Sailfish City - Stuart Florida Community Site

Stuart Florida - The Department of Homeland Security is analyzing a new threat to national security - recreational boaters.  That’s right, at the top of the list of potential threats to the country and it’s more than 95,000 miles of coastline and inland waterways.  The government has already spent millions and made significant progress in tightening up security on large cargo ships and cargo containers coming into the country but small boats are another story.

According to the feds, there is little protection right now from al-Qaida or other terrorist organizations using small boats to attack the United States.  Not only is the threat real that al-Qaida could use a small boat to deliver a nuclear or dirty bomb, but a more likely threat is they could use small boats to attack public infrastructure like bridges and dams.  Not to mention more critical infrastructure always located near water - nuclear power plants.

The feds are not planning a major crackdown on boaters, instead they are trying to enlist the help of local boaters who know their area and are familiar with other boats they typically see out on the water.  Local boaters will know the usual fishing spots and typical boat behaviour around things like bridges.  They are encouraging boaters to keep an eye out, like a neighborhood watch on the water, for suspicious behavior.  Boaters are encouraged to report suspicious activity to authorities.

There are discussions in the works of additional requirements on recreational boaters to help authorities mitigate the threat.  Many boaters will no doubt feel that the threat of national security is just an excuse to police recreational boaters but there are real benefits to the extra safety measures.  For example, less drunken boaters on the water is a plus everyone could live with.  Boats that are going out on the water will have to be checked to make sure they are sea worthy and hopefully the boaters will have to learn some boating safety guidelines to operate safely on the water ways of our city of Stuart.