# your papers are not in order !



## joethecobbler

Today I had the misfortune of having to stop at Barefoot Landing Marina in North Myrtle Beach,SC. The winds were too high to open the swing bridge. My choices were to turn back against the wind and tides or take a slip for the night at $1.50 a foot. I reluctantly took a slip. One of the dock hands had an attitude "I can't let you tie up, you have to take a slip for the night or leave, I can fill the slip" after dockng A large motor yacht 50-60' pulled up behind me and said he was only staying for lunch, and got an "OK no problem" 
So as to make the best of this lost travel day I decided to walk to the Supermarket, across town. My 6 year old daughter wanted to come along and off we walked. I purchased $60 worth of groceries, put them in a back pack (except the bread) and started to walk back to the dock.
Halfway back 3 police cruisers pulled up and wanted to see ID, asked me if I was homeless and proof that my daughter was my child. After I already said I was docked at the barefoot landing and showed a reciept, and explained we were sailing the ICW north and were being delayed by the bridge closing . they then loaded me into the police car and went to the dock and demanded to see "proof" my daughter was in fact MY daughter because they "recieved a complaint" that "an older man was seen walking with a young child" then proceeded to question her mother and us for about a half hour. Finally leaving us and all along saying over and again how they were understandably just looking out for everyones best interests.
SO, I guess I should be grateful ? 
But I feel violated, and a bit embarrassed as it all took place right on the dock in front of a restaurant full of vacationers and I'm still docked here waiting for the bridge !
I think the real issue was I am an old bald fat guy who isn't wearing $100 sperry topsiders and matching polo and shorts. 
They also questioned our choice of home-schooling even after we showed them our letter of intent from the state we reside in. Even asking if my daughter had ever attended public school. To which I replied "when would she ? she just turned 6 !!!"
Police state ? not a far leap.


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## sailingdog

That's pretty disturbing but that is South Carolina.


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## Freesail99

Did you ask if there was an amber alert?


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## kredit

I guess they did give you a free lift bak to the boat,Lucky you had your groceries already ...it does seem a local called you in if 3 cruisers showed up ...which begs me to ask and Ive heard that its best not to ever talk to cops but in that situation I believe your able to ask " am I free to go if they arent going to arrest you for an "alleged" crime. everything else is just cop abuse,,asking about your homeschooling?!?!?! that reeks of totalitarianism- from the bottom up,too.


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## tager

There's not a lot you can do to cops besides ignore them and try not to end up in a jail cell. It doesn't hurt to dress the part and act polite. They can't control what you think.


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## poopdeckpappy

kredit said:


> that reeks of totalitarianism- from the bottom up,too.


Oh geezus 

I was kinda thinking along the same lines as freesail (sorry freesail) possible Amber alert type situation.

I was pulled over returning from Santana's one night ( late night taco run ) was asked for all the doc's as usual, how much I had to drink ( said I don't drink ) when ask what I did I was told to sit tight ( I did, ate a taco ) when he came back he said I was pulled over for expired tags, I told them they were current till June (this was March ),he said yeah, he saw that, but I also fit the description of a vehicle involved in a domestic disturbance at the local sports bar.

He said thanks for my cooperation............and that I had cheeze in my beard

No harm, no foul, just doing his job


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## Faster

Guys... I've moved the off topic drift to the OT area, you can carry on the discussion on Police rights and behaviour here:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/off-topic/64316-police-powers-your-rights.html

With respect to the intent of the OP, I had a (much milder) encounter when my son was in elementary school, I was unexpectedly off work one day and decided to surprise him by picking him up at school... not thinking, I kind of 'hid' behind a tree near where his bicycle was locked. Another parent waiting for a child more or less accosted me want to know why I was lurking at a schoolyard.

Initially I was offended, insulted, etc.. but later came to realize that that was a good thing and I'd been behaving like someone might with baser motives that I'd had... ultimately I had to be grateful for the vigilance.

Certainly nothing like the ordeal the OP was put through, of course......


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## MedSailor

Similar thing happened to a friend of mine. He's got 2 advanced degrees but can look a bit scruffy and he looks a few years older than his wife. One day they were in the south somewhere and the cops accosted him. Someone had reported "an old man walking with a young girl who was eating a bag of candy." It was his wife (who is only 3 years younger than him) and indeed she was eating candy. Apparently the local do-gooders thought he lured this young thing with candy..... Give me a break!

As much as I hate to say it, if you dress the part, they leave you alone. In college I had long hair for a few months. Crossed the US-CA border 4 times with long hair, was searched 3 times of the 4. Since then, I've crossed probably 80-100times and been searched once. 

