https://www.military1.com/coast-guard/article/110756014-uscg-fines-calif-fisherman-5k-for-jumping-off-charter-boat/
By Nels Johnson
The Marin Independent Journal
MARIN, Calif. — A man who jumped from a fishing boat into the ocean off Muir Beach to win a bet lost big time as the Coast Guard issued a $5,000 fine.
The incident last week aboard the party boat Bass Tub stunned 13 others aboard including the captain and crew, who swung into a life-or-death rescue.
Veteran skipper Erik Anfinson of Sleepy Hollow said his brother, Aaron, was at the helm a mile off Muir Beach near the end of a bountiful day off the coast, heading home with limits of striped bass and rockfish, and a couple of lingcod as well.
"My brother heard the deckhand yell, 'Man overboard!' and looks back and sees a guy in the water," Anfinson said. "Aaron swung the boat around and the deckhand threw a life preserver."
When the man was hauled aboard, he looked at his fishing buddies and said, "I guess I won that bet," Anfinson added, noting skippers must report all such incidents to the Coast Guard.
"We take these things very seriously," Anfinson said, adding it was the first time a passenger had jumped off the Bass Tub into the ocean. "He could have killed himself."
The Coast Guard was not amused, either, Chief Warrant Officer Paul Taylor said.
He noted that a 1998 law makes passengers liable for interfering with the safe operation of a boat, with fines of up to $30,000.
The $5,000 fine handed down after the incident off Muir Beach was "as far as I know ... the first of its kind" in the Bay Area, Taylor added. "But the Coast Guard has issued many of these, mostly at other ports," including Seattle, where passengers were tagged for jumping from ferries, Taylor said.
"Warnings have proved not to be a deterrent," he said, noting such misbehavior jeopardizes the safety of passengers and crew.
In the Bay Area, "we wanted to head it off at the pass before it became a problem" by imposing a fine pronto, the Coast Guard official said.
The wayward fisherman, who was not identified, may appeal to a hearing officer to get the fine reduced.
