That's a big case of discrimination, that's for sure! I certainly hope that bloke has gone to ADA and get some assistance to overcome that discrimination!
 
Actually the CG came to his boat because he was within a certain space near a cruise ship -- the CG and the cruise ship were trying to get to his radio (which of course he never got) upon this violation. Once they realized it was an all deaf group on the boat upon their arrival, they threw that warning in. It's just illegal nowadays to be near a cruise ship within a certain space (I'm sorry I'm not sure what exactly) because of potential terrorism plots and it's for the safety of cruise passengers.

That's what was missing from the report (I read it before and I'm not sure if it's the same report as posted here)
 
"In response to possible terrorist threats, Coast Guard San Diego has established a cruise-ship security zone that prohibits vessels from operating within 100 yards of any cruise ship entering, moored in, or departing San Diego Bay unless authorized by the Coast Guard Captain of the Port to do so.

Turner communicated to the boarding officer that his original course on the right side of the channel would have left more than a 100-yard buffer, but he agreed to steer even farther from the ship. Turner estimates that his original course - on autopilot - would have brought him no closer than 100-to-150 yards to the cruise ship.

Turner changed course but was quickly pulled over again."

Part of it.. and then was pulled over again after the CG communicated with HQ (I assume)
 
Must have cutted off when I posted the news in the forum. Guys, I'm sorry about that...but still...the story is stupid though!
 
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