On Patrol with Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg
By Brian Passey
The Sunshine Skyway and Old Port Tampa may have some of the best fishing spots in the Bay area. But fishing too close to them could mean a $27,500 fine.
Many once-popular fishing spots were designated as safety and security zones after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. And with the changing designations, operations at Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg have changed as well.
Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Marvin Lalone, 24, and Machinery Technician 3rd Class Ray Johnson, 28, take part in random homeland security patrols of Tampa Bay each week as part of Operation Noble Eagle.
As part of its security strategy, the Coast Guard identifies security and safety zones in the Tampa Bay area and levies penalties for entering those zones. The penalties can be pretty stiff. Civil violation penalties are not to exceed $27,500, though Senior Chief Boatswain's Mate Daniel Harris, the officer in charge of Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg, says they have never fined anyone that amount—just the first-time fine of $500 on occasion.
Coast Guard crews do not need a reason to stop any boat in their jurisdiction. They can pull anyone over at any time for a safety check, Johnson, the boat's engineer says.
On Tuesday at 8 a.m., Lalone and Johnson leave the station at St. Petersburg's Bayboro Harbor in a four-seater, 25-foot Defender Class Response Boat. One of the Coast Guard's newest boats, it is also among the highest performing.
The response boat they are in is ideal for pursuit or quick response. It has a top speed of nearly 50 knots and can turn 180 degrees within the length of the boat while traveling about 40 knots. Johnson says when boaters see Coast Guard boats turn like that they know to stop immediately.
And with its integrated navigation system, featuring digital charts and radar, they can navigate about anywhere in the world. They also usually carry a shotgun and an M-16 in addition to their personal nine mm sidearms.
"Everybody ready?" Lalone, the boat's driver, asks the reporter and photographer riding along before hitting the accelerator. The boats takes off but leaves a surprisingly small wake as it climbs to 38 knots, or about 45 miles per hour.
Lalone points the boat northeast as it skims across the relatively calm waters toward the first security area of the day—Weedon Island Power Facility. About halfway there Lalone slows down as another boat appears to be heading directly toward them. He thinks maybe the boaters want him to stop. But they just wave as he passes.
Lalone continues, not slowing down until they reach Weedon Island on the Pinellas County side of Old Tampa Bay near the Gandy Bridge. Security zones like the power plant are spots that pose the highest security risk of terrorist attack.
Johnson says the St. Petersburg station did not conduct patrols like these before the Sept. 11 attacks. But since the attacks, Harris says the station received three new boats and 10 additional personnel to help with homeland security patrols and other new duties such as escorting cruise ships and vessels carrying chemicals or petroleum products. Most reservists from around the country were pulled up to active duty following the attacks.
As the member of the armed forces charged with protecting the nation's coastline, the Coast Guard, formerly under the Department of Transportation, became part of the Department of Homeland Security when the new department was formed following the attacks.
Lalone and Johnson do not notice anyone violating the 50-yard security zone around Weedon Island and turn the boat east toward the next zone, Old Port Tampa at the other side of Old Tampa Bay.
"The public doesn't respond very well to these security zones because they're often the best fishing spots," Johnson says. "You hear the occasional, 'Well, I've been fishing here forever' thing."
As the patrol boat reaches Old Port Tampa, Johnson says they catch a lot of people fishing at the industrial port which 600-foot tankers still use. He says people hide under the dock in small boats, but if the Coast Guard misses them on the way into the port they usually see them on the way out.
Old Port Tampa, near the east side of the Gandy Bridge, and the nearby industrial area, Rattlesnake, are both quiet and the patrol boat continues without stopping.
Lalone drives the boat south, bucking small, choppy waves. Springs on the seats help for a smoother ride. The boat begins to head east past MacDill Air Force Base, which has a permanent restricted area more than a half-mile from the shore around the perimeter of the base. Lalone says MacDill sometimes asks the Coast Guard to try and invade the base for training exercises.
As the boat approaches the second power plant of the patrol, Big Bend, Johnson says most of the people they talk to are usually "kind of scared to death." A few moments later, about 9:40 a.m., they spot the first security zone violators of the day in a small powerboat near the shore.
"Yeah!" Johnson says. "Got me a bust."
Lalone pulls in close to the people, two men and a woman. All appear to be in their early 20s.
"Hey, you guys can't be right here," Johnson calls out to them.
"You see this first marker right here," he says, pointing to a sign reading, "Restricted zone: do not enter," less than 50 feet away. "You can't be past that."
"I swear another Coast Guard boat told us we could come back in this canal and fish," one of the men tells Johnson.
Johnson tells him he thinks that is unlikely.
They decide to let the boaters go, knowing that most people they catch are not aware of the security zones, even though the fines can be steep.
Though most violations are like this one, occasionally they take violations more seriously. Johnson says they have had intelligence instructing them to sit under the Sunshine Skyway and stop every boat passing through. Lalone says the terror threat level also affects the number and length of their patrols.
Harris says there have been a few local situations in which they felt threats to security were real. He says one time they received information about suspicious divers around the Skyway. When the Coast Guard got to the bridge they found out the divers were doing a survey for the Florida Department of Transportation.
Harris also says boarding teams have investigated persons of interest on merchant vessels coming into port in Tampa Bay in regards to the Patriot Act. But there have been no specific threats against the Port of Tampa that he is aware of.
Lalone proceeds toward Pendola Point near Tampa then travels north into the Port of Tampa's East Bay. Johnson says there is usually a cruise ship in the bay but they escorted it out the day before. The Coast Guard ensures that all other boats stay at least 200 yards away from the cruise ships and some industrial vessels as they are entering or leaving the port. The Department of Homeland Security deemed cruise ships a safety threat because of their high passenger capacity, Harris says.