MedSailor


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## joethecobbler

in my opinion ,As well as the wriitten document formerly refferenrrd to as Our Constitution, One's mear appearance or fiancial status i not sufficient reason to suspend one'scivil rights nor isi adequate to sutain reasonable seach nd detention.
Look to the writings of our foundingfathers on this and oter topics as well as recent history (1936-9) for the results of accepting notions of "just doing there job" or "merly respnding to a complaint" A modicum of common sense as well as respect MUST be realized and actions like the ones taken by these officers must be cutailed lest history shoul repeat itself.
Or as one man was quoted as saying "wewe give up personal freedoms for safety, we will have niether"
I contend that this action was meant to send a clear message that I was not welcome in North Myrtlr Beach,SC. and it has hit it's target !
Oddly, I never had any interest or intention of stopping at this waterside trist trap . It ha little or nothing of value or interest to me and the services at the Barefoot landing dock are sub-par as is the WI-fi Sgnal, no upland facilities and rude condescending docks hands.
In the future I will go around outside or make every effort to plan accordingly to avoid any delay in North Myrtle beach,SC. and continue to convey my experience to all who will listen.
Incidently , we spent the last weekend in Beaufort,NC. during the wooden boat show and found te town welcoming and a very enjoyable stop.
We are now in Oriental,NC . and having a great time visiting folks we met last time we passed through and wish our schedule and timeline would allow us to linger longer, but we need to continue as we are looking forward to returning to all the other great places further north we have enjoyed inprevious trips as well as the new places and people we will encounter along the way.
I urge others to express there displeasure w/ N.Myrtle's tactics by avoiding the area.
Why go where your not welcome when SOOoooooo many finer places exist whith nicer folks and MUCH more of value to see and do !


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## hellosailor

Joe, I suspect you would make a bigger impression on NMB if you CC'd to their newspapers ( TheSunNews.com - Myrtle Beach News, Golf, Hotels, Homes, Jobs, Cars and North Myrtle Beach Times ) and city fathers. The town makes a lot of money from rubes, ergh, tourists, and if you simply elect to _quietly _avoid the town--you won't change anything.

In terms of accomplishing change, Sailnet just isn't the most effective place to raise the issue, is it?


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## mjf55

I'm not so sure about that. In 2009 Myrtle Beach passed 14 ordinances that restrict the Harley Davidson Spring Rally that is held every year. This has had a negative effect on the number of participants in the rally. The same appears to be true for this year, many people are opting to not go. Here is just one link on the subject Myrtle Beach area motorcycle rally attendance uncertain - Local - TheSunNews.com. Now granted that the article is about Myrtle Breach and not NORTH Myrtle Beach, but it would seem that the municipalities involved just don't care for tourists..


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## hellosailor

Well, bike rallies have been known to get out of hand. I'd say there's a real difference between accosting pedestrians on the street, and trying to ban mass events that may simply overload all the civic resources.

If you've ever seen a runners' marathon on tv? It is a very different thing to the people on the route. When 50,000 runners go by and a city hasn't set up enough port-o-sans on the route, the natives tend to get REAL UPSET when the first thousand or so runners stop to pee on their doorsteps.

Perspective. It tends to look--and smell--very different up close.


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## joethecobbler

I'm not interested in attempting to "change" N. Myrtle beach. Athough I have written several letters to newspapers in the area recounting my experience.
I'm just attempting to share my exp. with other cruisers as a warning or headsup to the attitude of the place and the fact it's a complete ZERO for actual cruisers traveling through that area on there way to great sailing areas like the chesapeake or when going south to the carib.
As far as changing N. Myrtle, I doubt it will change, they are entitled to wallow in there own filth as far as I care. but it doesn't excuse he manner in which they act. I hope they continue to do as they wish and am sure they will .
I only hope others who want to enjoy themselves take notice and can avoid similiar unpleasantries as I had to endure. Had I had any idea that this sort of thing was waiting for me, I would have made better effort to give the area a wide berth. And will in the future, you can be assured. 
And if others reading this information enjoy being part of a community or group of people who feel this type of treatment is warranted for ANY reason or can somehow justify it by inferrig that somehow I "asked" for it or should alter my appearance to "conform" to put forth a front or false face I hope they go their and have a fine time with all the other A^^^^^^'s that feel similiarly. Maybe they can all sit around drinkng $15 mixed drinks and judge each other while they attempt to impress each other .
Not my idea of family fun, but eh ! each to there own. 
I just want to keep clear of places like that, because I think they suck !


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## Yofy

joethecobbler, I completely sympathise with you. What a thing to have to go through with your daughter and wife. Unfortunatley it isn't just Myrtle Beach and it isn't just North America either. Authorties around the world can sometimes view the cruising lifestyle as a threat. We may not always dress to scratch or have haircuts, not because we don't care but because we are on a tight budget and we haven't been near "civilisation" for awhile.

I had a similar scare at the dock, in the marina, in Eilat Israel. I was meditating on the deck of our little boat at 6AM. The border police came by and almost arrested me for being a vagrant. They scared the bejesus out of me because I was "deep in the silence" when they came right up alongside our boat on the T dock and shouted a question at me. Manny saved the day by keeping his cool and going below to get my papers. 

It's all about how we judge others. Really scary at times.

Robyn


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## jlrdesign

I don't know about all US states but in NY you can take your children to the DMV and they will issue them a State ID card. A not very well publicized fact.

I found this out when a friend of mine took his two kids (8 & 10yrs) a couple of years ago. The kids loved showing them off as they looked like a driver's license and the parents used it as a way of teaching them responsibility over this very important document. 

My friends later also explained that it was a quick way of getting a photo of their children to all police agencies in case of an emergency as they would only need to pull up their State ID info. My friend is an adviser to the Office Of Emergency Management and always looking for ways to streamline responses to emergencies.

However, my friends had me rolling on the floor two months later when their kids were called for Jury duty...  

I figured I'd pass on the tip because in this case, if the child had a State ID with them, it would have been easy to prove the identity of the child and relationship to the parent.


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