The trip to the next security zone is the longest of the patrol. As soon as the boat is clear of the port, Lalone sends the boat streaking southward toward Port Manatee. Saltwater sprays along the side of the boat as it leaps the massive wake of another boat. Both Lalone and Johnson wave at other boaters as they carefully scan each craft for any violations.
"Is that guy not wearing any clothes?" Lalone asks as they pass a lone fisherman.
"If he's not wearing any clothes, I'm not going to find out," Johnson answers back.
As the boat arrives at Port Manatee, Lalone discovers that a dredge pipeline has been strung across the port entrance. After inspecting the general area for a moment, he turns and starts for the Skyway, the busiest security zone.
The Skyway has a security zone of 100 feet around any of the bridge supports or the rocky outcroppings at its base. As the patrol boat approaches the Skyway about 12:37, they immediately see a small boat sitting right under the bridge.
"You already know you're not supposed to be there, don't you?" Johnson says over the speaker system as the fisherman is already pulling up his line and anchor. "It's no anchoring and no fishing within 100 feet."
The boat passes under the Skyway and they warn another boat just outside of the security zone boundary not to drift any closer to the bridge. Then Lalone sees another boat fishing right next to one of the bridge supports and heads straight for it. Again the fisherman starts pulling up his anchor and line as soon as he see the patrol boat.
"See, that's what we usually get," Johnson says. "People know they're not supposed to be there, but as soon as they see us, they start pulling their stuff up."
Johnson informs the boater of the rule and the man responds with, "But I don't worship Allah."
Johnson ignores the man's sarcasm and informs him of the $27,500 fine.
"Twenty-seven-thousand dollar fine? Has anybody been fined that?" the man asks.
"I don't know, but I'm sure you don't want to find out," Johnson replies.
Finally, it's time to head home and Lalone points the boat toward St. Petersburg. But they soon notice the gas gauge that showed about half a tank only an hour before is suddenly on empty. Within minutes the engines stop and they realize they have run out of gas again.
The boat is a new one they got in March and though it is supposed to hold 100 gallons, they have only burned 82. They think there is probably a problem with both the tank and the gauge.
So, who does the Coast Guard call when they are stranded? The Coast Guard of course, though it means admitting to their buddies that they ran out of gas with journalists onboard.
Soon, another small boat is sent their way with enough fuel to get them back to the station. As the rescue boat approaches, Lalone asks, "Should I signal him … with my mirror?"
The refueling is mostly painless, though the rescue crew could be saving the jokes for when a reporter is not around. Soon, the boat is ready to go and it once again streaks toward the city's skyline and the last of Tampa Bay's security zones — Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg.
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Photos: On Patrol with Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg by Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon
Though homeland security patrols focus on protecting possible targets of sabotage or terrorist attacks, the crew at Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg still perform their pre-Sept. 11, 2001 duties.
On their July 6 homeland security patrol, Boatswain's Mate Second Class Marvin Lalone and Machinery Technician Third Class Ray Johnson talk about these other duties.
"Not many jobs pay you to ride around in a boat all day," Johnson says. "Plus you get the satisfaction of pulling someone out of the water."
Both seem to agree that saving lives is the best part of the job. They say that sometimes they will get letters from the people they have saved.
Though the homeland security patrols take a lot of their time, Lalone says the Coast Guard still checks boaters for lifejackets and to make sure other rules are being followed.
Senior Chief Boatswain's Mate Daniel Harris, commanding officer of the St. Petersburg station, says the personnel still respond to about 300 search and rescue cases per year in the Greater Tampa Bay area. Out of those missions, he says there are about 1,000 people rescued and about 20 who probably would have died without assistance.
Lalone and Johnson talk about a banner-towing airplane that is always crashing into the water near Albert Whitted Airport. They say the Coast Guard has to pull the pilot and his airplane out of the Bay a few times each year. They say pilot has done it so much that he knows the routine and just crawls up on his fuel tank and waits for them to fish him out.
"We have our routine people like our airplane-crashing guy and the people who fish where they're not supposed to," Johnson says.
They also patrol protected manatee areas and run other environmental missions. Coast Guard members routinely resuscitate sea creatures such as jewfish and sea turtles. They actually do CPR on sea turtles.
During the patrol near the Sunshine Skyway, Johnson notices two children in a boat who are too little to go without lifejackets. He tells them if the kids are younger than 6 years old or less than 60 pounds they are required to have life jackets. If they don't have life jackets on board, they get terminated—escorted directly to the shore.
"If you don't have a life jacket for the kid, I have no tolerance for that," Johnson says.
The Coast Guard also has to respond to the Skyway for suicides. Some people will jump onto the rocks below, killing themselves, but others hit the water and live. Coast Guard units respond in either case, whether it is to save a life or to retrieve a body.
Johnson says he thinks the bridge is the most popular suicide spot in the Tampa Bay area. "It's sad though," he says. "The first one I picked up, I hardly slept for days."
Only a few hours after Lalone and Johnson's patrol under the Skyway, a man almost jumps from the bridge before being talked down by law enforcement officials.
According to the Coast Guard Web site at www.uscg.mil, on an average day, the Coast Guard will:
• Save 10 lives.
• Assist 192 people in distress.
• Protect $2.8 million in property.
• Interdict 14 illegal migrants at sea.
• Conduct 109 search and rescue cases.
• Seize $9.6 million worth of illegal drugs.
• Educate 502 people in boating safety courses.
• Respond to 20 oil and hazardous chemical spills.
• Conduct 19 maritime security boardings.
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